Chapter XV: Section 3: of the By-laws to include representation of state, (3)

The selections having been made, the list is forwarded to the university librarian. It is then checked with the university catalog. Items already available anywhere on the campus are reported back for further consideration. If it is the judgment of the committee that an additional copy is needed in our library it is so ordered, but all needless duplication is avoided. The actual order is made out by the university librarian who has at hand the bibliographical data for such work.

The books are received, accessioned and plated at the general library. They are then forwarded to our college library to be classified and cataloged. All our books are permitted to circulate not only among the students and professors of our own college but among those of any college of the university. In return the same privilege is granted to us by the other colleges. Having a well developed delivery system and a liberal loaning policy, we encourage the policy of a strong central library.

The next paper, prepared by ASA DON DICKINSON, librarian State college of Washington, treated type

=(b) The experiment station library separate from the college library but under its control.=

Mr. Dickinson said in part:

In the state college of Washington, the experiment station library is said to be separate from the college, but under its control. Our college library building occupies a central position on the campus, not over two hundred yards from the offices of most of the members of the station staff. Part of the lowest tier of the college library book stack is set aside for the accommodation of the station library, the point of division being marked by a gate. A specially designated member of the college library staff acts as station librarian, under the direction of the college librarian. Her salary is paid largely but not wholly out of the station funds. Her duties as station librarian occupy about one-third of her time, but these duties have precedence over her college library work. In the absence of the station librarian, members of the station staff are served by the college library staff.

Our station library is made up almost entirely (1) of publications of the U. S. Department of agriculture; (2) of publications of the state experiment stations, and departments of agriculture and horticulture; (3) of the agricultural, horticultural and kindred periodicals. The college library contains duplicate collections of the first two classes of material. The third class in our experience is relatively of less importance, as it consists chiefly of the popular "farm-papers." The station library, like the college library, has its own card-catalog of U. S. Department of agriculture publications, and its own card-index of experiment station literature.

Students and practitioners of the science of agriculture seem to be specially fortunate in that so much of the valuable material on their subject is published and freely distributed by the federal and state governments. There is perhaps no other science in which the unofficial literature is so relatively unimportant. It is true, the technical journals of the allied sciences contain much that is of value to the experiment station worker. But so far as my experience goes, the use of this is not constant and continuous, as is the case with governmental material. Let us have separate and distinct sets of state and federal "Bulletins," for our college workers and for our station workers, as both classes need to refer to them so frequently. But is not this going far enough? Is it not the wisest policy to confine our station library collection principally to these well-thumbed publications, and to place the less constantly used and more expensive unofficial material in the college library, where it can be of service to a larger public?

MISS MARGARET HUTCHINS, of the reference department of the University of Illinois library described type

=(c) Experiment station library consolidated with the university library.=

Until 1897 the library of the Illinois experiment station and the university library were separately housed, cared for and supported. In that year the state erected a library building for the university and in it the experiment station deposited its collection of nearly five thousand titles. From that time the station ceased buying books from the Hatch fund, with the possible exception of a very few books for laboratory equipment, and it has never bought any from the Adams fund. The books deposited by the experiment station in the university library were classified and cataloged and became a part of the library. The only difference in treatment from books otherwise acquired was that the experiment station books were accessioned separately so that it would be possible to take them out of the library again if desired. All books and periodicals bought or exchanged for the experiment station since 1897 have been dealt with like those bought or exchanged for the university. The questions of administration come therefore for the most part under the general library policy.

Books are purchased for the university either out of the legislative appropriation for the library or the appropriations for the university and its different colleges and departments of investigation.

=1. Library funds.=

The library funds are assigned to the various departments in the colleges of the university by a committee on the apportionment of library funds, consisting of the president, the librarian and the deans of the colleges, who act on the recommendations of a senate library committee. This is composed of the president and the librarian and seven members representing the following interests; Agriculture, Engineering, Science, Graduate school, Library, The languages, literature and arts, and The philosophical and social sciences. Besides preparing for the first mentioned committee on apportionment, detailed estimates of the library needs of the various colleges, schools and departments, the library committee acts as an advisory board to the librarian in matters of library administration and policy. The college of agriculture, which in Illinois is of course intimately connected with the agricultural experiment station, receives its share of the library funds for the purchase of books selected by its professors and investigators.

=2. Maintenance Funds, called Equipment funds in the Library to distinguish from Library funds.=

Books are also purchased out of the legislative appropriations for the support of certain colleges and out of allotments made by the trustees from the general university funds for colleges not specifically provided for by the legislature. In the case of agricultural books these funds have the two purposes: the maintenance fund for the college of agriculture and the experiment station and, second, the appropriations for special departments of investigation in the experiment station.

