Publications of Governments, Societies, and Corporate Bodies.
=Co-operative Indexes. Publications of Societies. Publishing=
=Societies. Government Publications. Statutes. Colonial=
=and Foreign Government Publications. Local Government=
=Publications. Associations and Institutions.= =Congresses.=
The extent to which the work of dissecting and "indexing" the contents
of books of a miscellaneous nature is to be carried out in a library
catalogue depends largely on the nature and purpose of the library,
though a limit must be set to it in any case. It would be unusual to
index the proceedings or transactions of a society, or the contents of
reviews, or other periodical publications, however valuable they might
be. For this most libraries must depend upon the co-operative indexes,
such as the _Royal Society's Catalogue of Scientific Papers_, the
_International Catalogue of Scientific Literature_, the _International
Institute of Technical Bibliography_, Poole's _Index to Periodical
Literature_, the _Engineering Index_, the _Index to Archæological
Papers_ (unfortunately of little value because it is only an index of
authors instead of subjects), and other works of the kind. The Library
Association publishes a _Class-Catalogue of Current Serial Digests and
Indexes of the Literature of Pure and Applied Science_.
The form of entry for the publications of societies will vary according
to their nature. As already stated, societies or other bodies in
their corporate capacity are regarded as the authors of their memoirs,
transactions, proceedings, journals, etc., and entry is made under
their names accordingly. The question arises, under what part of the
name? and it may be laid down in general terms that if a society be
national or general in its scope and character, and its headquarters
are in London, then the first word of the official name of the society,
other than an article, is the correct entry-word. The following are
illustrative examples of this:--
Royal Society of London. Catalogue of scientific
papers, 1800-1900. Subject-index, v. 3,
Physics, pt. 1. _Camb._, 1913
Society of Antiquaries of London. Archæologia;
or, miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity.
v. 1-59, with indexes. 4º 1770-1905
Chemical Society. Abstract of papers. 17 v.
1896-1912
Linnean Society. Proceedings, 1838-55. 2 v.
1849-55
British Association for the Advancement of
Science. Reports. 20 v. 1891-1910
Institution of Civil Engineers. Minutes of proceedings.
v. 56-142. 1879-1900
On the other hand, if the society be national for Scotland, Wales, or
Ireland, or provincial, colonial, or foreign, the entry-word depends
upon the nature of the society. The publications of the Royal Society
of Edinburgh, for instance, might be better placed under "Edinburgh,
Royal Society" than under "Scotland. Royal Society of Edinburgh,"
notwithstanding that it is a national and not a local body. Against
this, the publications of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland are
better entered under "Scotland, Society of Antiquaries of," although
there is much to be said in favour of treating such important bodies
after the manner shown in the previous entries, as
Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
in which case these references are necessary:--
Scotland, Society of Antiquaries of. _See_ Society
of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Edinburgh, Royal Society of. _See_ Royal Society
of Edinburgh.
The British Museum practice is inconvenient and affords no help in
cataloguing the publications of societies, because all of them are
brought together, irrespective of character, country, or locality,
under the general heading of "Academies," and arranged according to
the names of the places of publication in one general alphabet (not in
national or geographical order), as Abbeville, Aberdeen, Abo, Acireale,
Adelaide, etc. If it is desired to find say the "Proceedings of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers," it is necessary to turn first to
"Academies," and then to "Birmingham," provided one knows or remembers
that the Institution has its centre there. Publications like those of
the Early English Text Society or the Hakluyt Society must be sought
first under "Academies" and afterwards under "London." This method
of general, then local entry, is not a simple and ready one. Even
local entry is not always satisfactory, as often enough the place of
publication or of the meetings of a society are merely incidental, and,
therefore, the proceedings of a county antiquarian society should be
entered under the name of the county or society, and not the place--the
Kent Archæological Society under Kent and not Maidstone, the Historic
Society of Lancashire and Cheshire under Lancashire ("Lancashire and
Cheshire, Historic Society of"), not under Liverpool, and the Chetham
Society under that distinctive name, not under Manchester. These
societies cause little or no trouble, as their names usually suggest
the best entry-word, even in the case of foreign societies.
