College and Research Libraries


administrators have been leaving these 

problems to the catalogers. Suddenly they 

have realized their own responsibilities in 

this field—responsibilities of making major 

policies of far-spreading e f f e c t s — w h i c h 

cannot be delegated to a single depart-

ment. A l o n g w i t h this realization has 

come a terrifying feeling of inadequacy be-

cause the problems are staggering in their 

proportions and the administrators have 

lost the contacts necessary to their solution. 

T h e y are having to rely very largely on the 

advice and experience of those "techni-

cians" w h o m a f e w alarmists have urged 

them to distrust. Hence the recent great 

concern on the part of some library ad-

ministrators. If there is a crisis in cata-

loging it is not a general crisis closely 

associated w i t h and attributable to the pub-

lication of the new edition of the Rules but 

an individual problem to be faced cour-

ageously at home. 

By F L O R A B. L U D I N G T O N 

The New Code and the College Library 

Miss Ludington is librarian, Williston 

Memorial Library, Mount Holyoke Col-

lege. 

L i b r a r y administrators, in the last f e w 

months, have been going to school to the 

catalogers. T h e classes have been anala-

gous to those in the medical profession 

known as refresher courses. T h e i r suc-

cess has been in proportion to the knowl-

edge and interest of the administrator. I 

have been attending such a seminar, and 

for much that follows I am indebted to 

the catalogers of the M o u n t Holyoke C o l -

lege library w h o were my teachers. T h e s e 

discussions served to sharpen my realiza-

tion of cataloging minutiae and of changes 

that have crept into its procedures in the 

years since I profited by the teaching of 

Jennie Dorcas Fellows. In spite of D r . 

Bishop's w a r n i n g that I should never try 

to do reference w o r k without having had 

cataloging experience, I did serve as a 

reference librarian for a number of years. 

M y administrative experience is of shorter 

duration, but in the past f e w years I have 

become sharply aware of the administra-

tive problems related to cataloging. T h e s e 

problems all relate to making material 

promptly and readily available and the 

costs in so doing. T h e library catalog, key 

to the accessibility of this material, is 

newly related to these problems in the 

light of the revised code of cataloging. 

T h i s preliminary American second edi-

tion very largely codifies existing practice. 

It arranges in a form which is readily 

consulted cataloging procedures of the 

L i b r a r y of Congress developed in the past 

forty years. Needless to say, they have 

changed during this period. T h e y have 

changed since the 1908 code was published 

and they w i l l continue to change. Aside 

from the need to codify L i b r a r y of Con-

gress practice, it w a s especially desirable 

to clarify many points for libraries doing 

cooperative cataloging and for those listing 

their holdings in union catalogs. T h e 

MARCH, 1942 
12 7 



new code is a finely comprehensive piece 
of work. It provides for practically every 
contingency as a court of appeal in every 
type of cataloging. It has definite value 
in codifying rules which M o u n t Holyoke, 
for one, has been trying to work out for 
itself through study of Library of Con-
gress rules and their application to its 
cards. T h e time spent in cataloging 
should be reduced, for by having definite 
rules in a manual and by accepting such 
rules as authoritative, unnecessary discus-
sion and indecision can be avoided. T h e 
committee has done a distinct service to 
the profession in making the material in 
the new code available for consultation. 
Judgment and discrimination will still be 
needed in the application of the rules and 
in adapting them for use in a particular 
situation. 

Dependent upon L.C. Cards 

During the years that the Library of 
Congress has been making its cards avail-
able, all libraries have become increasingly 
dependent upon these printed cards. 
Mount Holyoke was the eighth library to 
avail itself of the new service which was 
established forty years ago this month. 
During the first year, out of 7035 cards 
filed in the catalog per cent were 
printed Library of Congress cards. In 
the last year for which figures are avail-
able (1936-37) out of 14,400 cards filed, 
they had risen to 70 per cent. T h e per-
centage has increased not only because 
more cards were issued, but also because 
by using them, a more satisfactory and 
uniform catalog would result and at a 
cost which would be less than if we were 
to do all the work ourselves. Naturally 
the percentage of Library of Congress 
cards used is lower for the universities 
because of wider curricular spread and a 

larger proportion of foreign titles. But 
both college and university libraries would 
welcome a further increase in this per-
centage. 