The general policy of the faculty of the college of agriculture (or the staff of the experiment station) as to purchase of books out of these two different funds for college and experiment station is to buy books for special investigations out of station funds unless they clearly would be of use also to the students and instructors of the college at large. Books needed by the special investigator and the college in general at the same time are duplicated. When books are no longer needed in the laboratory or office for the special work for which they were bought, they are returned for general circulation to the main library by whose staff they were ordered and cataloged. Books already in the library, whether bought out of library funds or equipment funds for any college may be sent to a laboratory, office, or reading room from the main library unless they are needed for reference or class use in the main library or any branch of it.

Exchange.

The library and experiment station also work together in the matter of exchanges. The library exchange assistant arranges for the exchange of experiment station publications the same as for other publications of the university, while the station attends to the actual mailing of its publications, as it has better facilities for this than the library. In this way the library receives from the exchange of the agricultural experiment station publications alone between four and five hundred publications, of which more than one-half are from foreign countries, seventy agricultural periodicals and the publications of ninety learned societies being obtained in addition to the publications of state universities and stations and universities and libraries all over the world. Besides these, the library receives by the exchange of other University of Illinois publications many hundred more publications, some of which are of interest to agricultural scientists and economists.

=Advantages of the Consolidation of Station and University Libraries=

1. Economy of administration.

No staff of agriculturists or any other specialists trained for scientific or literary research can be expected to order, catalog and care for books as quickly and efficiently as can the well organized library staff of forty, with its order department, gifts, exchange and periodical assistants, and cataloging, binding, loan, and reference departments, whose whole time and attention is devoted to these special lines of library work. The library, too, which handles some thirty thousand new books a year can afford to have more elaborate equipment in the way of trade bibliographies of various countries, catalogs of other libraries, mechanical means for duplicating catalog cards, shelving books, etc., than can such an institution as an experiment station whose money should be spent mostly on salaries of specialists and laboratory and field equipment.

2. Security in preservation of valuable books.

While the majority of agricultural departments at Illinois favor departmental libraries, they all make it conditional--"If we had a proper and secure place for them." All with whom I have talked have also emphasized the advisability, almost the necessity, of keeping all books on the campus, whether in departmental libraries, laboratories or main library, under the central administration and the supervision of the librarian of the university.

=3. Opportunity to use books and periodicals purchased by other colleges of the university.=

It can readily be seen that books and periodicals purchased especially by the College of Science may also be of use to the Agricultural experiment station. The agricultural faculty also benefit by the periodicals, university publications, etc., received in exchange for publications of other colleges in the university.

=4. Greater educational opportunities.=

The agricultural experiment station, while receiving the benefits thus enumerated from its close connection with the university library, is able also to extend its circle of influence through the library, which naturally reaches more people than the station could by itself. Not only do the students and faculty of the other colleges of the university have an opportunity to use the agricultural books, but people throughout the state can and do borrow them from the library.

Discussion on the same type of library administration was continued in a paper prepared by Mrs. IDA A. KIDDER, librarian of the Oregon Agricultural College library.

She said in part:

Our policy of one central library was rather thrust upon us by the exigency of our situation than deliberately chosen, for we began with a single librarian and one part time student assistant, but after four years' experience I should pursue the same general course. It is evident, however, that in libraries growing at the almost incredible rate of many of our western libraries, one must have principles of organization and administration, rather than a fixed policy, or inflexible plans.

At the Oregon agricultural college we have the advantage of having all our class room and laboratory buildings located near each other.

We have had no difficulty or complication as to funds, since nearly all our station funds have been used for experiments and laboratory equipment. At first we had almost no college funds for the purchase of books and periodicals, having only such portion of the general equipment fund as could be spared after equipping our rapidly growing laboratories, but at the last session of our legislature the library was granted a fund of $15,000 for the biennium for books, periodicals and binding, and of the Crop Pest fund of $15,000 a year, granted for investigation, ten per cent could be spent for books and periodicals. This has been used and the library has therefore had this biennium, $9,000 a year. Most of the Crop Pest fund has been spent for books directly useful to the station investigator. Of the regular college library fund, the station departments have received their share along with the strictly instructional departments. The library fund is apportioned by the president of the college, after consultation with the librarian, the basis of judgment being the need of the department together with its present equipment. The books purchased from station funds are usually for some specific investigation and are kept in the laboratory collection of the department purchasing. A record is kept of the books purchased under each different fund.

The head of each department is responsible for the books in his laboratory collection, and once a year an inventory is taken. In our general catalog we have the cards of every book kept in a department stamped, under the call number, with the name of that department; thus it is possible to locate from the catalog all books except those out on loan. All our freshmen have one semester's instruction in the use of the library, that is, one lecture and one practical problem a week, with one college credit allowed. During this period we urge the students to feel at liberty to go to any laboratory to consult any book needed for their work, but with all the encouragement we can give them, I feel convinced that the books kept in the laboratory collections do not have the general use from the students which they would have if they were located in the general library.

We expect soon to place in our agricultural building duplicate catalogs of the publications of the United States Department of agriculture and of the state experiment stations. This will be a great accommodation to the men working in the station.