It must clearly be understood that when a society is established for
the publication of separate works upon subjects coming within the scope
of the society's purpose, and not for the reading and discussion of
papers, its publications require full cataloguing, as if each work had
been issued independently, in addition to whatever entry is given under
the name of the society. A case in point would be this:--
Chetham Society. Remains, historical and literary,
connected with the palatine counties of Lancaster
and Chester, v. 61, new ser. _M'chester_,
1907
v. 6. Materials for the history of Lancaster, by
Wm. Oliver Roper. Pt. 1.
This is the main-entry in full catalogues. The essential sub-entries are
ROPER, Wm. O. Materials for the history of
Lancaster. Pt. 1. (_Chetham Soc._, v. 61, new
ser.) 1907
=Lancaster=:
Roper, W. O. Materials for the history of
Lancaster. Pt. 1. (_Chetham Soc._, v. 61,
new ser.) 1907
Whatever economy may be exercised, neither of these two last entries
can be dispensed with, rather let the list of contents and the volumes
under the main-entry be omitted, especially if the list is a long one,
involving a hunt through many items to find a particular book. Under
ordinary circumstances a summary entry for a whole set can be made to
suffice in this fashion:--
Chetham Society. Remains, historical and literary,
connected with the palatine counties of Lancaster
and Chester. 116 v. _M'chester_,
1844-93
Includes indexes to v. 1-30 and v. 31-114.
Similar entries for the whole set would be made under "Lancashire" and
"Cheshire." By this arrangement a person requiring a particular work in
the series could find it by reference to the entry under the author's
name, or under the definite subject, if the book does not deal with
either of these counties in general, and one or the other is certain
to be remembered. It may be explained that the summary entry for the
whole series, when given under the names of the two counties, obviates
any necessity for separately entering any particular book under these
counties. For example, the late Chancellor Christie's volume (No. 7 of
the new series) on the old church and school libraries of Lancashire
requires no separate entry under "Lancashire," as it is covered by the
general entry under the name of this county--the separate entries are
given under "Christie" and "Libraries."
The book by Roper, taken in illustration above, which is given as "Pt.
1," does not require a second entry for Pt. 2 when it is received
later. All that is necessary is to adapt the entries in this way
Chetham Society. Remains (_and the rest of the
entry as before_).
v. 61-62. Materials for the history of Lancaster, by
Wm. Oliver Roper. 2 v.
ROPER, Wm. O. Materials for the history of
Lancaster. (_Chetham Soc._, v. 61-62, new
ser.) 2 v. 1907
=Lancaster=:
Roper, W. O. Materials for the history of
Lancaster. (_Chetham Soc._, v. 61-62,
new ser.) 2 v. 1907
There are other societies which publish separate and independent books,
lending themselves to this separate treatment, when each work must be
dealt with individually. Among them may be named the Camden, Early
English Text, Folk-Lore, Hakluyt, Harleian, Malone, Navy Records, and
Surtees Societies.
These publications present the same problem for the classified
catalogue as they do for shelf-classification, viz., shall they be kept
together under the name of the Society, or be distributed throughout
the catalogue according to the nature of their contents? If the volumes
of the Camden Society or the Hakluyt Society are so scattered, they
appear in many parts of the catalogue, whereas they are not usefully
entered if grouped together. Some of the other societies do not raise
this difficulty, and the correct solution appears to be, as in the
case of the dictionary catalogue, to give a general entry for the
whole set in its place, and a separate entry for each volume in its
own particular place. It is true there is usually a special place in
the Dewey Classification for such collections (the Hakluyt Society is
910.6), but whether the volumes are all kept together on the shelves
or not, they are virtually lost for usefulness unless, as already
suggested, the entries are distributed according to countries or other
subjects in the catalogue.
The publications of the state, of local government authorities, and
other official bodies are regarded in much the same light for the main
entry as societies. In a British catalogue the publications of the
home government or its departments cannot be usefully or conveniently
grouped together under a general heading of "England" or "Great
Britain," but are better placed under the names of the respective
departments. On the other hand, the publications of any other
government and its departments are brought together under the name
of the state, and those of the governing body of any specified area,
local, home, or colonial, under the name of that area. These points can
be made plainer by examples. To take the home government reports first:
Local Government Board. Annual report, 1908-9.
2 v. 1909 352.042
Board of Trade, Labour Department. Abstract
of labour statistics of the United Kingdom,
1908-9. 1911 331.8
Board of Education. Special reports on educational
subjects, v. 21. 1907 372.942
v. 21. School excursions and vacation schools.
