Fitzgerald, Percy.
The life of Lawrence Sterne. Port. 2 v. sm. 8o. 1896
(Dewey number 928. Brown mark G88-Sterne.)
History.
Voyages and travels.
Europe.
Russia.
Hapgood, Isabel F.
Russian rambles. pp. xiv, 369. sm. 8o. 1895
(Dewey number 914, 7. Brown mark F 1168.)
110.—As already pointed out, the principal difficulty with classified catalogues, more especially if the classification is extended to its fullest limits, is that persons using the catalogue must familiarise themselves with its arrangement before they can make an adequate use of it. Thus to find a book upon Russia, the geographical order has to be thought out, and to find a life of Sterne it must first be remembered that as he was an author he will come into the literary division of biography, or if a life of William Penn is wanted, it must be found out whether it is placed in the biography of religion or of history according to the point of view from which it is regarded.
Mr. Brown’s system removes some of these difficulties, as he for the most part arranges his countries alphabetically under continents, and his biographies of individuals altogether alphabetically by the subjects. In some recent classified catalogues this idea has been carried further, and all continents and countries of the world arranged in one alphabet, as Abyssinia, Afghanistan, Africa, Algeria, Asia, and so on with such suitable sub-division under each as may be called for. This alphabetical arrangement has also been carried out under the main divisions of the classes “Fine Arts” and “Useful Arts,” and it certainly facilitates reference, though it must be admitted that it breaks away from the important principle of giving a complete view of a subject in all its bearings, first generally, then in particular down to its finest limits. This principle may very well be waived in dealing with individual biography, and in such case the form of entry would be reversed, as