We keep our duplicate reports and bulletins arranged so that at a moment's notice any duplicates may be found. We have one department whose work it is to secure and care for the continuations of value to an agricultural college. This is one of the most valuable features of our organization, and though it was difficult to give the service for such a definite department, from our small library force, it seemed imperative and has proved a wise step. The reference librarian of the college does the reference work for the station as far as called upon. She borrows for the use of the station from a number of other libraries.

It seems to me that the problem of administering the college and the experiment station library, whether separately or combined must always present a number of almost insurmountable difficulties; men engaged in research demand all material for their work closely and immediately at hand, instructional work requires that all the material on the campus shall be easily accessible to its use. To meet these so often conflicting demands without extravagant duplication requires of the librarian a broad-minded impartiality of judgement.

The next topic was a symposium of recent reference books and new periodicals of special interest to agricultural libraries, which was treated under the following heads: (a) New periodicals, by E. Lucy Ogden, Library of Congress; (b) Agricultural reference books, by Elizabeth S. Ingersoll, of Cornell university library, and (c) Reference books in sciences relating to agriculture, by Emma B. Hawks, of the U. S. Department of agriculture library.

Miss Claribel R. Barnett, librarian of the U. S. Department of agriculture library was re-elected chairman for the coming year.

CATALOG SECTION

FIRST SESSION

(Thursday, June 27, 8:15 p. m.)

The first session of the Catalog section was held Thursday evening, June 27, the chairman, Miss Laura A. Thompson, of the Library of Congress, presiding. The reading of the minutes of the last meeting was dispensed with and they stand approved as printed.

The topic of the evening, "Subject headings," was introduced in a paper by Miss MARY JOSEPHINE BRIGGS, cataloger of the Buffalo public library, and editor of the "A. L. A. list of subject headings." In the absence of Miss Briggs, this paper was read by Miss Sula Wagner, of the St. Louis public library.

THE A. L. A. LIST OF SUBJECT HEADINGS

Every cataloger, at least at the beginning of her career, has an ideal of the catalog which she would like to make: a catalog conforming to the most approved rules, accurate in bibliographical detail; consistent in form, in method of entry and in arrangement.

She realizes from the first that the task of achieving this ideal will be difficult; she soon begins to fear that it will be impossible. After perhaps years of endeavor, she questions if it is even desirable.

Absolute consistency in the matter of author entry may be attained by strict adherence to the A. L. A. rules, and the divergences from these rules necessary to adapt them to the varying conditions of public circulating, reference and university libraries are slight and unimportant. But who can frame a code of rules or formulate principles through which consistency in subject headings may be attained? And is consistency so absolutely necessary or desirable? Is not the ideal catalog the one which is best adapted to the needs of the majority of its users; which is so arranged that the reader can find what he wants in the shortest possible time, even at the sacrifice of absolute consistency?

When the work of revising the Subject headings was begun, an effort was made to learn the wishes of all interested in regard to the principles upon which the new edition should be based.

Many of you remember the list of questions that was published in the Library journal and in Public libraries. Some of you sent answers to those questions. They were questions of scope, of principle of selection, and of arrangement. The answers received from librarians, catalogers and reference workers, the opinions of members of the advisory committee upon these and other problems, the ideas expressed by library workers consulted by Miss Crawford in the various libraries which she visited, the suggestions gleaned from correspondence with other library workers and with experts upon various subjects, were all carefully noted by Miss Crawford, and in some instances tabulated so that the varying opinions could be seen at a glance. These notes, together with lists of headings from many libraries, large and small, made up the material from which the third edition of the Subject headings was compiled.

The most casual examination of this material revealed the fact that while on some points there was practical unanimity of opinion, upon others there was the greatest diversity.

The following are not exact quotations, as I no longer have the correspondence at hand; but they fairly indicate the opposing views of some of the writers:

"Expand the list by the addition of necessary new headings, but make few if any changes. The A. L. A. headings are in very general use, and the possible advantage of changes would not compensate for the inconvenience and expense of wholesale alterations in existing catalogs."

"The old headings are antiquated. Do not hamper libraries yet to be by perpetuating phraseology that no longer conforms to modern usage."

"For the sake of uniformity, adopt the Library of Congress headings, even if not always entirely satisfactory for a public library."

"The Library of Congress headings are not at all adapted for use in popular libraries. Disregard them."

"The public library is for the plain people,--use headings they will understand."

"If the public does not understand scientifically accurate headings it should be taught. Do not lower the standard of scientific cataloging."

To choose headings that should offend as little as possible these widely differing advisers, to steer a course between ultraconservatism and iconoclastic radicalism, was the difficult task that confronted me in undertaking the compilation of the new list of Subject headings.

A special effort was made to formulate a principle that should govern the choice of adjective phrase; inversion; or noun, subdivided. Is it better to enter under Chemistry, Physiological, or Physiological chemistry? Under Psychology, Educational, or Educational psychology? Under Negro suffrage or Negroes--Suffrage?