Imperial Education Conference, 1911. Report.
1911 370.6
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. Report,
1911. 1912 352.2
While these official titles of the respective departments
are the correct form of entry, there is no
particular objection to reversing the titles, when
they admit of it, thus bringing them under the name
of the public service concerned, as
Trade, Board of, Labour Department.
Education, Board of.
Education Conference, Imperial.
Police, Commissioner of, of the Metropolis.
Any necessary guiding references must be furnished if required, as
Board of Trade. _See_ Trade, Board of.
Board of Education. _See_ Education, Board of.
Imperial Education Conference. _See_ Education Conference.
If the entries are so reversed, this does not convert them into a
combined form of corporate-author and subject-entries; they will still
need entries under whatever subject to which they appertain, unless a
reference is substituted to meet the case under the subject. Should a
library contain, say, many of the volumes of the special reports of the
Board of Education, or a collection of the various reports on Labour
issued by the Board of Trade, the setting of them out in detail twice
over can be avoided by these two references
=Education.=
_See also_ Education, Board of.
=Labour.=
_See also_ Trade, Board of (Labour Dept.)
The police report can be entered under "London," though by "Metropolis"
is meant a much larger district than that usually understood as
London, as it includes several outside county and other boroughs while
excluding the City itself. Nominally the report is that of the chief
officer, but there is no occasion to enter it under his name.
Upon the principle already outlined, editions of the statutes would, in
the ordinary course, be entered under "Parliament," but it is better
to take a separate heading, as "Acts of Parliament" or "Statutes,
British," referring from "Parliament." Illustrative examples are
=Acts of Parliament=:
Statutes, The. A.D. 1235-1900. 2nd revised
ed. 20 v. 1888-1909 346.2
Chitty's Statutes of practical utility. 6th
ed., by W. H. Aggs. v. 1-14. 1911-13 346.2
Statutes, British. _See_ Acts of Parliament.
Parliament. _See also_ Acts of Parliament.
Law. _See also_ Acts of Parliament.
References should be given from the names of any editors, compilers,
digesters, or annotators, as Chitty and Aggs. A volume of Acts relating
to a specified subject, say, Copyright, Theatres, or Workmen, is not
entered under the general heading, but under the name of the subject
and the compiler. Such works ordinarily contain the law as well as the
statutes, and therefore any references required from the general to
the particular would be given under "Law." Legislative publications of
other countries corresponding to our Acts of Parliament are entered
under the names of those countries.
The manner of stating the number of volumes in the second (Chitty)
of the above examples indicates that the work is still in course of
publication; if it were complete the number of volumes would be given
as in the first entry. This first entry also takes precedence of the
Chitty for order because it is the official "By authority" edition.
As said above, the publications of colonial and foreign governments are
first entered under the names of places, then by departments, as
United States. Bureau of Education. Circular
of information No. 1, 1902. Contributions
to American educational history; ed. by
Herbert B. Adams. No. 30, History of
education in West Virginia, by A. R. Whitehill.
_Washington_, 1902 572.973
Canada. Department of Mines. Summary report
of the Geological Survey Branch, 1911.
_Ottawa_, 1912 557.1
An item like that of the U.S. Bureau of Education needs entries for
subject and for the author of the particular section. Presuming
that the whole series is covered under the heading "Education" by a
reference to "United States. Bureau of Education," the other entries are
=Virginia, West=:
Whitehill, A. R. History of education in
West Virginia. (U.S. Bureau of Education,
Circulars of information, No. 1,
1902.) 1902 572.973
WHITEHILL, A. R. History of education in West
Virginia. (U.S. Bureau of Education, Circulars
of information, No. 1, 1902.) 1902 572.973
The first of these entries raises a question in connection with double
place-names, i.e., should the entry be given as above or under "West"?
Following the recommendation of the Joint-Code rule (No. 130), three
standard gazetteers were consulted; two gave the name under "Virginia"
(as in our entry), and one under "West." Accumulation of headings in
one place is prevented when place-names qualified by the points of the
compass, or in some similar way, are entered under the name following
the prefix. All the same, each name must be considered independently.
To enter New York or New Zealand under "York" and "Zealand" is
incorrect, though the Isle of Man or the Isle of Wight are better under
"Man" and "Wight" respectively. If there is the least doubt give the
reference, which in this case is
West Virginia. _See_ Virginia, West.
