How to Catalogue a Library

A still useful book on nineteenth-century theories of organisation of knowledge and information retrieval, first published in 1889.

Henry Benjamin Wheatley (Author)

9781108021487, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 October 2010

288 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.7 cm, 0.37 kg

Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838–1917) was a prolific writer on bibliography, literature and the arts. As founder of the Index Society, and editor of The Bibliographer, he was also involved in the foundation of the Library Association. In that context he wrote several works on library topics. How to Catalogue a Library (1889) was aimed at smaller library collections, as existing systems, such as the manuals of the British Museum library or the Library of Congress, were too elaborate for smaller collections. Wheatley begins by defining the differences between catalogues, indexes and bibliographies, and then compares the existing rules. He discusses the physical form of catalogues and lists the minimum requirements for the catalogue of a small library. He also discusses cataloguing manuscripts and cross-referencing, and provides a useful index of Latin place names. The book contains much on the theory of organisation of information still of relevance today.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Battle of the rules
3. Print versus manuscript
4. How to treat a title-page
5. References and subject index
6. Arrangement
7. Something about MSS.
8. Rules for a small library
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Publishing industry & book trade [KNTP]