Shelflisting exercise

ILS-506 Information analysis and organization	©2003-2007 Amy Ranger
Analysis of 3 OPACs	Shelflisting exercise
Cataloging exercise	Main index

This shelflisting of the works by or about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was created by Amy Proni (now Amy Ranger) for the course ILS-506, Information analysis and organization, taught by Dr. C. H. Kim, Southern Connecticut State University, Fall, 2003.

Shelflisting exercise

NOTE: I was employed as a special format cataloger at the time I took this course. I wasn't sure I would learn anything new in a class that I hadn't already learned in on-the-job training, and I remember being surprised by how hard the coursework was for me. On the other hand, my experience and understanding of the topic was greatly appreciated by several classmates. This course resulted in a bonding experience with students far away, as we struggled together to comprehend the complexities of cataloging.

The most important thing that I learned in this exercise? One must follow the directions of the Head of Technical Services at the library in which one is employed. Local rules always trump the Library of Congress.

To begin the project, I performed four searches in the CONSULS catalog. The first search was for the LC call number designated for works by and about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, PQ2637.A274, and this returned 39 hits. Subsequent call number searches, LC2637.A25 (2 hits) and LC2637.A27 (1 hit: Petit prince, the work for which Saint-Exupéry is most well-known), showed that not all of Saint-Exupéry’s works of fiction are cataloged correctly.

I performed a second search for “Saint Exupéry” as a subject heading; this returned 10 hits. My third search was for “Saint Exupéry” as an author, which returned 52 hits (including some works by his wife, Consuelo); my final search was for “Saint Exupéry” as a keyword, and this returned 68 hits. I will discuss the call number search results first, then move on to the author search results.

I use the term “hit” instead of record or title, because the CONSULS catalog occasionally returned a hit with multiple records: that is, the 001 field differed between records, but it counted as 1 hit. An example of this was found in the 10th hit of the call number search, which was PQ2637.A274 C6 1929, Courrier sud. The CCSU holdings have 4820096 in the 001 field; whereas the WCSU holdings have 2537616 in the 001 field. Other hits returned in that same call number search showed multiple hits (the same 001 field) for the same record. An example of this is the record for PQ2637.A247 T43 ; variant: PQ2637.A274 T43 1939j, which corresponds to Wind, sand and stars. There are holdings at Eastern, Western, and Central, all using the same 001 field. The catalog doesn’t behave consistently, in that at times it seems to sort on the 001 field, but not always (even in the same search string operation). I was rather frustrated by this.

I found several editions and translations of Petit prince, in the Juvenile Collections of the universities. I decided to move only the editions of this work that did not include any subject headings to the primary call number, PQ2637.A274 P47. Editions of Petit prince with a subject heading of Fantasy or Fantasy fiction were left in the Juvenile section, as a scope note in the LC online catalog indicates: Here are entered works of fiction, generally characterized as "High Fantasy," primarily set in imaginary worlds, often peopled by extraordinary creatures, and featuring heroic deeds, epic quests, and elements of magic. Translations of Petit prince, in Spanish or English, or other works in French which included subject headings such as Spanish language |x Readers or French language |x Readers were also left in** (or moved to) the Juvenile collection, because the scope note in the LC online catalog indicates:

Here are entered reading texts in Spanish [French] containing material for instruction and practice in reading that language. Works written in Spanish [French] intended primarily for general information or recreational reading are entered under Spanish [French] language materials.

**Note: I made an exception for the work titled Saint-Exupéry reader which has the subject heading French language |x Readers because I saw no need to change the call number from A27 (for Selections, translated into English, by translator) – and for all I know, this work was designed for adult readers of French fiction, rather than for Juvenile collections.

My shelflist includes works in the following categories: Collected works, by date (1 title, 3 copies); Selections, translated into English, by translator (2 titles, 3 copies); Selected works (1 title, 1 copy). There are 8 separate works: Carnets (1 title, 1 copy) ; Citadelle (1 title, 1 copy) + a translation (1 title, 1 copy); Courrier sud (2 records, 1 title, 2 copies) + a translation (1 title, 1 copy); Lettre á un otage (1 title, 2 copies); Petit prince (1 title, 1 copy) + a translation (1 title, 1 copy); Sens á la vie (1 title, 1 copy) + a translation (1 title, 1 copy); Terre des hommes (3 records, 1 title, 4 copies) + a translation (3 records, 1 title, 5 copies); and Vol de nuit (2 records, 1 title, 5 copies) + a translation (1 title, 1 copy). The shelflist also includes Biography/personal narratives (1 title, 1 copy); Letters, collections (1 title, 3 copies); and 10 works of Biography/criticism (10 titles, 11 copies). Of the 37 works included in my shelflist, I changed or modified the call numbers of twenty-seven. The majority of these changes involved extending the [title] cutter and adding a date. There were more problems in the biography/criticism section, where the works were clustered together because the authors had surnames close to each other. Other problems included identifying works which were not separate works, but rather, selected works or separate works translated into English (Polish, Spanish, etc.). A number of the records would have benefited from notes. For example, the work St-Exupéry: par lui même is, I believe, a biographical/critical work by Luc Estang, but it could also be classified as Autobiography, journals, memoirs – I can’t really tell from the record, and without having either the book in hand, or the language skills to try to interpret the work, it is difficult to say definitively one way or the other.

