2LG3G 1)55 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AUTHOR NOTATION IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS By ANNA CANTRELL LAWS ASSISTANT IN CHARGE OF SHELFLISTING CLASSIFICATION DIVISION WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1920 iNeui $Jork Hate (College of Agriculture At (Qarnell MtttuerBity Strata, sBT. $. ffiihrarg Z 696 U55 ° rne " Universi,y Ubrat V A iVif h0r nota,ion in the Library of Congre 3 1924 014 496 826 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014496826 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AUTHOR NOTATION IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS By ANNA CANTRELL LAWS ASSISTANT IN CHARGE OF SHELFLISTING CLASSIFICATION DIVISION WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1920 1155 L. C. card, 17-26005 AUTHOR NOTATION IN THB LIBRARY OF CONGRESS At the outset, it is assumed that all librarians are familiar with the Dewey Decimal Classification, the Cutter Expansive Classification, and with various other library classifications, and with the several lists for Author notation, i. e. the Cut- ter two-figure tables, the Cutter three-figure tables, and the Cutter-Sanborn three-figure tables. As two systems of notation are used at one and the same time in combination — a Classification and an Author nota- tion — the difference between them must be kept clearly in mind. It is true that in the Library of Congress the two are closely joined in places, yet for all practical purposes there is a distinct dividing line. The Classification number is fixed, determined by a rigid schedule. The Author number is usually on a sliding scale. The Author numbers are decimals (except the date number- ing, which will be considered later) ; the Classification num- bers, for the most part whole numbers. In certain sections of the classification, decimal subdivisions are used under a general division, but these are also determined by schedule and may not be altered. For example, E462=Societies of Veterans of the Civil War. The individual societies would be represented by decimals, e. g. E462.X Grand army of the republic. E462.2 Military order of the loyal legion. 3 4 AUTHOR NOTATION Every volume having for its content the subject of the Mili- tary Order of the Loyal Legion bears the number E462.2 without modification. If Thomas Brown should write a his- tory of the order, the volume would bear an additional num- ber — a decimal — besides E462.2. Th e design ation represent- ingJBrown could be anywhere from .B6 to .B9, according to the exigencies of the case, as, How many Browns have written upon this subject ? How many editions is the Library likely to own? How many translations? How many other men whose names begin with B are represented in the class ? ■ The Classification number is the string which binds the beads together; the Author number determines the order of the beads on the string. Many of the Library of Congress Classification schedules having been indexed and printed are available for use in other libraries. Other schedules, including those in progress, exist in typewritten form. The schedule in hand, the Classi- fication number can be found and applied, and needs no further consideration in this connection. Before proceeding to the application of the Author num- bers, it might be well to understand the scope of the term and the method of expressing the symbols. The term Author or book number is used broadly and includes the marks designating the titles of serial publications, anony- mous works, individual works distinguished by date, etc. The letters should be the capitals used in printing and in size one-third higher than the figure following. The deci- mal point is indicated, not left to the imagination. In the Author number it is placed before the letter, .L8 not be- tween letter and figure, L-8. In the former position it servesJ;o differentiate the class from the author, and the im- pression TTmore agreeable to the eye. Should the Book AUTHOE NOTATION 5 number be other than a decimal, a space