Commentary on the Provisions in the P-PZ40 Table

Transcription

1 Lucinda D. Mazza Information Analysis & Organization, ILS-506-S70 Professor Eino Sierpe November 8, 2009 Commentary on the Provisions in the P-PZ40 Table In general I found that the Table for Literary Authors with One Cutter Number, P-PZ40 was very difficult to use. As is with much of the Library of Congress cataloging process, how the table was used and the guidance it provided was limited and left to the interpretation of the cataloger. For someone who is relatively new to the cataloging process, this leaves room for too much "misinterpretation". The lack of structure would seem to lead to an inordinate level of human error and confusion, especially in a large library with many hands involved with the cataloging process. As was stated in your teaching and in our readings, cataloging an item correctly is critical, once it is cataloged and shelved it can be "lost forever" if a simple error was made. This amazed me considering there is a global reliance on the Library of Congress records for defining collections in libraries throughout the world. The P-PZ40 table is limited when it comes to general criticism and interpretation about the author's works. When a criticism was written specifically about one of the author's works, the tables would have you place the criticism with the actual work written by the author, defined by Separate Works in the P-PZ40 table. When a criticism is written that critiques multiple works for the given author or an overall criticism or interpretation of the authors collected works, the work is classified with the General Works about the author. From a literary perspective, criticisms, be they pertaining to one or two works or all of an author's works should be grouped together. If one assumes a patron is critiquing an author's works, even if they are only reviewing one or two works, information in the general criticism and interpretation works would be valuable to read as it applies to that work. 1 Lucinda D. Mazza

2 General works are organized by main entry which means that the shelf list would not have any logical pattern for patron browsing. The works would all be about the author, but it would not be easy to distinguish between criticism of the authors works and biographical information on the author. So for example if a patron wanted to find information on Isabel Allende's personal life as written by other authors, it would not be logically organized together. It would be necessary to sift through all general works (.xz5-999) written about her to find the information. Coming from a public library that uses the Dewey Decimal System, having biographical and family history shelved with an author's works seems very foreign. It is important to understand that this table, is used for "literary authors with one cutter number" which defines a single cutter number for a given author. Therefore, all the works defined on this table begin with the same base number, placing everything defined by the table together. On a grand scale, shelving everything for one author may seem logical, but one must take into consideration their patron base and how the information will be accessed. First of all cutter numbers assigned to authors in this part of the schedule are based on the second letter of the author's surname. So at a quick glace the LC number on the spine of the book will not lend itself to easy browsing. Even if one understands the LC class number, finding a specific author will require time with the card catalog. In other words Isabel Allende will not be organized in the "A" section but rather the "L" section. I don't understand how this supports the patron browsing the stacks, but rather puts a heavy dependency on use of the catalog. Don't get me wrong, using the catalog is very important, but close evaluation and understanding of one's patrons will dictate which they will be more comfortable using. Within the PQ L54 section there is no easy way to interpret the actual cutter number and its correlation to the title or content of the book. So for example a patron cannot assume that the letters used in the cutter number are based on the title or the author, it could be one or the other. The main entry, 2 Lucinda D. Mazza

3 which of course determines the letter used, is a concept most patron's don't understand and could not follow. Some examples from my shelflisting are: PQ L54 B Title on book: El bosque de los Pigmeos / Isabel Allende PQ L54 B Title on book: Forest of the Pygmies / Isabel Allende PQ L54 C Title on book: La casa de los espiritus / Isabel Allende PQ L54 C Title on book: The house of the spirits / Isabel Allende PQ L54 C Title on book: Para leer a Isabel Allende : introduccion a la casa de los espiritus / Marcelo Coddou PQ L54 C Title on book: Isabel Allende : la casa de los espiritus / Lloyd Davies. PQ L54 C Title on book: La ciudad de las bestias / Isabel Allende According to the P-PZ40 table this shelflisting is in correct order, original work first, translation of the work would follow next and criticisms of a specific work follow that. However as a patron the books on the shelves would be confusing for most. First of all the letters in the cutter numbers in most cases don't align themselves with either the title of the book or the author. The book titles are not in alphabetical order, nor are they by author order. We have multiple authors intermixed, Allende, Coddou, Davies and back to Allende. There are original works, translations and criticisms all mixed together making it very difficult for a patron to find what they are looking for. There is no logical pattern that can be followed once a patron finds the general area for Isabel Allende. In a public library patrons love to browse and they want it relatively simple. If they like an author's work they want to walk to the fiction section and look for their authors last name, alphabetically, 3 Lucinda D. Mazza

