Cataloging

“ Deterioration in the cataloging process will injure other departments, but undoubtedly most libraries have superfluous refinements that could well be omitted with economy in cataloging, and no loss to the chief end of all our work. ”

“ The preparation of the catalog for printing was principally the work of the staff of the Cumulative Section of the Cataloging Division of the Copyright Office. Mr. Walls reviewed all entries after they were transcribed from the record books and assisted in editing them by adding in brackets, whenever he could do so without additional research, explanatory information in those cases in which the titles are not fully self-explanatory. Except for these bracketed phrases the information appearing in the entries in the catalog is that on record in the Copyright Office. ”

“ So in many departments of library work the accident of size makes little or no difference; the work is precisely the same. The difference lies in the fact that the head of a large library oversees and directs the work done by others, where the village librarian must, in many cases, do all of the work himself. In the distinctly professional duties, such as the ordering, classifying, and cataloging of books, there is a difference only in amount between the greater and the less. ”

“ In high schools when the librarian is appointed by the school authorities, it can cooperate with the school librarian by lending speakers to describe the public library, by furnishing sets of specimen catalogue cards for comparison—for public library cataloging may differ from high school cataloging—by lending old numbers of the Readers' Guide for practice in bibliography making, etc., etc. ”

“ Author card. (Reduced; actual size, 71⁄2 x 121⁄2 cm.)
Preserve this catalog with great care. It is the key to the records in shelf-list and accession book. In a small library the public may very properly use it. As soon as possible, if your library is to be quite large and much used, prepare for public use a duplicate of it, omitting all those entries in the original which are of use only to the librarian.
The average reader more often remembers the titles of books than their authors. ”

“ No code of cataloguing could be adopted in all points by every one, because the libraries for study and the libraries for reading have different objects, and those which combine the two do so in different proportions. Again, the preparation of a catalogue must vary as it is to be manuscript or printed, and, if the latter, as it is to be merely an index to the library, giving in the shortest possible compass clues by which the public can find books, or is to attempt to furnish more information on various points, or finally is to be made with a certain regard to what may be called style. ”

“ Entering these only under the form-heading Catalogues belongs to the dark ages of cataloguing. Put the catalogue of a library under the library's name."
I cannot understand why a system of arranging catalogues under a general heading, where they are most likely to be sought for, should be stigmatized as belonging to the dark ages. It is impossible [126] to imagine a worse heading for an auction catalogue than the name of the auctioneer. His name is seldom quoted, and more often forgotten. ”

“ The classed catalogue is better suited also than any other to exhibit the richness of the library in particular departments."
Cutter, at the same time, proceeds to name some of the disadvantages of this style of catalogue. "A large part of the public are not pursuing general investigations. They want to find a particular book or a particular subject quickly; and the necessity of mastering a complex system before using the catalogue is an unwelcome delay or an absolute bar to its use." ”

“ The advantages of a printed catalogue he states under five heads: " (1) that it is in less danger of partial or total destruction than a manuscript volume or drawers of cards;" " (2) that it can be consulted out of the library;" " (3) that it can be consulted in other libraries;" " (4) that it is easier to read than the best manuscript volume, and very much easier to consult. A card presents to the eye only one title at a time, whereas a printed catalogue generally [55] has all an author's works on a single page. ”

“ The catalogue of each library is to be prepared, in accordance with the rules, under the immediate direction of the librarian, by transcribers employed by him. Should the system here proposed come into general use, it will probably be found expedient to have persons specially trained to the business, who shall go from place to place, for the purpose of making catalogues. Much of the value of the work will, of course, depend upon the faithfulness and learning of those who first prepare the titles. ”

“ Those who want either to consult a book, of which they only know the subject, or to find what books on a particular subject are in the library, can obtain this information (as far as it can be collected from a title-page, which is all that can be expected in a catalogue) more easily from an index of matters to an alphabetical catalogue than by any other means. Here also nothing is left to discretion as far [193] as concerns order. Entries, being short cross-references, are in a great measure avoided ”

“ We have now got the first two parts of our catalogue entry, and in the order from which there [Pg 39] can be no deviation. Our next step is to decide how much further information is to be given. A catalogue of a library has been defined as a list of the titles of books which it contains, and that it (the catalogue) must not be expected to give any further description of a book than the author gives, or ought to give, on the title-page, and the publisher in the imprint, or colophon. ”

“ And in planning a manuscript catalogue, it should be remembered that a small library may grow into a large one, and that if the catalogue is made in the best way at first there will be no need of alteration.
If a book’s title-page is lost, and it is impossible to ascertain what it was from other copies or other editions, or from catalogues or bibliographies, use the half-title or the running title, stating the fact; if it has neither, manufacture a title, within brackets. Such an entry will require many references. ”

“ Sufficient information only is required to help us to find the right book and the right edition. How far this should be given will be discussed [6] in a later chapter. It is necessary for us, however, to remember that when the catalogue is printed and away from the library it becomes to some extent a bibliography, and therefore when a library contains rare or unique books it is usual, for love of the cause, to describe these fully, as if the catalogue was a bibliography. ”

“ In other cases, also, as will appear hereafter, it may be important to give, in a catalogue, fuller and more accurate descriptions of books, than are to be found upon their title-pages; but the principle should be established, and ever borne in mind, that a catalogue, being designed to be merely a list of titles, with imprints and designations of size, all additional descriptions should be limited and regulated by explicit rules, in order to give uniformity and system to the work, and to restrict its bulk and cost, within reasonable bounds. ”