The revised shelflist reads as follows: (record no., original call no., new call no. if needed, title, and author [if other than Saint-Exupéry]).

Record no.	Original call no.	New call no. (if needed)	Title	Author
881656	PT2637.A274 1959		Ouevres
4826365	PT2637.A274 A2 2002		Guide for grownups
1398584	PT2637.A274 A23 1942		Airman's odyssey
1359743	PQ2637.A274 A6 1960	PQ2637.A274 A27 1960	Saint-Exupéry reader
626680	PQ2367.A274 P3	PQ2637.A274 A6 1962	Pages choisies
1620117	PQ2637.A274 C3	PQ2637.A274 C37 1953	Carnets
2065740	PQ2637.A274 C5	PQ2637.A274 C58 1948	Citadelle
344460	PQ2637.A274 C52	PQ2637.A274 C5813 1950	Wisdom of the sands
4820096	PQ2637.A274 C6 1929	PQ2637.A274 C68 1929	Courrier sud
2537616	PQ2637.A274 C6 1929	PQ2637.A274 C68 1929b	Courrier sud
1138189	PQ2637.A274 S6 1933	PQ2637.A274 C6813 1933	Southern mail
2878945	PQ2637.A274 L4 1944	PQ2637.A274 L48 1944	Lettre á unotage
1870000	C6 GAL S137p	PQ2637.A274 P47 1946	Petit prince
7983116	S137e	PQ2637.A274 P4718 1946	Principito
2748201	PQ2637.A274 S4	PQ2637.A274 S44 1956	Sens á la vie
614727	PQ2637.A274 S313 1965	PQ2637.A274 S4413 1965	Sense of life
3155421	PQ2637.A274 T4 1939		Terre des hommes
6720735	PQ2637.A274 T41 1939	PQ2637.A274 T47 1939b	Terre des hommes
11724643	PQ2637.A274 Z5 1961	PQ2637.A274 T47 1961	Terre des hommes
1039460	PQ2637.A274 T43	PQ2637.A274 T4713 1939	Wind, sand and stars
15311990	PQ2637.A247 T43 1940	PQ2637.A274 T4713 1940	Wind, sand and stars
625055	PQ2637.A247 T43 1965	PQ2637.A274 T4713 1965	Wind, sand and stars
1825193	PQ2637.A25 V6	PQ2637.A247 V65 1931	Vol de nuit
16996967	PQ2637.A25 V7	PQ2637.A247 V65 1939	Vol de nuit
47688964	PQ2637.A25 V7166	PQ2637.A274 V65168 1966	Nocny lot
13003196	PQ2637.A274 Z46513 1986		Wartime writings, 1939-1944
254269	PQ2637.A274 Z64 1960	PQ2637.A274 Z48 1960	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
777651	PQ2637.A274 Z617	PQ2637.A274 Z54 1964	Saint-Exupéry	Borgal, Clément
399842	PQ2637.A274 Z638 1958	PQ2637.A274 Z58 1958	St-Exupéry	Chevrier, Pierre
20753509	PQ2637.A274 Z6465 1990		From Juby to Arras	DeRamus, Barnett
1946256	PQ2637.A274 Z648	PQ2637.A274 Z648 1974	St-Ex	Destrem, Maja
744694	PQ2637.A274 Z65 1965		Saint-Exupéry	Devaux, André A.
6004997	PQ2637.A274 Z52	PQ2637.A274 Z66 1956	St-Exupéry: par lui même	Estang, Luc
40473716	PQ2637.A274 Z735 1999		Chaos, cosmos, and Saint-Exupéry's pilot hero	Harris, John R.
45556241	PQ2637.A274 Z82833513 2001		Tale of the rose	de Saint-Exupéry, Consuelo
29844190	PQ2637.A274 829 1994		Antoine de Saint-Exupéry	Schiff, Stacy
30053699	PQ2637.A274 Z8 1965	PQ2637.A274 Z88 1965	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry	Standish, Helen

For the most part, changes in the records were minor. I noticed a number of punctuation errors, most likely due to the works being cataloged prior to the implementation of AACR2. Following the guidelines laid out in the MARC 21 Concise Format for Bibliographic Data: Main Entry Fields (1XX)

a number 1 in the first indicator field is used to signify a surname [where] the name is a single or multiple surname formatted in inverted order or a single name without forenames that is known to be a surname.