A strict rule for this sort of heading would be a boon to catalogers, but surely not to the users of the catalog. The average reader does not reason concerning the principles upon which the catalog is constructed. The fact that he today finds what he seeks entered under Chemistry, Organic, will not prevent his turning to Electric engineering rather than Engineering, Electric, tomorrow. The adoption of either form of entry to the exclusion of the others would lead to absurdities. Because it is satisfactory to subdivide Railroads, would it be desirable to abandon headings beginning Electric and substitute subdivisions of Electricity for Electric conductors, Electric lighting and Electric power? Or because Botany, Structural, is preferable to Structural botany, should we use Physics, Agricultural, instead of Agricultural physics?

In the end, all efforts to frame the desired rule resolved themselves into something like this: It is necessary to use all three forms of heading; noun with subdivision, adjective phrase, and inversion. Each case must be decided upon its own merits, and that form used under which it is believed that the majority of readers will look,--the majority of readers in each particular library, be it understood. A university library will use many subdivisions because it is convenient for professors and students to have much of the material brought together under large subjects. A medical library will use few, if any, headings beginning Medical, because Medical is understood.

As was stated in the introduction, no radical changes from the second edition were made except in response to what seemed to be a very general demand. There were few dissenting votes to the proposition to abandon the headings Arts, Fine, and Arts, Useful. The majority in favor of Government instead of Political science was less decisive, but still a majority, and the confession heard more than once, "I never can remember the difference between political science and political economy," was a straw that helped to turn the scale. Trade union is no longer a comprehensive term when organizations of teachers and of others outside the trades must be included. The phrase Domestic economy is being superseded in recent books by Home economics or by Domestic science. It is impossible to mention the changes in detail or to give the reasons for each, but no changes were made without careful consideration.

Just how far it is advisable to alter existing catalogs in order to conform to the new headings is a problem that each cataloger must decide for herself. If in your opinion the heading already in use is better than the new one suggested, by all means retain it. If, while admitting a slight advantage in the new heading, you think that the gain is not sufficient to justify the labor of changing, it is much easier to alter your copy of the Subject headings than to erase or re-write catalog cards. But if you are convinced that the new heading is one that will be more readily found by the users of your library, and by the desk attendants who have not catalog training, then make the change, even at the expense of considerable time and labor. And by all means consult the attendants in the circulating and reference departments if in doubt as to the advisability of making a change. They know how books are called for. They know how they themselves look for them; and "see" references are irritating when there is a line of impatient borrowers reaching from the request window to the door.

Such changes as have already been made in the catalog of the Buffalo public library have met with general approval from the loan desk. Recitations and readings; Grammar, English; Spelling, English; Corn instead of Maize; Humor instead of Wit and humor; the transfer of the subheading Best books from Bibliography to Books and reading; and the removal of Immigration from under country, have received especial approbation. The necessity for the latter change was made apparent when it was discovered that the half dozen cards under Immigration were so soiled as to be almost illegible, while those under U. S. Immigration bore no evidence of use; either because the "See also" reference had been overlooked, or because readers were daunted or confused by the complex arrangement of the cards under United States.

In all these cases the new heading differs from both the old A. L. A. heading and from the Library of Congress heading.

Starting with the intention of retaining all headings upon which the A. L. A. list and the Library of Congress were agreed, I soon found that some of these very headings had occasioned the greatest dissatisfaction. If the new list was to be acceptable to any considerable number of those who had taken sufficient interest in the subject to answer Miss Crawford's questions, I must endeavor to get closer to the point of view of the users of the catalog, rather than be governed by theory or established precedent.

The Library of Congress headings are admittedly devised to meet conditions in the Library of Congress,--certainly very different conditions from those of a public library. Moreover, the Library of Congress headings have been, and still are, in a state of development. Many changes have been made in the last dozen years, and as it is plainly impracticable to reprint immediately all cards bearing a discarded heading, libraries purchasing cards printed several years ago will often find headings suggested that are no longer in use by the Library of Congress. Sometimes cards for two editions of the same book bear altogether different headings.

The varying headings adopted by the departmental libraries, whose cards are printed and issued by the Library of Congress, cause still further apparent inconsistency. We cannot be sure that any particular heading was ever approved by the Library of Congress unless the card bears the Library of Congress serial number. The Department of Education, for example, uses Secondary education and Art education, while the Library of Congress uses Education, Secondary, and Art--Study and teaching. The Department of Agriculture has adopted Botany, Agricultural; Fruit and fruit trees; and U. S.--Forestry; while the Library of Congress enters the same material under Botany, Economic; Fruit culture; and Forests and forestry--U. S. Such variations make it impossible for any cataloger using the printed cards to follow blindly the headings suggested thereon, and emphasize the fact that no list of headings can be satisfactory to all kinds of libraries.