H o w can this be done? First, by speed-
ing up and streamlining Library of Con-
gress cataloging and the issuing of printed 
cards. Progress in this regard is already 
apparent, but books reported as having 
been received in January 1939 are still 
being held in December 1941. T i t l e s re-
ported as " o n " (books ordered in North 
America, cards can be expected in twelve 
weeks) often wait for months. 

Second, as we are well aware, the Li-
brary of Congress needs to catch up in 
its arrearage. Ample evidence of this can 
be found by examination of titles reported 
as " R " (book has been received, cards 
may be expected in seven weeks) and of 
still older vintage are those reported as 
" R d " (book received, cataloging delayed, 
perhaps a year) and " R d l " (book re-
ceived, but cataloging will be delayed a 
long time, possibly five years). In these 
latter categories can be found such titles, 
important to college and university librar-
ies, as Liidtke's Deutscher Kulturatlas 
(waiting since 1 9 3 5 ) , Furtwangler's 
Griechische Vasenm'alerei (since 1 9 3 7 ) , 
over twenty volumes issued for the Inter-
national Geological Congress held in Len-
ingrad in 1937, etc. These are all titles 
which will be found in many college and 
university libraries. A s things stand, many 
of us are handling these items for our-
selves. 

Budget for Noncopyright Books 

T h i r d , still another way to increase the 
use of printed cards would be the pro-
vision of a more generous budget for the 
Library of Congress itself for noncopy-
right books, largely ones published in 

122 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



England and outside the U n i t e d States. 

N e w English titles are now being included 

in cooperative cataloging and cards are 

thus made available, but many an " n p " 

book is one w h i c h should be found in our 

national library. 

Fourth, prompt reporting to the union 

catalog for all items reported by the L i -

brary of Congress as " n p , " or not printed, 

should be incumbent on all of us and as 

a corollary a provision for automatic 

searching in the union catalog for all titles 

lacking in the L i b r a r y of Congress depos-

itory. T h i s service is, I believe, now 

available to libraries doing cooperative 

cataloging. I wish it might be extended to 

all libraries, and that the formulae for 

L i b r a r y of Congress card orders could be 

changed so that libraries electing the 

service could have all " n p " titles auto-

matically searched and a report made of 

other libraries that had already cataloged 

the volumes. Photostatic copies of the 

cards could then be secured from those li-

braries. 

O n e further point before I leave the 

subject of the L i b r a r y of Congress and 

its cataloging, and that is the very great 

desirability of the printing of the L i b r a r y 

of Congress depository catalog at the 

earliest possible date. T h i s w o u l d help 

all of us to establish author entries and 

in deciding the number of cards to order 

when older titles are being handled. 

Keeping the catalog up to date is still 

another matter which w i l l engage the 

A . L . A . committee concerned w i t h the 

project. 

Y o u may very w e l l ask w h a t bearing 

have these observations of the L i b r a r y of 

Congress card service on the new catalog-

ing code. M y categorical answer is, a great 

deal indeed. T h e code which w e now have 

before us is a record of past L i b r a r y of 

Congress practices which have resulted in 

vast arrearage in cataloging in our great 

national library. I t has resulted in pro-

voking serious delay in issuing cards for 

books which are now in W a s h i n g t o n wait-

ing cataloging for weeks, months, and even 

years. If this arrearage is to continue to 

snowball, then something must be done 

about it. T h e Descriptive C a t a l o g i n g D i -

vision at the L i b r a r y of Congress is already 

pointing the w a y ; w e as college librarians 

should give it our support. T h e intelli-

gent leadership which has long been the 

tradition of the L i b r a r y of Congress, as 

evidenced by the publication of the first 

printed cards, is again to the fore. In ad-

vocating changes which, at first glance, 

may seem to be radical but which retain 

the essential features of good cataloging 

practice, the L i b r a r y of Congress promises 

to be in a position to accelerate its service 

to our libraries, large and small, popular 

and scholarly alike. 

