The late Mr. Charles F. Blackburn, who had had a considerable experience, gave some instruction for sorting slips in his Hints on Catalogue Titles (1884). He wrote:
"Having never seen in print any directions for putting titles into alphabetical order, I venture to describe the system I have been accustomed to use. First sort the entire heap into six heaps, which will lie before you thus:
A—D E—H I—M N—R S T—Z. Then take the heap A—D and sort it into its component letters, after which each letter can be brought into shape by use of the plan first applied to the whole alphabet. It is best to go on with the second process until you have the whole alphabet in separate letters, because if you brought A, for example, into its component parts and put them into alphabetical order, you might not impossibly find some A's among the later letters—one of the inevitable accidents of sorting quickly. With this hint or two the young cataloguer will easily find his way; and various devices for doing this or that more handily are sure to suggest themselves in the course of practice. The great thing is to be started."
A—D E—H I—M N—R S T—Z.
| A—D | E—H | I—M |
| N—R | S | T—Z. |
The latter part of this extract is good advice, but I think it is a mistake to make two operations of the sorting in first letters, for it can be done quite easily in one.
The following suggestion made by Mr. Blackburn is a good one, and is likely to save the very possible mixture of some of the heaps:
"In my own practice I have got into a way of letting the slips fall on the table at an angle of forty-five degrees. Then, if the accumulation of titles should cause the heaps to slide, they will run into one another distinct, so that they can be separated instantly without sorting afresh."
I have never myself found any difficulty in sorting out into first letters at one time, and it soon becomes easy to place the slips in their proper heaps without any thought. Mr. F. B. Perkins, of the Boston Public Library, however, in his paper on "Book Indexes" gives some good directions which are worth quoting here:
"Next alphabet them by initial letters. This process is usually best done by using a diagram or imaginary frame of five rows of five letters each, on which to put the titles at this first handling. The following arrangement of printers' dashes will show what I mean. (The letters placed at the left hand of the first row and right hand of the last indicate well enough where the rest belong.)
A —— —— —— —— —— U
B —— —— —— —— —— V
C —— —— —— —— —— W
D —— —— —— —— —— X
E —— —— —— —— —— YZ." [20][ [20] Public Libraries in the United States. Special Report. Part I., 1876, p. 730.
When the alphabetical arrangement is completed so far as the indexer considers it necessary for his purpose, it is time to think of the pasting down of the slips. This can be done in several ways, and the operator will doubtless choose that which suits him best. As already remarked, men will always find out the way most agreeable to themselves, and it is unwise to insist on others following our way in preference to their own.