Most of the headings for the new A. L. A. list were decided upon before the Library of Congress began to issue its printed lists. On comparing the lists first received, I found cases where the Library of Congress had changed its practice, and as each instalment was issued I made changes in the manuscript already prepared, in order to bring the two lists into closer agreement. Doubtless in the Library of Congress lists yet to be issued there will be many headings different from those in use five years ago, at the time the list which was my guide was copied from the Library of Congress catalog.

Conformity in general to the Library of Congress headings was my aim, and in most cases of doubt the usage of the Library of Congress, if known, was the determining factor in the decision. But when, fortified by the approval of such advisers as were available, including in important cases the member of the Publishing Board who is now president of the American Library Association, I was convinced that some other form of entry would be more helpful to the users of a public library, I adopted that form, even though inconsistent--as in the treatment of English language,--or not altogether accurate--as in the substitution of Corn and Rubber for Maize and India-rubber. I may add that in no case did I decide in opposition to the majority of the members of the advisory committee, though only a few specific headings were submitted to them.

The list, being prepared for moderately large libraries, contains many headings that may well be ignored by the smaller libraries. Not only are most of the subdivisions unnecessary, but so also are many distinctions which would result in separation of material that might better be kept together if the entries are few, such as Charity organization, Infants (Children being a sufficient entry), Soil absorption, Soil moisture.

The list is not intended as a guide to be followed blindly, but to be adapted to individual needs, by the exercise of common sense--perhaps the most necessary part of a cataloger's equipment.

Consideration of cost and weight of the book necessitated limitation of the scope. There was a strong plea for the inclusion of geographical terms, at least in cases of disputed spelling. A list of such names was prepared by Miss Crawford, with full references and definitions. It was estimated that this list would add perhaps one hundred pages to the book, and the Publishing Board did not feel that it was advisable to include them. Very many headings that might be considered as falling within the scope of the book were omitted because their use would be infrequent, and it was thought better that the occasional cataloger should write these headings on the blank pages, rather than that all should be required to pay for an unnecessarily long and correspondingly heavy list.

Just a word in regard to the actual amount of material in the book. The statement of the Publishing Board that the third edition contains about three times the material in the second edition has been questioned on the score that the new edition is printed on one side of the leaf only. It should be remembered, however, that only the printed pages are numbered, so that the list of headings in the third edition occupies 397 pages, double column, while the second edition contained but 193 half pages and 12 full pages. That is, the printed matter in the third edition occupies nearly four times the space filled in the second edition. Moreover, the type is smaller, so that the new page contains twelve lines more than the old one. Therefore, allowing for the blank space occasioned by the disparity of the lists of "See also" and "Refer from" references, it is believed that the estimate of three times the material of the second edition is conservative.

The subject was continued in a paper by Miss MARY W. MACNAIR, of the Library of Congress on

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LIST OF SUBJECT HEADINGS

The list of subject headings issued by the Library of Congress is used also, for reference and comparison, by many other libraries throughout the country. It has been suggested that a statement in regard to the purpose, scope, and manner of printing of the list, might be useful to the librarians receiving it, and possibly valuable as well to others who are interested in the undertaking, and who may be, to some extent, unfamiliar with the Library of Congress catalog.

The printing of the list of subject headings was begun in the summer of 1909. Up to that time, the second edition of the A. L. A. subject headings had been used as a basis for the subjects assigned in the Library of Congress catalog. But so many additions and alterations had been made in our interleaved copies of the A. L. A. list, that the need of an entirely new list of headings began to be urgently felt, although the difficulty had been partially obviated by the printing of lists of additions to the old A. L. A. list, for distribution to the catalogers at the Library of Congress. At this date the third edition of the A. L. A. list was already in preparation, yet it was considered wiser to print a list of the Library of Congress headings, rather than to co-operate in the A. L. A. undertaking, as the headings needed in our catalog differed to such an extent from those required for the average public library.

The distribution of the list to other libraries was not, at first, contemplated. The printing of the subject headings was undertaken to facilitate the work of the catalogers in the Library of Congress, and it was believed that, if supplied to other libraries in its preliminary form, the list would give rise to many queries in regard to unavoidable omissions and inconsistencies. It had not progressed far, however, before many libraries intimated that it would be useful to them to receive the letters as they were issued, and when requests became too urgent for refusal, it was decided to supply copies at a price insuring that only those libraries should order them which had serious use for them. It was considered that 50 copies for distribution outside the Library of Congress would surely be sufficient, but it turned out that the estimate was too small, and, in consequence, there has had to be much reprinting of the early letters of the alphabet. The edition of the letter P, just issued, was 500 copies.

The scope of the list of headings is largely inclusive in its character, covering subjects in all branches of knowledge as far as they have been adopted in the Library of Congress catalog. The names of persons and places are, however, omitted, also names of societies, institutions, and bodies of various kinds, names of treaties and conventions, and systematic names of genera and species in botany and zoology.