New Code Based on Established Practice 

A t this point let us examine the new 

code, which is based on established prac-

tice, and see w h a t portions of it w a r r a n t 

retention by the L i b r a r y of Congress and 

w h a t portions can be modified in the in-

terests of economy and efficiency of the 

card service. 

T h e committee was most wise in its 

decision to issue the code in t w o parts. 

T h i s was logical not only for ease of con-

sultation but also for the possibility of 

simplification. P a r t I of the code is very 

properly legalistic in its approach to the 

problem of main entries. B y c o d i f y i n g 

already established rules, the committee 

has been scholarly in its grasp and solution 

of problems. It is here that there should 

be a fair degree of uniformity, not only in 

a single library but among libraries in gen-

MARCH, 1942 
12 7 



eral. W i t h the increase of union catalogs 

this is of primary importance for if filing 

problems are not solved at their source by 

adequate and accurate entries, the cost is 

simply passed on to another agency. 

T h e r e are, however, special classes of 

entries which merit comment. T h e first 

of these is the perplexing problem of the 

corporate entry. Here the rules are hard 

to follow and occasionally tend to pass 

over the sound bibliographical principle of 

describing the physical object in hand. In 

our, perhaps commendable, zeal to bring 

all entries of an issuing agency together, 

we frequently force the users of our cata-

logs to shuttle back and forth from one 

section of the alphabet to another and to 

cope with drawers of cards listing publica-

tions of a single governmental agency or 

a learned society. T h e human mind and 

memory are so constituted that a book is 

most apt to be remembered by subject or 

according to information found on the title 

page. W o u l d stricter adherence to the 

data given on the title pages of these books 

help to break up the long files which w i l l 

continue to result from our present prac-

tice? Books issued by societies or govern-

mental agencies are notoriously difficult 

to locate. T h e problems involved are not 

easy of solution. J. C . M . Hanson has 

stated the difficulties more clearly than I 

can in his article "Corporate Authorship 

versus T i t l e E n t r y . " 1 In this article M r . 

Hanson records his doubt concerning prac-

tices which have been followed for forty 

years and makes a number of concrete sug-

gestions. T h e new rules boldly attack 

many of the problems involved; they w i l l 

help to solve some of them, but it is my be-

lief that further thought and study are in-

dicated. F o r example, the rules (no. 71-

102) do not state which authorities to pre-

1 Library Quarterly 5:455-66, Oct. 1935. 

fer in establishing the headings if there is 

a conflict among those consulted. O n the 

authority card used as an illustration in 

Appendix V (p. 340) w e find an entry 

for Massachusetts. "Special Commission 

on Security L a w s . " (Created by Chapter 

37 of the Resolves of 1937.) Cross refer-

ences are given from two other possible 

forms and from the title page w o r d i n g 

"Massachusetts special commission on 

study of laws regulating promotion and 

sale of securities." N o t one of these word-

ings actually appears in Chapter 37 of the 

Resolves of 1937, though the title page 

form comes close to agreeing with the en-

try selected. It is evident from a study of 

the w o r d i n g of a number of resolves creat-

ing commissions that a simplified wording 

has to be adopted for the author entry. 

B u t no special rule covers the f o l l o w i n g : 

Massachusetts. Special commission to study 
and revise laws relating to public welfare. 
Report. 1936. [36-27943] 
T - p reads. Special commission established 

to study and revise the laws relating to pub-
lic welfare. 

Chap. 56, Resolves of 1935. Uses same 
wording. 

Massachusetts. Special commission to in-
vestigate the laws relative to dependent 
delinquent and neglected children. 
Report. 1931. [35-89] 
T - p reads. Special commission established 

to investigate . . . 

Massachusetts. Special commission on pub-
lic health laws and policies. 
Report. 1936. [37-27570] 
T - p reads. Special commission to study 

and investigate public health . . . 
Chap. 11, Resolves of 1935. 
Chap. 32, Resolves of 1936. 
Wording in these includes phrase to study 

and investigate. 

Massachusetts. Special commission on ac-
tivities within this commonwealth of com-
munistic, fascist, Nazi and other subversive 
organizations. 

