CHAPTER VI

CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGING IN BUSINESS LIBRARIES

All books and pamphlets received by the business library should be classified by subject, i. e., all material on a given subject should be brought together under the same subject number. The most satisfactory working scheme of subject classification which has yet been devised and which is most generally used is the Dewey Decimal Classification, Edition 9, 1915, which can be purchased from the Library Bureau, price $6.00. No subject classification is perfect and the Dewey Decimal Classification will not fit all business libraries equally well, but its elasticity of form and its notation is such that any expansion which may be required by the specialized character of the business library may readily be made by the trained librarian. The following list of extensions to the Dewey Decimal Classification may be of interest to engineers:

"Extension of the Dewey Decimal System of Classification Applied to the Engineering Industries," by L. B. Breckenridge and G. A. Goodenough, published in University of Illinois Engineering Experiment Station Bulletin 9, revised edition, 1912.

"Extension of Dewey Decimal System of Classification to Cover Municipal Engineering," by R. De L. French, in Canadian Engineer, Nov. 12, 1914.

"Extension of the Dewey Decimal System of Classification to the Gas Industry," by D. S. Knauss, American Gas Institute, October, 1914.

"Extension of the Dewey Decimal System of Classification Applied to Metallurgy, Metallography and Assaying," by R. M. Keeny, Colorado School of Mines Quarterly, Golden, Colo., April, 1911.

"Proposed Classification for an Engineering Library," by E. H. Frick and Esther Raymond published by American Society of Civil Engineers, 1916.

It must be remembered that business libraries are small and the number of books and pamphlets to be classified are few as compared with the enormous collections in public libraries, so that the much discussed question of new classifications which arises periodically is not of so vital importance to the business library as might appear, especially so when one recognizes the importance of making an exhaustive subject catalog to all material, which relieves the business library from any undue difficulties in classification. It will readily be seen that no subject classification can bring together on the library shelves all information on a subject, for the reason that some books and pamphlets cover several well defined subjects and the book can stand on the shelf in one subject position only. Such difficulties are met most satisfactorily by a subject catalog in which subject entries are made under the most specific subject heading and not under a broad term which includes several well defined divisions of a general subject. For example, a book on steam engines should be subject cataloged under "Steam engines" and not under "Engines," while a book on various kinds of engines should be subject cataloged under "Engines" and not under "Mechanical engineering." The book on engines, if it treated of Marine engines, Gas engines and various other types could also have cards made under those subjects in addition to the card which was made under "Engines."

+-------+-------------------------------------------------+ | | | | Sa107 | Cameron, W. H. | +-------+-------------------------------------------------+ | | The attitude of the employer towards | | | accident prevention and workmen's compensation. | | | 9 p. | | | | | | | | | Safety movement | | | Workmen's compensation | | | | +-------+-------------------------------------------------+

The pamphlet noted above is filed under "Safety movement" and an entry is made under the author's name for the card index, showing upon its face the subject names under which subject index cards have been made

+-------+-------------------------------------------------+ | | | | Sa107 | Workmen's compensation | +-------+-------------------------------------------------+ | | Cameron, W. H. | | | The attitude of the employer towards | | | accident prevention and workmen's compensation. | | | 9 p. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-------+-------------------------------------------------+

If a pamphlet covers two or more subjects a subject card may be made for each subject. The subject under which the pamphlet is filed is shown by the Cutter book number. In this particular instance, the pamphlet is placed in the file under "Safety movement."

This method permits of a book or pamphlet being entered under any number of specific subjects on which it gives information and thus the subject catalog brings together all the information in the library on a specific subject, although it may not stand together on the shelves or in a vertical file.

+-------+-------------------------------------------------+ | | | | Sa107 | Safety movement | +-------+-------------------------------------------------+ | | Cameron, W. H. | | | The attitude of the employer towards | | | accident prevention and workmen's compensation. | | | 9 p. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-------+-------------------------------------------------+

Subject catalog card for Alphabetic-subject file

Alphabetic-subject File

All material put into vertical files need not be filed necessarily by a numerical subject classification such as the Dewey Decimal Classification; on the contrary a number of business libraries, which use the Decimal Classification for material put on the shelves, have organized most successful vertical files of miscellaneous material, clippings, pamphlets, etc., by the alphabetic-subject method. This simply means that the material is assigned, instead of a subject number, a specific subject name similar to that put on a subject catalog card and is filed alphabetically under that subject name written out in full upon the folder, to which may be prefixed a Cutter number assigned from the subject name of the material. The Cutter number, primarily designed to alphabet authors, is the first letter of a word combined with certain figures, designed to keep words in alphabetic order by their initial letter and the figures following it. The Cutter three figure alphabetic-order table, price $2.70, or the Cutter-Sanborn alphabetic-order table, price $3.00, both for sale by the Library Bureau, are equally good for use in the alphabetic-subject file. The Cutter two figure table may be used for a small collection of material. No business firm should attempt to install an alphabetical-subject file unless the work is done under the direction of a trained librarian who has had thorough training in cataloging and in the assigning of subject headings. The best information in print on the details of alphabetical-subject filing for business libraries is to be found in a pamphlet entitled "Pamphlets and Clippings in the Business Library" by Virginia Fairfax, published by the Journal of Electricity, San Francisco.

The advantage in using a Cutter number is, that it makes a convenient brief notation to use on the material to be filed and on the catalog card to show where the material is placed in the file. For temporary files of ephemeral material both the Cutter number and the card cataloging may be omitted. The alphabetic-subject file obviates the difficulties which arise when the business library finds it has material on subjects for which the Dewey Decimal Classification has not adequately provided.