The classes theology, and military and naval science are only partially represented in the list, as these sections are not yet re-cataloged. The classes language, literature, and philology, which are now in the process of recataloging, are more fully, but not yet wholly, represented. In the earlier letters of the alphabet, few headings in law were introduced (as it has only been during the past few months that the law headings have been systematically considered), but they are now included in the list, and many of those omitted in the earlier letters are being entered in the lists of additions to the subject headings issued in connection with the main list.

We include in the list the more important subdivisions under a subject. These subdivisions are printed in italics, and separated from the main subject by a dash. One point to which I would especially call the attention of librarians using the list is that ordinarily only those subdivisions are printed under a subject which are distinctive, or peculiar to that subject. General form subdivisions, such as Directories, Periodicals, Societies, etc., which may properly be used under any subject requiring them, are, as a rule, omitted from the list. (A list of these form subdivisions can be found on p. 19 of the "Preliminary list of subject subdivisions," issued by the library in 1910.) Under names of countries only the history subdivisions are included.

Turning now from the consideration of the subdivisions, a few words may be useful in regard to the cross-references from subject headings to related subjects. In general, it may be said that references are made from the more inclusive to the smaller subjects, and not ordinarily back from smaller to larger. We should refer from Grain to Maize and Rye, but not from Maize and Rye back again to Grain. Where practicable, references are made from the most inclusive to somewhat more limited subjects, and from these latter to subjects still more specific, rather than from the inclusive to the specific subjects. We refer from Art to Engraving, from Engraving to Stipple-engraving, not directly from Art to Stipple-engraving. These general principles have been departed from where it has seemed expedient, the desire being to render the list useful and practical, rather than to make it adhere too strictly to rigid rules of procedure.

The seeming incompleteness of references from many subjects, references which obviously are needed to round out the various aspects of subjects is due to the fact that certain headings are not as yet introduced in the Library of Congress catalog. We have been very conservative about introducing new headings until called for by the books in hand, judging that the headings should be made to conform to the literature, rather than the literature to the headings.

The printing of a subject in antique type indicates that, in the library catalog, the subject has country subdivision, as in Education, Labor and laboring classes, Insurance, etc. It may be helpful to add here that the country is subordinated to the subject in our catalog, when it seems desirable to keep the material on a topic together, rather than to distribute it under the country headings. This includes many subjects in technology, science, art, and the social sciences.

The numbers which follow the subject headings indicate where the material dealing with those subjects is classified in the Library of Congress. The explanatory words following these numbers serve merely to guide those interested in the classification scheme. They are in different form from the subject headings, and should not be confused with them. In the matter of hyphens, the Century dictionary has been used as an authority.

At the present time the list of headings has been completed through the letter P. Q and R are now ready for the press, and will probably be issued in the course of a few weeks. The editor of the list sometimes feels it to be a cause for gratitude that the English alphabet is composed of only 26 letters. Should it contain as many letters as some other alphabets, the Sanskrit for example, the day of completion of the list might indeed be far away.

A few words in regard to the printing of the lists known as "Additions and corrections" will, I think, be needed for a full understanding of the subject headings. I have already spoken of the lists of additions issued in connection with the old A. L. A. list, before the Library of Congress list of headings began to be printed. When letter A of our new list was ready for press, there had been four of these lists issued, the additions being cumulated in each successive number. The corrections in the lists appeared but once, and were carried over by the catalogers to copies of the A. L. A. list. The headings in these early supplementary lists have, of course, been incorporated in the Library of Congress list, as far as the letters have been printed.

Even after the new list was begun, it was found impossible to dispense with the "Additions and corrections" lists, as the library catalog grew and expanded. We have continued to issue them from time to time, as occasion has demanded, and have included in them new headings in the section of the alphabet not yet printed, as well as additions to the letters which have already appeared in print.

Each "Additions and corrections" list is cumulative, as far as the additions are concerned, so that a library possessing the main list and the latest supplementary list has a complete record of all the Library of Congress headings which have been printed. As was the case in the lists supplementary to the A. L. A. headings, the corrections noted appear but once, and should be carried over by catalogers to the main list of subject headings.

The classification numbers, and cross references to related subjects, known as the "See also" references, are not included in the supplementary lists. Direct "See" references from one subject to another, or from one form of name to another, are, however, usually included, that the cataloger may avoid the pitfalls lurking for the unwary.

Including the early supplementary lists, there have been, up to the present time, eight lists of "Additions and corrections" issued, and number 9 is ready for the press.

Having now touched upon some general features in regard to the issuing of the list of subject headings, with its supplementary lists, I will conclude with a word as to a later and fuller edition. The list now being issued is a preliminary list, printed as manuscript, and, to some extent, experimental in its nature. While it is being made as complete and inclusive as present conditions seem to warrant, the intention has been to reissue it later in book form, wider in its scope and more inclusive in its references. Concerning the date of issue of the fuller edition, should this desired consummation be brought about, it is impossible at this time to make a statement. Probably it will be best to wait until the remaining classes of books in the library are reclassified and re-cataloged, before any definite decision as to date is reached.