is left between it and the preceding notation, as D42 2 1 660. For convenience, the notation is printed on the lower margin of the catalogue card, in a horizontal line: D353.3.S5. On books (book- plates, labels, etc.), shelflist, and catalogue cards it is writ- ten in a column. The Author number is placed below the Classification number, thus : D353 •3 _.S 5 Should the decimal point in D353.3 be accidentally omitted when the number is written horizontally, instead of three hundred and fifty-three and three-tenths, the number would read three thousand five hundred and thirty-three, and the volume be thrown far out of place. The effect of the omis- sion in the other case would be practically nil. Author or Book notation is naturally divided into two arrangements, the alphabetical and the chronological. Other arrangements are negligible. For a statement of the theory and practice of assigning book numbers, the novice is referred to "Simplified Library School Rules," by Melvil Dewey, p. 53-60 (Library Bureau, $1.25), and "Library Notes," v. 3, no. 11, p. 419-450 (New York Library School). ALPHABETICAL ARRANGEMENT In the alphabetical arrangement of the_ Library_of Con- gress the Cutter three-figure table is used as a basis in as- signing numbers for books in Fiction; the Cutter-Sanborn three-figure table for all other classes. Neither is strictly ad- 6 AUTHOK NOTATION heredtp^ and there are nu merous exceptions. A few general rules are appended. I. MODIFICATIONS ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF WORKS Where the subject is likely to have only a limited number of books, the Author designation is reduced to a minimum, e. g. GT2 1 30 = History of footwear. There are but four volumes in the class, numbered as follows : GT2130.B3 Baudouin, Benoit. ...De calceo antiquo. 1667. GT2130.D8 Dutton, William Henry. The boots and shoes of our ancestors. 1898. GT2130.G7 Greig, T. Watson. Ladies' old-fashioned shoes. 1885. GT2130.T7 Towle, Herbert Chester. The shoe in romance and history. 1915. Should another Dutton produce a book on the history of footwear, it would takeits place in alphabetical order of the Christian name of the author, .D7 for James Dutton, .D9 for William Thomas Button. In some classes, such as PZ3 (Fiction), QA103 (Arith- metical text-books), TX715 (American cook-books), the en- tries are numerous, and the numbers may run to four and five figures. In all simple author lists it is perfectly feasible to use one, two, three or more figures in the same class. The filing of the books is not disturbed, e. g. TX715.D28 Davis, Eldene. A table for two. 1913 TX715.D285 Dearth, Nellie D., comp. Food for thought. [°i 9 n] TX715.D3 Deaver, Marguerite. The Christ hospital cook book. 1910. AUTHOR NOTATION 7 II. WORKS BY THK SAME) AUTHOR Two or more works by the same author in the same class are differentiated by successive Cutter numbers, e. g. HN64.N38 Nearing, Scott. Poverty and riches. ["1916] HN64.N4 Nearing, ScoX Social adjustment. 1911. HN64.N44 Nearing, Scott. Social sanity, 191 1. (Note that entries are in alphabetical order of title) In fiction the differentiation is effected by incorporating the initial letter (or letters) of titles, e. g. PZ3.S848Dy Stevenson, R. L. The dynamiter. 1885. PZ3.S848K Stevenson, R. h. Kidnapped. 1912. There are certain exceptions which are determined by the individual scheme. If, for instance, the author is included in the Classification number, the Book numbers indicate the titles of his works, e. g. QH365=Works on evolution by Darwin. QH 365 D 1871 Darwin, Charles. The descent of man. 1871. QH 365 D 1909 Darwin, Charles. The descent of man. 1909. QH 365 O 1881 Darwin, Charles. On the origin of species. 1881. PR3487=Separate works by Goldsmith. PR 3487.G6 Goldsmith, Oliver. The good-natured man. 1768? PR 3487.H4 Goldsmith, Oliver. The hermit. 1886. PR 44S3.C4=Chesterton. PR4453.C4D4 Chesterton, G. K. The defendant. 1902. PR4453.C4M3 Chesterton, G. K. Magic. 