“ A modified form of short-title dictionary-catalogue, with the names of authors, titles of books, and subjects in one alphabet, is a useful type for a popular library to adopt. No author catalogue can be considered complete without an index of subjects, [48] and every classified catalogue requires an index of authors, if alphabetical, and of both authors and classes if systematic. An ideal catalogue would furnish references under each name and subject to every work, part of work, or even magazine article contained in the library which illustrated it. ”

“ As Carlyle puts it "A big collection of books without a good catalogue is a Polyphemus with no eye in his head." Even an indifferent library can be made to render comparatively good service with a good catalogue. In order to compile such a catalogue it is essential that certain particulars be given descriptive of the books, and in so systematic a way that, while the entries will afford all reasonable information to the person well-versed in books, they shall, at the same time, be so clear and simple in character as to be understood without much effort by anyone of average intelligence. ”

“ A catalogue is properly defined as an explanatory, logically-arranged inventory and key to the books and their contents, and differs from a bibliography in being confined to the books in a given library. For its production wide knowledge both of cataloguing rules and of general subjects is required, and experience in ordinary reference work is essential. The staff, therefore, to whom the cataloguing is entrusted should be highly trained and well educated ”

“ The moral to be pointed out is that the catalog must be good as a first requisite to a library. In the words of the old comparison, the catalog is the key to the otherwise hidden material buried in books. In a library of any size, the best desk attendant in the world is almost helpless, or at best constantly handicapped, without a convenient and rational classification of the volumes of the collection and the bibliographical aid of a catalogue. The born bibliographer is as rare as the born teacher or poet. ”

“ Cataloguing.—The catalogue of the department should aim at the maximum of fulness and be in as many forms as are necessary to bring out the entire resources of the department; there should be no retrenchment of time or labour in producing the best here, as a small collection of books adequately catalogued will give greater service than a larger one catalogued poorly. It is not an unfair paradox to say that the smaller (within reason) a reference library is the more detailed should be its catalogue. ”

“ Lists in which the titles of the books come first are better liked by the general public than are author-lists. People commonly know books by name, not by author.
Don't make the mistake of spending much money, at the library's beginning, for a printed catalog. A printed catalog, as stated in chapter 25, is not a necessity. It is useful, particularly for home use, to tell whether the library owns certain books; but with a good card catalog, newspaper lists, special lists, and the like, it is not a necessity. ”

“ Again, this general catalogue would enable purchasers of books for public libraries, to consult judiciously for the wants of the country. So poor are we in the books which scholars need; so long, at best, must we remain in a condition of provincial dependence in literary matters; that a responsibility to the whole country rests upon the man, who selects books for any public library.
An important advantage of this system is, that it allows us to vary the form of the catalogue, at will, from the alphabetical to the classed, and to modify the classification as we please. ”

“ Another general consideration is, that this project looks towards the accomplishment of that cherished dream of scholars, a universal catalogue. If the system should be successful, in this country, it may eventually be so in every country of Europe. When all shall have adopted and carried out the plan, each for itself, the aggregate of general catalogues, thus formed—few in number—will embrace the whole body of literature extant, and from them, it will be no impossible task to digest and publish a universal bibliography. ”

“ Again, those who go to a library to read upon a given subject generally know what authors they want; and an alphabetical catalogue settles the question whether the library does or does not contain the required work of the author wanted. We believe that of those who go into a place where books are collected, whether to read, buy, borrow, (or even steal) , nineteen out of twenty know what author they want; and to them an alphabetical catalogue is all-sufficient." [3] ”

“ Assuming the catalogue to be completed, the question remains for decision whether it shall be printed. In most cases this question is easily determined with reference to the circumstances of the individual library; but in one instance the nation claims a voice in the matter. It is hardly necessary to say that we refer to the Catalogue of the British Museum, the theme of forty years' controversy. Every one will admit the intrinsic superiority of a catalogue in print over a catalogue in MS. The question is, whether the advantage may not be bought too dear. ”

“ Another highly beneficial result would be, the attainment of a much higher degree of uniformity than could otherwise be hoped for. The rules for cataloguing must be stringent, and should meet, as far as possible, all difficulties of detail. Nothing, so far as can be avoided, should be left to the individual taste or judgment of the cataloguer. He should be a man of sufficient learning, accuracy and fidelity, to apply the rules. In cases of doubt, reference should be made to the central establishment, to which the whole work should be submitted, page by page, for examination and revision. ”

“ The problem is no longer one of cataloguing, but of classification, and in this department ample room remains for discussion and scientific progress. The question of the strictly classified catalogue [44] versus the strictly alphabetical, may, indeed, be considered as decided. The former method may have answered in the library of Alexandria; but the multiplicity of the departments of knowledge in our own day, their intricacy and the nicety with which they blend and shade into each other, render cataloguing solely by subjects a delusion. ”

“ The economy to each particular library, in the expense of plates for its catalogue, will be in proportion to the number of books, which it may contain in common with any other library, whose catalogue has been already stereotyped on this plan. The title of the same book, in the same edition, will, of course, be cast but once, and will thenceforward serve for the catalogue of every library possessing that book, which may enter into the arrangement. ”