It has been suggested that the next edition of the list might be put into loose-leaf form, with a view to keeping it to date by inserting new leaves, when necessary, in place of old ones. Experiments may be tried along this line, and the relative merits of the various loose-leaf binders investigated. The advocate of this plan suggests that the Linotype slugs be kept standing, and that once a month the sheets on which changes have been made be reprinted, and distributed to the catalogers at the Library of Congress, and to subscribers to the list.

The subject matter of a later list would doubtless agree with the present list in general features, but some minor changes might be found to be desirable. One point to which our attention has been called is the possible advantage of entering subjects in zoology and botany in the plural form rather than in the singular, as most of them have been entered in the present list. Another matter which merits consideration is the substitution of subdivided headings for the inverted forms now in use in certain classes of subjects, as in the headings Oxygen, Physiological effect of, and Man, Origin of. Some other questions to be considered are as to whether it would be advisable to distinguish in the list those subjects which are divided by country and then by city, from the subjects which have direct local subdivision; whether certain classes of headings now included could be advantageously dispensed with; and whether the main subdivisions of the animal and vegetable kingdoms are a valuable feature of the list.

Doubtless other matters will suggest themselves for consideration as time goes on, and we shall hope eventually to publish a list which may commend itself as a valuable tool to library workers. Borrowing the words of Mr. Charles A. Cutter in the preface to his "Rules for a dictionary catalogue" we may say with him: "It is to be expected that a first attempt will be incomplete, and we shall be obliged to librarians for criticisms, objections, or new problems, with or without solutions."

It had been hoped that Mr. J. C. M. Hanson would personally supplement this paper by an informal account of the early practice and experimentation of the Library of Congress. In his unavoidable absence, brief extracts from a personal letter were read by Miss Thompson, who then called upon DR. E. C. RICHARDSON, librarian of Princeton university, to open the discussion with some previously prepared notes on

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF CATALOGING

This discussion by the direction of proper authority is a discussion of the alphabetic subject catalog as suggested by the A. L. A. and Library of Congress subject heads. It is confined to general principles and general principles, of course, always have exceptions. This discussion is, however, free in considering these so far as it pleases.

Some of the fundamental principles may seem more like rules than principles at first sight but it is believed that they are all well principled. However, it is not pretended that they are all the principles in sight; quite the contrary, there is quite a pocket-full of these left each with the memorandum of some principle, big or little, and there are but twenty-one here enumerated. This being a discussion rather than a systematic paper properly refers to matters of recent personal experience. Since the first page of the new subject index contains subjects down to the name "Absolute," there has been drawn a synopsis of all the subject headings used by the A. L. A., Library of Congress, Harvard, Sydney, Princeton and the indexes of the Expansive Classification and Decimal Classification.

This will illustrate the variety of usages which have to be dealt with in attempting to systematize this matter so as to get uniformity and may be regarded as illustrations of the principles enumerated.

1. A catalog is a name list of concrete or specific objects as distinguished from classes of objects; a list of plants in a botanical garden, of mineral specimens in a museum or books in a library, but a list of kinds of plants, minerals or books apart from concrete specimens is not. In the case of books such a list is a bibliography. The book catalog is a directory or guide book to certain concrete books, the bibliography is a list of books in the abstract, applying equally whether its books exist in one place or another, or even if they no longer exist at all.

2. A library catalog is a directory or guide book to books for use. The immediate object to publishers, new book dealers, book auctioneers or antiquarians is sale, the object to the librarian is use. This difference affects both the form of the catalog and the description of the books.

3. Library catalogs in turn may be distinguished into catalogs for the administration (which include chiefly accession catalog and the shelf list) and those for direct use of readers (which include author, subject, title, imprint, etc., catalogs)--the special use in every case modifying the form of the catalog.

4. Catalogs for readers differ according to the two needs of readers which the catalogs try to meet. These needs are (1) To find a given book; (2) to find a book or group of books of a given character. It is not quite exact to say under this second head, that the object is to find information on a given subject or topic, for it may be that the object is to find special forms such as incunabula or Venetian imprints, association books, fiction, poetry, drama, essays, orations, ballads, encyclopedias, dictionaries, periodicals, classes of rarities, books on vellum, etc.

5. The prime object of a library catalog or directory to books for use resolves itself into a matter of the economy of time and of attention. Where there are only two or three books in a man's library there is obviously little need of catalog. As soon as there are many the guide book is needed. Whether, therefore, the catalog is author or subject, the controlling thought in its making is the economy of attention of the user.

6. The alphabetic order is on the whole the quickest reference order. The economic solution for these two needs proves, therefore, to be, the two alphabetical catalogs (1) the author and title catalog, (2) the alphabetical subject catalog. Title catalogs and the like are simply supplementary practical devices to aid inexperienced or forgetful readers.

