The Business Library: What it is and what it does

by Louise B. Krause

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING

Cook, G. L.

A library of trade catalogs. Library journal May 1919, p. 307-308.

Nourse, F. M.

Finding the needle in the haystack (photographs and cuts). System Feb. 1919, p. 218.

Peck, E. E.

Trade catalog file. Library journal July 1919, p. 442.

Selection of trade publications of manufacturing companies. The booklist April 1919, p. 285.

Stokes, C. W.

Classification and filing of photographs. Printers' ink August 3, 1916, p. 82-86.

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CHAPTER VI
CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGING IN
BUSINESS LIBRARIES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Subject catalog card for Alphabetic-subject file