124 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



Report. 1938. [32-28436] 
T - p reads. Special commission to investi-

gate the activities . . . 
Chap. 32, Resolves of 1937 reads. 
Special commission relative to the activi-

ties . . . 

In some cases the words " t o study," "to 

investigate," " t o revise" have been re-

tained, in other instances they have been 

dropped so it is necessary to make numer-

ous cross references or to force the students 

to go through endless cards under Massa-

chusetts. W o u l d it not be less confusing 

to f o l l o w the title page form since it is 

most surely the one which w i l l be used 

by the bibliographer citing the item in a 

bibliography ? T h e code does not help us 

w i t h the perplexing problem as to w h a t to 

do when a new governmental agency is set 

up, especially if it has formerly been a di-

vision of an old one. W h e n is a new 

bureau really a new entity? T h e L i b r a r y 

of Congress can help us if it w i l l explain 

the principles underlying its procedures in 

setting up main headings and subheadings. 

Series Entry Rules 

T h e rules relating to series entries may 

also be debated, especially the one ( 2 1 9 c ) 

which instructs the cataloger to "give im-

print for a current series as for an open 

entry, and in collation line leave space for 

volumes but indicate size. D o not attempt 

to keep imprint and collation up to date 

as later volumes are added." (p. 2 1 6 ) 

T h e simpler rule in the 1908 code (no. 

128) is easier to f o l l o w in that imprint and 

collation are omitted. Since the analytical 

cards which w i l l be made under the sepa-

rate volumes of the series w i l l give the im-

print and collation, w o u l d it not be possi-

ble to return to the earlier and simpler 

f o r m ? 

R u l e 220c provides for the use of the 

unit card for analytical entries where con-

tents or partial contents are shown. M y 

own experience in showing students how to 

use the catalog leads me to believe that the 

use of unit cards for analytics, especially if 

the volume contains a number of items and 

the contents note extends to a second or 

even a third card, is confusing. A simpler 

typed form w i l l save the time of the refer-

ence department and the user of the cata-

log. 

T h e rules for added entries also w a r -

rant close study. Particular attention 

should be paid to rule 223b5. " F o r all 

works of any character bearing a distinc-

tive or striking t i t l e ; make partial entry 

in cases where a subtitle, alternative title, 

or some striking part of the title (catch-

word title) is likely to be remembered, but 

prefer a subject heading, or a reference to 

a subject heading, where the title heading 

w o u l d be the same." (p. 2 3 2 ) Use of title 

entries should be avoided as much as possi-

ble for nondistinctive titles beginning w i t h 

" O n e act plays," "Essays o f , " " L i f e o f , " 

" S h o r t history o f , " "Principles o f , " " T e x t -

book on," " O u t l i n e o f , " etc. T h i s quoted 

rule is of such great importance that I wish 

some telling examples had been given. 

Another point can be made in regard to 

serials which through the vicissitudes of 

time and editorships have changed their 

titles. O u r practice is to enter under the 

latest form of the title, even though it may 

represent the last desperate act of an edi-

tor w h o hopes to revive a w a n i n g journal. 

T h e result is that a student armed w i t h an 

Education Index reference to the Social 

Frontier is sent to the drawer containing 

the card for Frontiers of Democracy. H o w 

many of you using the old Poole's Index 

have been confused by Scribners Monthly 

( 1 8 7 0 - 8 1 ) ? F r o m Scribners you were sent 

to the Century Illustrated Monthly Maga-

MARCH, 1942 
12 7 



zine from 1881 to 1930 when Century 

merged with The Forum. W o u l d it not 

be less wasteful of the patron's time if he 

were given the call number and the li-

brary's holdings as to date and volumes on 

each card with a reference to the latest 

entry for the full genealogy of the journal ? 

W h i l e still speaking of serials, I have a 

suggestion to make to the committee. I 

wish they would consider drawing to-

gether all of the rules for serials, noting 

particular instances where notes relating to 

editors, illustrations, etc., may be simpli-

fied. I wish also that the rules for han-

dling processed material could be drawn 

together, at least in the index. 