The author and title catalog is distinguished from the author and catch-word catalog by the entry of anonymous titles under the first word rather than under the most significant word.

6b. Following a natural evolution, the systematic library catalog and the alphabetical classed catalog are practically extinct species, overwhelmed in the struggle for existence by the alphabetical subject catalog's quick and ready reference. This economy is, to be sure, effected for the average use, at a very great expense to the use of a good many readers who wish to consider all related aspects of a topic, but with the growing habit of classification of libraries, there is in fact a handy substitute, for these readers, in the classification, its index, and the shelf list. The alphabet subject catalog has thus become the recognized sole form of subject catalog for users in general.

7. The nature and origin of the alphabetical subject catalog is the same as that of the alphabetical encyclopedia, the alphabetical index to books and alphabetical index to a system of classification. Its rules and applications may, therefore, be guided by experience and practice in these three fields as well as direct experience in the alphabetical subject catalog.

8. Habit being a chief factor in quick reference, it is important that the name of the subject should be that of common usage. By this is not meant necessarily the use of the common people, but the form generally used in book indexes, encyclopaedias, and library classifications. It is greatly to be desired that all encyclopedias, classifications, indexes and alphabetical subject catalogs should use just the same terms--the same form among synonyms, the same practice as to singular or plural, adjectives or substantive entry.

9. At least the names of the subjects in the alphabetical subject catalog should be identical with those of the alphabetical index to the systematic catalog if there is any or the classification of its own library.

10. Whatever names are used must be clearly defined. This is the first principle of subject cataloging, whether the arrangement is alphabetical or systematic, that the subject word shall be so clearly defined that there is no mistaking what is to go under it. It is hard to lay too much stress on this matter. It is the Alpha and Omega of subject cataloging of every sort, besides which even uniform names and the question of arrangement are quite secondary.

11. In choosing the names for classes, the most specific should be used. This is a very important aid indeed to clear definition. The only objection is the splitting of kindred subjects--the same idea which leads to the alphabetical classed or systematic catalog.

Many cautions are issued warning against being too specific--some well founded, but the danger lies almost wholly in the other direction. There may be a limit but the principle is one of the clearest and most important in the whole matter and even the encyclopedias--even the Britannica itself--are getting further and further away from the old Britannica type.

12. The names of subjects so far as they are identical with author catalog entries should be determined by the same rules as in the author catalog. This is another important aid to uniform names which should be strictly insisted on.

13. The alphabetical subject catalog should have a classed index, as the classed catalog or the shelf list must have an alphabetical index. Note that the index to the new Britannica by its alphabetical index recognizes itself as an alphabetical classed encyclopedia rather than an alphabetical subject encyclopedia. Note also that it has the systematic index--the idea which in the end must be applied to every alphabetical subject catalog and which will be fully served automatically if the names of the classification index are identical with the subject headings and the class number attached to each of the subject catalog headings.

14. Sub-headings and sub-sub-headings should be alphabetically arranged. They should not be systematic or chronological.

15. Sub-headings should be chosen by the same rules and principles as main headings and thus make a duplicate list. There may be practical limits to this but principle is clear.

16. The arrangements of titles under main subject or sub-headings need not be alphabetical. Much is to be said for the chronological order of authorship or publication, but almost the only use for alphabetical arrangement by authors under heading is a poor duplication of author catalog use. It might be a real advantage to break the bad habit of using subject catalog for author purposes and on the other hand, the chronological arrangement of titles in the vast number of cases would save turning all the cards as required in the alphabetical order. Nevertheless the alphabetical is now the common method.

17. Complex books may be analyzed for the subject catalog. This is the distinctive advantage of the subject catalog over the shelf list that it can put different articles in the same volume or various subjects involved in one title under all their effective headings. It is obvious, however, that this principle must be limited--to apply in a wooden way would involve all periodicals and essays, a rock on which more than one attempt at subject cataloging has been wrecked.

18. The subject catalog should not be overloaded with references. The principle of economy of attention requires this. Few things are more aggravating in working under subjects than to have to finger over a large number of irrelevant cards. Some of the remedies for this are subdivision, the arrangement in chronological order of publication as above suggested, limiting analysis by excluding all works analyzed in accessible indexes and, where there is more than one edition of the same work, indicating one only and referring to the author catalog for the others.

19. The card should not be overloaded with details. The principle of economy of attention involves reducing the amount of material in a title to its lowest terms (whether on card or printed book) a matter greatly helped by typographical distinctions or corresponding distinction in the breaking of written lines, the location of certain details on certain lines or certain fixed places on the card, the use of red ink, underscoring, and similar details enabling the user to get the essential facts as to the identity of the work and its location in the building in the shortest possible time.

20. The indications on the cards of either catalog should be as brief as may consist with clearness and so displayed on the card as to catch the eye quickly.