1913. (Note two Cutter numbers joined; Author number and number for title) 8 AUTHOR NOTATION III. EDITIONS Editions are differentiated in several ways — a) When the number of editions is likely to be limited, successive editions are differentiated by successive Cutter numbers, e. g. NC710.H26 Hamerton, P. G. The graphic arts. 1883. NC710.H27 Hamerton, P. G. The graphic arts. 1902. b) When editions are likely to be numerous, by date of publication, e. g. QM23.G7 1866 Gray, Henry. Anatomy. 1866. QM23.G7 1883 Gray, Henry. Anatomy. 1883. QM23.G7 1913 Gray, Henry. Anatomy. Philadelphia, 1913. QM23.G7 1913a Gray, Henry. Anatomy. London, 1913. (Note the lower-case "a" differentiating the two e^dftions of 1913) c) In fiction, by the addition of an integral number, e. g. PZ3.C857L0 Crawford, F. M. Love in idleness. 1909. PZ3.C857L02 Crawford, F. M. Love in idleness. 1910. d) In certain cases where the title of the work is included in the classification number, by editor or translator, e. g. PR2753.B8 Shakespeare, William. ... Complete works ... ed. by W. C. Bryant. 1896. PR2753.C6 Shakespeare, William. ... The works ... ed. by W. G. Clark. 1866. PR2753.F8 Shakespeare, William. The old-spelling Shake- speare ... ed. by F. G. Furnival. 1907- IV. TRANSLATIONS Translations are differentiated in several ways, although the same order is always maintained, i. e. after the original AUTHOR DOTATION 9 textthe translations follow in alphabetical order of language. a) Where the sequence of authors and titles is alphabetical, the order is secured by the assignment of successive Cutter numbers, e, g. BJ1496.W18 Wagner, Charles. La vie simple. 1895. BJ1496.W2 Wagner, Charles. The simple life. 1902. BJ1496.W3 Wagner, Charles. La vida sencilla. 1907. BF1078.F7 Freud, Sigmund. Die traumdeutung. 1909. BF1078.F72 1913 Freud, Sigmund. The interpretation of dreams. 1913. BF1078.F72 1915 Freud, Sigmund. The interpretation of dreams. 1915- (This rule does not conflict with Ilia. When translations and editions occur in the same list, the latter are differen- tiated by the dates of publication, as in example under Freud.) b) In classes where the arrangement is chronological, a lower-case letter may be added to the date, e, g. JN8763 1874 Switzerland. Bundesverfassung. Bundesver- fassung der Schweizerischen eidgenossen- schaft. (Vom 29. mai 1874) [1874] JN8763 1784! Switzerland. Bundesverfassung. Constitu- tion federale de la Confederation Suisse du 29 mai 1874. [1874] c) In other classes, as Literature, the distinction is in part expressed by the Classification number, in part by a specially provided schedule, e. g. PR3S6i=Translatiojs of Paradise lost. PR3561.F5C5 Milton, John. Le Paradis perdu. Trad, de Chateaubriand. 1855. PR3561.G5B6 Milton, John. ...Verlonrnes Paradies ... iibers. von J. J. Bodmer. 1780. 4668°— 19 2 10 AUTHOB NOTATION" PR3561.I5M4 Milton, John. II Paradiso perduto ... trad, da F. Mariottini. 1796. (Note that .Fs=French, .Gs=German, etc.) or PT8no=Billedbog uden billeder, of Hans Christian An- dersen. PT8110.B5G3 Anderson, Hans Christian. ... Bilderbuch ohne bilder ... with vocabulary by W. Bernhardt. 1891. PT8110.B5G7 Anderson, Hans Christian. ... Bilderbuch ohne bilder ... with English notes ... by L. Simon- son. [1887] (Note that the number for edition is fused with the lan- guage number: .G3=German ed. by Bernhardt, .G7= German ed. by Sitnonson) V. DOUBLE NUMBERS In one of the foregoing examples a double Cutter number may be observed (.C4D4) Double numbering has been found effective and practical and has been used extensively. Both figures are decimals and both can be expanded wherever necessary. The decimal point is placed before the first letter but omitted before the second, giving the notation a compact appearance. The first letter and figure, generally, though not always, indicate the subject; the second letter and figure, the author. Where the number of subjects can be definitely or approximately ascertained, they have been worked out and embodied in the Classification schedules, e. g. QD341 = Special groups of aromatic compounds, HI?57i6 = Particular commercial commodities, DA6ao = Cities and towns of England. In small libraries it may be practical to dispense with sub- divisions and enter the books in one alphabet under the au- thors, but such an arrangement in a large collection would AUTHOR NOTATION 11 defeat the aim of the classification. The five hundred and eighteen cities and towns listed under DA690 were all taken from actual shelflist entries. This means that the Library of Congress has at least one volume of history or description on each of the five hundred and eighteen towns. As a matter of fact, there are often more. Bristol alone has twenty-two individual entries. In some cases the "double-number" is used on the shelf- list without being incorporated in the Classification schedule. CT = General biography, i. e. biography that cannot be classified by subject elsewhere. Here are collected hun- dreds of lives of more or less important people, and hundreds more will doubtless be intercalated. A ready-to-be-used scheme is not practicable. The numbers are distributed to suit the collection at hand and may be redistributed as ne- cessity requires. Double numbering also serves another purpose: Inagen- eral clasi7its use allows a criticism of a particular work to folKw^ie-ffiOtLitself , e. g. BX48ig=Eaily controversial works against Protestantism. BX4819.B5 Bossuet, J. B. Histoire des variations des eglises protestantes. 1770. BX4819.B6 Bossuet, J. B. The history of the variations of the Protestant churches. 1836. BX4819.B7B4 Rebelliau, Alfred. Bossuet . . . etude sur 1' " His- toire des variations." 1909. VI. SEVERAL WORKS BEGINNING WITH THE SAME WORD It sometimes follows from the nature of the subject that many entries in a given subdivision will begin with the same word. In such cases the numbers are shifted accordingly. Ni = American and English art periodicals. The Library of Congress contains nineteen art serials, with titles running the gamut from "Art" to "Art student," besides "The 12 AUTHOR NOTATION Artist," "The Artists' repository," "Arts and decoration," and "Arts for America." Instead of graf ting ther n^ all on .A8 J jgxryin& th e dec imals to three figu res. .A3- A.8 isUsecT for en tries beginni ng with Art, leaving .A1-.A2 and .A9 to accommodate the five other entries which precede and follow. TO. DECIMALS I AND 9 In assigning book numbers care should be taken in the use of .1 and .9. They should be used with reserve. In the early stages of the work this fact was not appreciated. Under DA890, Cities and towns of Scotland, .Si was as- signed to St. Andrews. Should there be a monograph on the picturesque village of St. Abb's, it would be necessary to shift four entries from .Si to .S2 (in disagreement with the printed schedule) or use an awkward symbol, as .S05. If a book in the shelflist bears the number .C6, the one immediately following should* not be .C61 ; or if the first be I .C62, the next should not be .C621, unless it is intended to block the way — to keep any entry from coming between the two. There are cases when it becomes imperative to place books next to each other. An example of this may be found in American literature of the nineteenth century. For the works of Oliver Wendell Holmes the Library of Congress has a special scheme, the last number of which is PS1998. The number PS1999 is assigned to writers between Holmes and Richard Hovey. Among them is Justice Oliver Wen- dell Holmes, whose number is PS1999.H1. Obviously, nothing can come between PS1998 and PS1999.H1, the son's name immediately following the father's. The use of .9 is not so dangerous as the use of .1. It can be built out indefinitely. Still, in order to prevent the AUTHOR NOTATION 13 numbers from growing unwieldy it is often desirable to push them back from the edge. ND497 = Painters of Great Britain without distinction of period. According to the Cutter-Sanborn table, Burne- Jones would be given .B9. It is better to assign .B8, and leave some room for future painters whose names follow alphabetically. Who's Who gives no less than sixty names alphabetically