Part 1 of the code is concerned with 

forms of entries and headings. It repre-

sents careful and scholarly work. It de-

serves our endorsement and our pledge to 

conform to it. 

Description of the Book 

Part 2 of the code is devoted to the de-
scription of the book. T h e committee 
warns us that "From the rules in Part 2, 
however, it is expected that there may be 
variation in practice not only in small li-
braries as opposed to large but in the treat-
ment of different classes of material. . . . 
Close adherence to these rules is not so es-
sential as in the case of author entry." 
(p. xiii) T h i s statement should not be 
overlooked or forgotten. Every library 
will have at least a few rare books and a 
few special collections the cataloging of 
which will involve close application of the 
rules in Part 2 of the code. Unique mate-
rial in our own college or local history 
collections should be carefully and meticu-
lously described. It is my hope that Part 
2 of the code will be retained and followed 
in describing special collections. O n the 
other hand, the bulk of our materials, 

books purchased for curricular use by un-

dergraduate students, can be described in 

less detail and still be effective educational 

tools. 

T h a t the Library of Congress is aware 

of the possibilities of simplification is shown 

by the revision of its rules now being un-

dertaken and of which Miss Morsch, the 

chief of its Descriptive Cataloging Divi-

sion, has told us. It is my hope that in set-

ting up its new manual the Library of 

Congress will continue its detailed cata-

loging for rare and unusual items, not only 

books that will be considered rare by the 

Library of Congress but also those which 

may seem to be of intermediate value but 

which to the college library will certainly 

border on rarity. If the Library of Con-

gress seeks advice as to the course it 

should take, I trust that it will include on 

its committee not only representatives of 

the larger libraries but also of the 823 

college and university libraries with less 

than two thousand students that subscribe 

to its card service. 

Simplifications 

Certain simplifications seem practical 
for many items of imprint, collation, and 
notes. T h e first place of publication and 
the first publisher is usually enough to 
identify an item. I doubt if the extended 
forms are often needed even in the large 
library. M y own instinct is to translate 
all dates of publication into arabic figures. 
If the book is an early one, say before 1600 
for European books and 1800 for Ameri-
can ones, and the title page date given in 
Roman numerals, could that not be recog-
nized in a note thus informing the unusu-
al student but clarifying for others. 

T h e physical book is not static, it 
changes with use and rebinding. Colla-
tion rules which give directions for record-

126 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



ing preliminary leaves and end paper maps, 

exact size to one half centimeter, etc., 

should be given for rare books and limited 

editions but are not essential for the ordi-

nary trade book which w i l l be read and 

w o r n out at least to the extent of rebind-

ing. W h e n rebound the preliminary leaves 

w i l l disappear and the actual size w i l l 

change. T h e chief concern of students 

and faculty members is w i t h the intellec-

tual book, i.e., the text and the illustrative 

material which amplifies and explains the 

text. I t is sufficient to give the numbered 

pages, for the introduction, prefaces, and 

text proper. I f , however, an introduction 

or preface extends over t w o or three pages 

and is not numbered, it should be counted 

and noted. Information regarding illus-

trations should be retained but not neces-

sarily in detail. T h e rule ( 3 0 4 ) to "sepa-

rate the illustrative material included in 

the paging from that not included by a 

period and a perceptively longer space than 

is used after a comma" (p. 289) adds little 

if anything to the value of the catalog or to 

faculty members' respect for our scholar-

ship. 

Notes 

A s to notes, which are rarely read by 

students, there are some which are valua-

ble and which w o u l d be more apt to be 

noticed if w e indulged ourselves in f e w e r 

of them. T h e bibliography note is one 

which should always be given especially if 

reference can be made to specific pages. 

F a c u l t y members are not appreciative of 

our zeal in recording title pages w i t h 

decorative borders, title page vignettes, or 

title in black and red and "at the head of 

t i t l e " notes. T h e merit of the first edition 

note can be debated. M a n y publishers of 

trade books are indicating edition or print-

ing by use of symbols. T h e phrase "first 

edition" by no means guarantees the first 

issue of the first edition, the one which is 

valued by the collector. M y own instinct 

is to omit the first edition note unless the 

edition is a limited one but retain the note 

for later editions. W h e n it is possible to 

describe a book accurately on a single card, 

this should be done. B y reducing the col-

lation and notes without loss of meaning, 

w e w o u l d be avoiding cards containing 

continued stories that are rarely read! 