Printed information on corporations collected by banking houses is most satisfactorily filed alphabetically under the name of each corporation with sub-divisions (i. e., mortgages, reports, etc.) under each corporation name where necessary.

Cataloging

Business men as a whole do not understand what cataloging involves nor its supreme importance. Most of them call it card indexing and think they have provided amply for it when they have purchased a card catalog cabinet and a supply of cards, without realizing what someone has recently said in a business periodical, that "the number of employes and the generosity of mechanical equipment are not the essentials of high grade production. Brains and floor space are unrelated." A card catalog to be a success, as a working tool, must be made according to a code of standardized rules by some one who has been thoroughly taught to use them. A code of catalog rules given to a novice who attempts to catalog by them without previous instruction will yield about as satisfactory results as an automobile does when it is operated by some one who has never run one before, and whose only knowledge consists of what he has read about it in a handbook. The truth of this contention is apparent when one considers that strict uniformity and accuracy must be maintained, not only in making author entries but particularly in making what the trained librarian calls subject headings with "see" and "see also" references which the business man is often heard to call cross indexing. (See Hitchler, Cataloging for Small Libraries, Chapters 5 and 6.) Cataloging must be as accurate as bookkeeping; a wrong figure, a mis-filed card or the entry of information under an incorrect subject, makes the catalog as useless as trying to unlock a door with a key that does not fit. The American Library Association, 78 East Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois, has issued a valuable list of suggestive "Subject Headings for Use in a Dictionary Catalog," third edition, price $2.50, which indicates proper terminology with cross references, and to which each business library will probably make many subject additions to suit its specific needs. The subject headings used in the "Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature" and the "Industrial Arts Index," mentioned in a previous chapter, are also of help to the business library in determining adequate subject headings for the card catalog. The ability to assign subject headings and cross references correctly requires both broad knowledge and a high degree of training and is one of the important assets which the business librarian derives from a library school education.

For the benefit of small offices which have a limited collection of material and will need to do very little cataloging or indexing, the sample author and subject cards are given to illustrate correct form.

Further helpful suggestions can be obtained from Hitchler's Cataloging for Small Libraries, published by the American Library Association, 78 East Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois, price $1.25.

+--------+------------------------------------------------+ | | | | 627.38 | Wegmann, Edward | +--------+------------------------------------------------+ | W42 | Design & construction of dams | | | Ed. 4 N.Y. Wiley 1904. | | | | | | | | | Dams | | | | | | | +--------+------------------------------------------------+

Form of author card

The Library of Congress publishes catalog cards printed on the standard 3 by 5 inch card, one form of card only for each book, namely the author or main entry card, with suggestive subject headings printed at the bottom. To this card, if purchased, may be added the classification number of the book in the particular business library, and additional cards may be bought on which may be put the subject headings. Not many business libraries have made use of these printed cards issued by the Library of Congress, because business library material is so limited and specialized in selection that not enough Library of Congress catalog cards can be used to make it worth while to spend time in checking up what cards the Library of Congress issues, which can be used by the business library. The business library is always in a hurry to have its material cataloged and put on the shelves at once, and ordering and waiting for receipt of Library of Congress cards does not generally permit of quick enough work.

+--------+------------------------------------------------+ | | | | 627.38 | Dams | +--------+------------------------------------------------+ | W42 | Wegmann, Edwards | | | Design & construction of dams | | | Ed. 4 N.Y. Wiley 1904. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +--------+------------------------------------------------+

Form of subject card

It is advisable that the card catalogs to material in the business library should be, as far as possible, alphabeted together in a single file, because information on a subject found in a book is cataloged under a specific subject heading, information on the same subject found in a periodical article is entered under the same subject heading as that used for the information in the book, and the same subject heading is used in the card catalog for the material which, because of its form, is put into the vertical file. The filing of these three subject cards together instead of in three separate card catalogs, namely, to books, periodicals and vertical file material, will show at once what the library has on that particular subject with a saving of time in consultation, as well as eliminating the risk of forgetting to look in three separate catalogs when investigating a subject, and avoiding the danger of mis-filing a card in a wrong catalog. If desired, references to periodical articles and vertical file material may be put on colored cards to show more quickly the disposition of the material in the library. Photographs, lantern slides, cuts and maps are best cared for by a separate card catalog to each file.

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING

=Colegrove, M. E. & McVety, M. A.=

List of subject headings for information file. Elm tree press, Woodstock, Vt. (Modern American library economy series).

=Dana, J. C.=

Color and position filing. Elm tree press, Woodstock, Vt. (Modern American library economy series).

=Dickey, P. A.=

Care of pamphlets and clippings in libraries. H. W. Wilson & Company, New York City.

=Fairfax, Virginia=

Pamphlets and clippings in the business library; pamphlet printed by Journal of Electricity, San Francisco.

=Krause, L. B.=

Engineers' technical file. Engineering record Dec. 18, 1915, p. 760-61.

=Krause, L. B.=

Indexing data on stream flow and rainfall. Engineering record Jan. 31, 1914, p. 140-41.

=McVety, M. A. & Colegrove, M. E.=

Vertical file. Elm tree press, Woodstock, Vt. (Modern American library economy).

=Ovitz, D. G.=

The "Readers' Guide" and the vertical file. H. W. Wilson Company, New York City.