following Burne-Jones. VARIATIONS IN THE ALPHABETICAL ARRANGEMENT I. WORKS AT THE} BEGINNING OP THE CLASS Unde£jnany subjects it inadvisable tojrjlacecertain forms of material at the beginning of the class, and the notation is manipulated to tms_end. This is perfectly feasible, as the proportion of surnames beginning with A is small. . Ai to .A6_or .AxlQ-Ag may alw aysbe reserved when needed, and authors' surnames beginning with that letter find room under .A7 to~rA9 or .A9 alone if .A1-.A8 has been set aside for other purposes. As examples of this usage the following cases are selected : a) In_biog^phy^ ^ man's^utobiography.. precedes hisJjfe., written by another_person, e. g. B1606.A2 Mill, John Stuart. ... Autobiography. 1909. B1606.C8 Courtney, W. L. Life of John Stuart Mill. i88g. b) In geographical divisions or subdivisions where the coun- try, state, or city is the author, e. g. QEi93=Geology of Quebec. QE193.A6 Quebec (Province) Dept. of lands, etc. Rapport sur la geologie ... de Chibougamau. 1912. QE193.A7 Adams, F. D. Report on the geology of the Lau- rentian area. 1896. 14 AUTHOR NOTATION c) In form classes, galleries, museums, etc., where the insti- tution itself issues publications, e. g. Nio7o=National gallery o London. N1070.A2 London. National gallery ... Report. N1070.A6 1911 London. National gallery ... Catalogue. British school. 1911. N1070.A7 1906 London. National gallery. An abridged cat- alogue. Foreign schools. 1906. N1070.A9 Addison, Julia de Wolf. The art of the Na- tional gallery. 1906. (A number of entries between .A2 and .A6 are omitted here) II. WORKS AT THE END OE THE CLASS Just as important material (usually of a documentary character) has been placed at the beginning of the alphabet, so conversely, unimportant matter may be consigned to the end, by the use of .Z7 to .Z9. In class Z (Bibliography) .Z9 is frequently assigned to sale catalogues of collections of books on a certain subject. HI. NUMBERING UNDER THE SECOND LETTER In classification of twentieth-century literature where the number of entries is likely to be large, a system has been devised which materially reduces the length of the Author notation. It must remain for the future to determine the relative importance of the present literary endeavor. For the time being, all twentieth-century literary writers are filed alphabetically in their respective classes. But in all the larger literatures, instead of allowing one Classification num- AUTHOR NOTATION 15 ber to represent the entire alphabet, each letter has a Classi- fication number to itself. Thus PS3501 = American authors whose surnames begin with A. PS3503 = American authors whose surnames begin with B. The author symbol then represents — not the first letter of the Author's name, but the second letter. Thus PS3537 = American twentieth-cen- tury authors whose surnames begin with S, and, .Ai4=Saben, Mowry. .Ai5=Sabin, Will. .A92=Sauter, Edwin. .Ci6=Scarborough, Dorothy. .E26=Seeger, Alan. The letter S combines with fifteen other letters of the alpha- bet, and the author numbers can thus be broken up into fifteen separate groups. The library of Congress already has three hundred entries under PS3537, and it is obvious that when listed in the fifteen groups the numbers will be smaller than they would be if the entries were combined into one list. CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT So far we have dealt mainly with the alphabetical arrange- ment and its exceptions. The chronological arrangement is often a more appropriate sequence, and its advantage was early recognized by librarians. Several systems were de- vised, notably the Biscoe date-letters. (For an explanation of the Biscoe date-letters, see Cutter's Expansive Classifi- cation, Pt. 1, p. 1 30-1 31, or Dewey's Decimal Classification 1 91 5, p. 854-855) Examples of chronological arrangement in the Library of Congress are : 16 AUTHOR NOTATION I. IN HISTORY For pamphlet literature during certain reigns — DA 398 1629 .B2 Bacon, Francis. Considerations touching a warre with Spaine. 