T h e appendices contain much that is 

valuable and w o r t h while. T h i s is espe-

cially true of the rules for incunabula 

(though they do not f o l l o w the injunction 

given in rule 229 to indicate line endings). 

T h e rules for handling music are concise 

and helpful. T h e note regarding conven-

tional or standard titles of music should 

have been emphasized by examples as is 

done in the M u s i c L i b r a r y Association 

Code for Cataloging Music (p. 3 7 1 ) . 

T h e rules for capitalization go back to 

those established by C u t t e r , but it is still 

hard to explain w h y w e capitalize Scotland 

Y a r d because it has lost its original mean-

ing but do not capitalize the H in W h i t e 

house! W i t h the present complicated 

rules, more time is spent in deciding wheth-

er to capitalize or not than w o u l d be spent 

in typing capital letters. T r u e , w e may 

gain in consistency but the filing is the same 

whatever w e do. W o u l d it not be easier 

in the long run if all names of buildings, 

government offices and officers, geographic 

names, and titles of honor, whether before 

or after a name were capitalized in f u l l ? 

What Do We Want for Our Catalogs? 

If time permitted, there are other de-

tails in the code which might be men-

tioned, but the trend of my thinking has 

been indicated. T h i s is the time w h e n w e 

might w e l l ask ourselves w h a t do w e w a n t 

MARCH, 1942 12 7 



for our catalogs ? T h e catalog in its 
simplest form is an author list of materials. 
But in order to make the knowledge con-
tained in our books more readily accessible, 
we in America developed classed and dic-
tionary catalogs. In this way we created 
bibliographical tools which our patrons are 
now taking for granted and in all prob-
ability will continue to demand. T h e cata-
logs in our largest libraries have reached 
terrifying proportions, so great that some 
libraries have divided their catalogs in or-
der to break up the huge files. D o we 
want more added entries and more analyt-
ics or would the greater alphabets created 
by this extension only confound our faculty 
members and students? Are the details 
of collation represented in forty-two new 
rules all essential ones ? A r e they essential 
to the great bulk of our collections or can 
we restrict bibliographical description to 
our special collections, rare and semirare 
items? T h a t some libraries are willing to 
dispense with certain details can be de-
duced from the fact that 181 college and 
university libraries are using the H . W . 
Wilson cards. These cards are exceeding-
ly simple and direct, possibly too simple, 

but they are restricted to the somewhat 

popular titles represented in the Standard 

Catalog. 

Several Paths Open 

Several paths are open to the committee 
sponsoring the new code. M y belief is 
that the first part should be retained with 
slight modification. W a y s and means by 
which the injunction given in the preface 
to modify and simplify can be carried out 
could be indicated by illustration. T h i s 
might be done either by examples in the 
text, differentiating them typographically 
or by issuing a supplementary style manu-
al. In making available to the cataloger 
the scholarly and detailed fashion by which 
books may be described, w e have at last 
a comprehensive and effective manual. 
T h e r e are few, if any, rules that will not 
be used and valued by some library. Let 
us not pass over them hastily or in the in-
terests of what may now seem to be econo-
my. If we simplify too much, the pendu-
lum will surely swing in the other direc-
tion later, and the costs which we should 
be shouldering now will be passed on to 
those who will follow us. 

By M A R G A R E T I. S M I T H 

T h e Code and the University Reference Librarian 

Miss Smith is superintendent of the read-
ing room, General Library, University of 
Michigan, Ann Arbor. 

I might confess at the beginning that 
this is the first cataloging code that I have 
ever read straight through. I found it 

more interesting than I anticipated and I 
was so impressed with the wealth of refer-
ence material it contains that I am going 
to speak first of the code as a reference 
book in itself. It has been said many times 
before that the catalog is the reference li-
brarian's most important tool but I think 

128 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES