Manual of descriptive annotation for library catalogues

188 Pages·1906·6.159 MB·English

by  Savage, Ernest Albert, 1877-1966

Manual
of
Annotation
iptive
FOR
rary Catalogues
*/ \._j
ERNEST SAVAGE
A,

DESCRIPTIVE ANNOTATION
FOR
LIBRARY CATALOGUES.
ERNEST
A. SAVAfi-K.,
CHIEF LIBRARIAN, WALLASEY PUBLIC LIBRARIES LATK BOROUGH
LIBRARIAN, BROMLEY, KENT. ;
With Chapter on Evaluation and Historical Note by
ERNEST A. BAKER, M.A.,
CHIEF LIBRARIAN, WOOLWICH PUBLIC LIBRARIES; AUTHOR OF
"GUIDE TO BEST FICTION," ETC.
"Manifestly the Public Libraries ought to be equipped for
seriousreading.... Thefirst businesswould be toget 'Guides' to
various fieldsof human interest written,guides that shall beclear,
explicitbibliographies." H.G. Wells: Mankindinthemaking.
LONDON
:
LIBRARY SUPPLY COMPANY,
1906.
Printed by Marlborough, Pewtress & Co., 52, Old Bailey, E.G.
PREFACE.
GO IT is proposed in the following pages to explain the leading
uu principles ofdescriptive annotationas applied to books and
. their cataloguing, and to draw up a code of rules for the
5^ application of such principles. Up to the present scarcely
no anyattempt has beenmadeto simplifyannotation byformu-
-
t lating an adequate set of rules. It has even been argued
that rules are but indifferent aids to the annota_tor, who
must depend on his exact habits, his grasp of dtftail, and
his literary ability. An argument of this kind is hardly
worthconsidering. Book-cataloguing is^l^listingof books
for convenience in finding them, and the describing of
fthem accurately, and all librarians agree with the late Mr.
""Cutter in saying that "some of the results of experience
H may be best indicated by rules" (Rules, 4th ed., pref.).
cjBook annotation at any rate descriptive annotation or
Q
analysis, as dealtwith inthesepages issimply an extension
ofcataloguing: it is an art truly enough,not a science; but
the resultsoftheexperience of Englishand Americananno-
tators "may be best indicated by rules." Indeed, wherever
good annotative work is done, rules of some kind have
either been drawn up on paper, or have been drilled into
the heads of annotators by a chief who has mentally
formulated them. To this argument, hortation, or literary
achot-gospelling, which sometimes takes the place ofanalysis,
2aisttaenmpetxecdepbtyionth;osseo faelwsomiesnevwalhuoaticoonm,bwihniechwitchanadoenqluyabtee
knowledge, a fine critical sense, a judicial temper and
catholicity oftaste. In analysis, much indeed does depend
on the intellectual fitness of the annotator, but literary
380374
IV. PREFACE.
ability, without method, may even be a snare for the
annotator, leading him to pay far too much attention to
the" style"ofhisannotation,andsoto include in it interest-
ing but irrelevant detail, and to take little care not to omit
essentials. The mean between the two extremes of literary
and natural ability and the mechanical following of rules
produces the most concise, most lucid, and most truly
descriptive annotations.
The reader shouldclearly understandthat onlypopular
libraries that is to say, general circulating and reference
libraries, as distinguished from libraries specifically and
principally intended for scholars have been kept in mind
in the following pages. This fact will explain the omission
of rules relating to certain bibliographical points which
ought to appear in the annotations to the catalogue of a
scholars' library.* Moreover, notes relating to the various
editions sold by publishers at the time of annotating, and
references to reviews, such as are given in the "A.L.A.
catalog, 1904" and the A.L.A. "Booklist" have not
been provided for, because they would not be included in
the catalogues ofpopular libraries. Then again, evaluation,
or criticism, is subordinated to description, as it should be
in a reader's annotation, according to Mrs. S. C. Fairchild
and other evaluators. But it is believed that the field of
annotation for popular libraries, and, apart from criticism,
which defies codification, for independent guides to
readers, is fairly well covered.
The manual has not been published without misgiving
on my part. Its imperfections are manifest, but are due,
not so much to lack of time and care, as to the fact that
continuous work upon it was never possible. But some
* The printed catalogue cards of the Library of Congress
specimensofwhich may beseen at the Library AssociationLibrary
afford examplesofthe provision ofbibliographical information.
PREFACE.
account of methods of annotation is needed, and it is
hoped that this attempt to fill the gap will be of some
service.
I have to thank Mr. James Duff Brown, chief
Librarian, Islington Public Libraries, for help continuously
and freely given. He read the MS. and the proofs,
and his criticism served to rectify mistakes, and to suggest
many improvements. Mr. Ernest A. Baker, M.A., has
also read the proofs, and I am particularlygrateful to him
for kindly relieving me of the evaluation chapter and the
historical note, with which his knowledge of, and sympathy
with, the subject so admirably qualify him to deal. To
Mr. Anderson H. Hopkins, Librarian, Carnegie Library of
Pittsburgh, Mr. Melvil Dewey, late of the New York State
Library, and Miss Alice B. Kroeger, ofthe Drexel Institute,
I am indebted for much valuable information, which has
been vouchsafed with the courtesy and kindness English
librarians have learned to expect from their American
confreres. Lastly, I would acknowledge my obligations
the extent ofwhich he and I only know to my late chief,
Mr. L. Stanley Jast, of the Croydon Libraries.
ERNEST A. SAVAGE.
NOTE. 5 136,154,and158havebeendeletedduringrevision.
CONTENTS.
PART I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND PRACTICAL WORK.
CHAP.
PREFACE
I. DEFINITIONS ... ... ... ... ... ... i
II. LITERATURE OF KNOWLEDGE ... ... ... ... 5
III. LITERATURE OF POWER ... ... ... ... ... 18
IV. JUVENILE LITERATURE ... ... ... ... ... 31
V. RELATIVE DESCRIPTION ... ... ... ... ... 35
VI. EVALUATION OR CHARACTERIZATION; BY ERNEST A.
BAKER, M.A ... ... ... ... 43
VII. PRACTICAL WORK, I. ... ... ... ... ... 50
VIII. PRACTICAL WORK, II. ... ... ... ... ... 62
IX. HISTORICAL NOTE AND SOME REFERENCE BOOKS BY
;
ERNEST A. BAKER AND ERNEST A. SAVAGE ... 71
PART II. A CODE OF ANNOTATION.
I. INTRODUCTORY NOTE ... ... ... ... ... 87
II. GENERAL RULES ... ... ... ... ... ... 90
III. AUTHOR NOTE ... ... ... ... ... ... 101
IV. SUBJECT NOTE ... ... ... ... ... ... 104
V. TREATMENT NOTE... ... ... ... ... ... 113
VI. RELATION NOTE ... ... ... ... ... ... 121
VII. EDITING NOTE ... ... ... ... ... ... 128
VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ... ... 132
IX. RULES SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO THE SEVERAL
CLASSES OF LITERATURE ... ... ... ... 140
INDEX ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 151