1629. DA 398 1630 .W2 Wadsworth, James. The English Spanish pilgrime. 1630. II. IN SCIENCE For individual comets appearing within a given period — QB 726 58. B7 Bond, G. P. On the outline of the head of the comet of Donati, 1858. 1862. QB 726 61.B7 Bond, G. P. Account of the comet II, 1861. 1861. QB 726 61.K8 Kreutz, Heinrich. Untersuchungen fiber die bahn des grossen kometen von 1861. 1880. (Note that the century is included Li Classification .num- ber, e. g. OB726=Comets appearing between 1800-1899)- III. IN POUTICAI, SCIENCE For certain congressional documents, as hearings on a spe- cific subject — JK 1888 1892 U. S. Congress. House. Committee on the judiciary. Hearing of the Woman suffrage association ... January 18, 1892. 1892. JK 1888 1896 U. S. Congress. House. Committee on the judiciary. Hearing of the National woman suffrage association ... January 28, 1896. 1896. JK 1888 1896a U. S. Congress. Senate. Select committee on woman suffrage. ... Report of hearing ... on woman suffrage. January 28, 1806 1896. JK 1888 1912 U. S. Congress. House. Committee on the judiciary. Woman suffrage. ... Hearines ... February 14, 1912. i 9I2 . s AUTHOR NOTATION 17 IV. IN LITERATURE a) To distinguish editions when the title is included in the classification : PR s8i4=Collected poems of Oscar Wilde. PR 5814 1903 Wilde, Oscai. Poems. 1903. PR 5814 1908 Wilde, Oscar. The poetical works. 1908. PR 5814 1910 Wilde, Oscar. Poems. 1910. b) When editions of an author's works are voluminous, and their publication extends over a number of years, editions without editor are numbered by a scheme of date-letters somewhat similar to the Biscoe date-letters. (See Litera- ture schedule, Table 1) e. g. PQ 2279 E41 Hugo, Victor Marie. CEuvres. 1841-44. PQ 2279 E85 Hugo, Victor Marie. CEuvres. 1885-95. PQ 2279 F04 Hugo, Victor Marie. CEuvres completes. 1904- V. IN VARIOUS OTHER PLACES In all places, whether the complete date or a system of date-lettering (as in J82, Presidents' messages) is used, the facts are clearly set forth in the Classification schedules. CONCLUSION The Author notation of the Library of Congress has been a gradual development. There were a few tables to serve as general guides, but almost no precedents for special contin- gencies. It has been necessary to arrange and rearrange. Hundreds of tables to fit individual cases have been worked out. Some of these may be called floating — -they can be attached wherever necessary. Such are the' "Table of cities of the United States," "Table of states," "Table of countries in one alphabet." These are all printed in the 18 AtJTHOE NOTATION Classification schedule for Class H and several of them in various other schedules. There are other tables peculiarly adapted to certain cases, but also applicable elsewhere. Such are the lists of the provinces of France (DC 6n), the cities of Germany (DD 901), and of special lines of business (HF 5686) Other tables are not so flexible and fit only the subject to which they are affixed. No ta ble should be slavishly followedjjbutjhould be am- plified_jor modified as exigencie s arise. As books lire 'not screws, turned out by machinery, according to a mathematical formula, but present infinite variety as to form and con- tent, an orderly arrangement requires the constant exercise of ingenuity and common sense. An example illustrating this point may be taken from the Literature schedule (PN-PR-PS-PZ) In Table vma the literary forms of an author's works are placed in the following order: 1. Novels, 2. Essays, 3. Poems, 4. Plays. If an author is pre-eminently a novelist, his novels take precedence. If he is a playwright par excellence, the dramas would take first position and the novels be relegated to fourth place, and so on. If the author has written nothing but poetry, is it neces- sary merely for the sake of uniformity to crowd all his works into the third section and waste the others ? Author notation may be defined as a system of rules to be judiciously broken. o Binder Gaylord ■Bros. Syracuse, N. Y. pax. jah-21, iaoB :