The Business Library: What it is and what it does

by Louise B. Krause

Cataloging

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

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

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

Form of author card

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

Form of subject card

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