A cataloger of good preliminary education, with experience gained in a large library, and with the opportunities to be found in a large library, college, reference or circulating, of consulting books, or people or both, can in time produce a fairly logical system of "Sees alsos" and "Sees," and subject headings in almost any subject except medicine.
Among the changes suggested by Dr. Wire are the following:
Abdomen. The rational references and cross references are:
See also, Intestines, Viscera.
Cross reference should be simply Viscera.
Anatomy. Why refer to Glands and not to Liver, the biggest gland in the body? Why to Chest and not to Lungs? Autopsy should not be referred to; that reference should come from Pathology.
Appendicitis. This is a surgical disease and should be put under Surgery, Practice of, instead of Medicine, Practice of.
Contagion and contagious diseases. Contagion and Infection seem to be confused. We are referred from Infection to Contagion as if they were synonymous terms.
Homeopathy. "See also Medicine" should be used for polemical treatises only. These headings show a bias against Homeopathy which is common in some classifications.
Hygiene. Has 54 "See alsos," most of which are fair but one-half of them could be omitted to the bettering and clearing of the list.