Prior to the implementation of these guidelines, hyphenated personal names used a 2 in the first indicator field. I updated each record that included any of the following: 100 2_, 600 20, or 700 2_ entries. Other typical changes included adding data to subfield c of the 245; adding a uniform title to the records of translated works; adding notes regarding the type of work; or changing notes to edition statements. Many of the works in my shelflist do not have any subject headings, nor are subject any required. I added some subject headings, specifically:

600 10 Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de, |d 1900-1944 |v Translations into English.
600 10 Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de, |d 1900-1944.
650 _0 Authors, French |y 20th century |v Biography.
650 _0 Air pilots |z France |v Biography.
650 _0 World War, 1939-1945 |v Personal narratives, French.
600 10 Saint Exupéry, Antoine de, |d 1900-1944 |x Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.
600 10 Saint Exupéry, Antoine de, |d 1900-1944 |x Correspondence.
650 _0 Authors, French |y 20th century |x Correspondence.
600 10 Saint Exupéry, Antoine de, |d 1900-1944 |v Criticism and interpretation.

With regard to the shelflisting practices of the Connecticut State University Library System, it looks to me as though records are imported from the OCLC WorldCat database, and little attention is paid to punctuation or consistent formatting styles. Variations in the call numbers between libraries indicate that the system allows for broad interpretation of the rules (for example, Terre des hommes, which is cataloged at CCSU with 2 call numbers: PQ2637.A274 T4 1939 and PQ2637.A274 Z5 1961). Obviously someone thought the 1961 edition was a biographical/critical work. The Juvenile works were cataloged all over the place, with one title, Saint-Exupéry reader, listed as Selections, translated into English – and that is fine, but every other work with a subject heading of French [Spanish, English] language |x Readers was cataloged in the Juvenile section. The inconsistency bothered me. Very few translations used the extended Cutters provided by the LC translation table, found in the Subject Cataloging Manual: Shelflisting, Translations G150. This chart of extended Cutters has been provided by The Library Corporation, in the Cataloger's Reference Shelf. Most of the translations used an outdated form of Cuttering that I thought was not always tight or specific enough.

As mentioned earlier, I retrieved 52 hits using “Saint-Exupéry” for an author search. Two of the hits (1 title, 2 records, 3 copies) are musical scores based on Vol de nuit, and they would not belong in the literature section. In another two instances, works by Saint-Exupéry were included in a compilation of French literature, so those items also would not be classified in the literature section under his name alone. Several works by Saint-Exupéry are considered non-fiction, specifically Pilote de guerre, which has been classified in D788 (History (General)--World War II (1939-1945)--Aerial operations--France) and utilizes subject headings such as World War, 1939-1945 |x Personal narratives, French. I can understand why some catalogers, for the sake of completeness, might want to classify this work as autobiographical, so that it deserves space within the confines of Saint-Exupéry’s fiction classification. My feeling is that without having the book in hand, I am not in a position to properly evaluate the work and make that classification change. The same can be said for the biographical works about Saint-Exupéry that have been classified in TL540 (Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics--Aeronautics. Aeronautical engineering--Biography--Individual, A-Z). With these works, someone made a judgment call that they have more to do with Saint-Exupéry the pilot than with Saint-Exupéry the author.

I also saw no need to move a psychological study of Petit prince from BF698.F7155 1981 to the fiction classification. This work is a study of Saint-Exupéry’s book, it is not the book (catalogers must discern the difference between what a work is about versus what a work is).

Concerning the practices of the Connecticut State University Library System in providing Library of Congress Subject Headings, well, they got about half of the works right. I can’t be too critical because I know just how subjective cataloging work can be – maybe the original records, imported from OCLC, were lousy records. Or maybe the cataloging staff rushed the processing through, without taking the time to accurately assess the work. As far as assigning subject headings, I must say that it is very difficult to do that without having the work in hand – one cannot always determine the primary theme or subject of a work without looking at the table of contents, introductory material, bibliographic references, etc. Sometimes even the dust-jacket can provide important clues regarding the contents. There are a number of possibilities concerning problems with subject headings in CONSULS, but I am not interested in finding fault.

In conclusion, this project represents the type of work that I have been performing for the past four years. I found the project hard to get excited about, or truly interested in, especially after spending 8 hours at the university library cataloging music CDs, DVDs, and video recordings. Standard operating procedure where I work is to model our shelflist as closely as possible to that of the Library of Congress. If LC has not cataloged a work, we use an 090 field for the call number and insert an “x” following the cutter to indicate that this was non-LC cataloging. I regularly check the LC catalog and the Western Michigan University Libraries’ catalog before adding a new record to the database. Perhaps the CONSULS catalogers would consider a similar procedure.

You may wish to view my working spreadsheet of this exercise. The spreadsheet provides insight and justification for some of the changes that I made in the call numbers. I am amused to see that many of my suggestions have been implemented in the CONSULS catalog since this project was completed.

Last updated 2007-06-10. ALR. Contact me.