Examples of local government publications would be
London County Council. Statistical abstract for
London, 1911-12. v. 14. 1912 314.21
-- Education Committee. Report on vacation
schools and organised vacation play. 1912 f 371.74
The "f" attached to the classification numbers is meant to mark the
book as a folio, and, while indicating the size, serves also as a guide
to its probable position on the shelves, because folios are not usually
placed with octavos. If the book were a quarto, it would be marked "q",
as "q 371.74".
Another local government publication is
Hammersmith Borough Council. 12th annual
report, 1911-12. 1913 352.042.1
The libraries of various localities usually make a point of obtaining
all reports and documents bearing upon their particular areas,
and, therefore, need special methods both for classification and
cataloguing, according to the extent of their collections, so we may
consider how the above items may be treated in a typical London public
library. Presuming that all the publications of the London County
Council are received, they would be so numerous that it is not worth
while entering them again under "London" as subject. The entries under
"London County Council" and under "London" would not only be many in
number, but would come together in the catalogue. A better plan is
carefully to enter all under "London County Council", subdividing the
entries according to their nature. Though the Hammersmith report needs
a reference under "London", an entry thereunder could not be justified,
as in the case of the publications of the larger body. The references
would be in this manner
=London=:
_Local Government._
London County Council. Publications. _See_
London County Council.
This is placed in order exactly as if it were an entry, whereas the
Hammersmith reference comes at the end of the entries in the usual way,
as
_See also the names of the Metropolitan boroughs_, as
Hammersmith, Shoreditch, Stepney.
Perhaps the first form of what may be termed an "entry-reference" is
better exemplified by supposing it to be the most suitable style when
under a general heading like "Education", and the entry references are
=Education=:
Board of Education. Reports, &c. _See_
Board of Education.
London County Council. Education reports.
_See_ London County Council.
United States. Board of Education. Publications.
_See_ United States.
These fall into place under the heading as "Board", "London", "United
States", and not as references at the end. This style is only
recommended where there are many entries under both the heading and the
name referred _to_, the ordinary method being
=Education=:
_See also_ Board of Education, London County
Council, United States (Bureau of Education).
The foregoing principles for the entry of government documents also
apply to the publications of associations and institutions. The
officers making reports in an official capacity are usually disregarded
so far as their personal names are concerned, though at times a special
report or other publication may justify and require an entry under the
name of the writer, but this depends upon its nature. International
and local exhibitions are entered under the names of the places where
held, unless the organisations arranging such exhibitions are, more
or less, permanent bodies having exhibitions at intervals in different
places, when the entries are given, not under the names of places, but
under the official name of the organising body, as Royal Agricultural
Society, National Rose Society, International Horticultural Exhibition.
The same applies more particularly to congresses and conferences
of all kinds regularly held, the places of meeting being merely
incidental. The following is an example of such a congress, which is
held at intervals in different parts of the world, and with a certain
continuity:--
National Council of Peace Societies. Official report
of the 17th Universal Congress of Peace,
held at Caxton Hall, Westminster, London,
July 27th to August 1st, 1908. 1909 172.4
The National Council is, apparently, a central body representing
British peace societies, and is responsible for this report only. When
the congress is held in another country, presumably some body in that
country makes itself responsible for the publication of the report, in
which case it is probable the title would be in German or in French,
whichever country issues the report, and this must be remembered. The
title "Universal Congress of Peace", not being the name of a body,
but the purpose of the congress, is met by a subject-entry, the above
serving as a main-entry for this particular report.
=Peace Question, The=:
National Council of Peace Societies. Report
of the Universal Congress of Peace,
London, 1908. 1909 172.4
This is a subject-heading that permits of a concentration of books,
both for and against international peace, and may be made to include
those upon international arbitration, the Hague Conferences, reducing
of armaments, and other phases of the subject, even with the opposite
term of "war" in their titles, provided the books bear upon the
question in the ethical, social, or economic aspect, and are not purely
military in character. The references then would be of this nature:--
War _versus_ Peace. _See_ Peace Question.
Arbitration, International. _See_ Peace Question.
Armaments, Reduction of. _See_ Peace Question.
Militarism. _See_ Peace Question.
The heading is better sub-divided, the books in favour of international
peace and arbitration leading, and those opposed to it following, under
some suitable sub-headings. Amalgamation of subjects under a single
heading is further referred to in Chapter XIV.