4 and find a collection of books organized by title. Most of our patrons who are reading an author's books, don't care about literary works about the author, such as criticisms and interpretation. Having them filed in a separate area (like the 860s) would make more sense. A more logical arrangement would be having all biographical information about an author shelved together by the author being written about. Next I would put all literary criticism and interpretation of an author's works in a section on literature (for example 860 in Dewey) not mixed in with history, biography or the author's works. Fiction written by the author would be grouped together without the criticisms mixed in. Translations could be with each corresponding work, unless the library had a special section that held a complete foreign language section. Assigning the Z Cutter numbers for General Works was done so informally. It was nice to have the "Cornell University CTS Procedure #11: Classification and Shelflisting" worksheet to guide the assignment of numbers to ranges within the alphabet, but it did not seem very authoritative or official. As was discussed in your lectures, knowing ones shelflisting is very important when assigning these cutter numbers. It is difficult to know where a work should fall in the range of numbers for a given letter of the alphabet. There are only so many two digit cutter numbers so you need to allow for growth. It is a bit of a guessing game, even if you know your collection development team well and the patrons, it is tough to predict your future needs. Certainly the ability to expand to a third cutter number is possible to do, but not recommended. As a novice to the Library of Congress Classification System, my perspective is not fully developed, I am just learning and have not spent the time to actually sit down with the LOC classification books and do actual cataloging. However, given what I have learned to date, I am surprised by the complexity and lack of authoritative and definitive guidelines within the LOC classification system. Certainly trying to meet the cataloging needs of every type of work imaginable would be a challenge in and of itself. Then add on top of that trying to translate these procedures to libraries of varying size and 4 Lucinda D. Mazza

5 purpose would be an overwhelming task. Providing some flexibility or room for interpretation in certain areas is probably to accommodate libraries with very unique collections. I would imagine in the case of medical libraries having the ability to catalog extensive amounts of very specialized data could be managed when the cataloging system (LOC) allows for expanded and customized classifications. Looking back at the beginning of my analysis of the Table for Literary Authors with One Cutter Number, one can begin to see that there are unique collections that would benefit from what appears to be a lack of structure. In actuality this lack of structure or formality provides libraries the flexibility to meet specialized cataloging needs. In summary, my experience working in public libraries warrants a crisper, cleaner alignment of materials for patron's browsing pleasure. The Table for Literary Authors with One Cutter Number would not map well to that environment. If I spent more time in a college library or medial library it may become more evident that there are advantages to this table. 5 Lucinda D. Mazza

6 Shelflist for Isabel Allende PQ L54 B El bosque de los Pigmeos / Isabel Allende. -- 1st ed. -- New York : Rayo, PQ L54 B [El bosque de los Pigmeos. English] Forest of the Pygmies / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- 1st ed. -- New York : HarperCollins, Translation of: El bosque de los Pigmeos. PQ L54 C : HarperLibros, / Isabel Allende. -- 1st ed. -- New York PQ L54 C English] The house of the spirits / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Magda Bogin. -- 1st Amer. ed. -- New York : A.A. Knopf, PQ L54 C Coddou, Marcelo. Para leer a Isabel Allende : introducción a La casa de los espíritus / Marcelo Coddou. -- Concepción, Chile : Ediciones Literatura Americana Reunida, Casa de los espiritus. PQ L54 C Davies, Lloyd. Isabel Allende : la casa de los espiritus / Lloyd Davies. -- London : Grant & Cutler, c Casa de los espiritus. 6 Lucinda D. Mazza

7 PQ L54 C Isabel Allende / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom. -- Philadelphia : Chelsea House, c Casa de los espiritus. PQ L54 C La ciudad de las bestias / Isabel Allende. -- 1st ed. -- New York: Rayo, PQ L54 C [La ciudad de las bestias. English] City of the beasts / by Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- New York: HarperCollins, Translation of: La ciudad de las bestias. PQ L54 C [Cuentos de Eva Luna. German] Geschenk für eine Braut : Geschichten / Isabel Allende ; aus dem Spanischen von Lieselotte Kolanoske Aufl. -- Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp, Translation of: Cuentos de Eva Luna. PQ L54 H , PQ L54 H [Hija de la fortuna. English] Daughter of fortune : a novel / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- 1st ed. -- New York : HarperCollins, c1999. Translation of: Hija de la fortuna. PQ L54 H Coddou, Marcelo. Isabel Allende : Hija de la fortuna : rediagramación fronteriza del saber histórico / Marcelo Coddou. -- 1st ed. -- Valparaíso, Chile : Editorial Puntángeles : Universidad de Playa Ancha, Hija de la fortuna. 7 Lucinda D. Mazza

8 PQ L54 I , PQ L54 I English] / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- 1st ed. -- New York : HarperCollins, c PQ L54 P El plan infinito / Isabel Allende. -- 1st ed. -- New York : HarperLibros, PQ L54 P [El plan infinito. English] The infinite plan : a novel / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- 1st ed. -- Franklin Center, Pa. : Franklin Library, Translation of: El plan infinito. PQ L54 R El reino del / Isabel Allende. -- 1st ed. -- Barcelona : Montena Mondadori, PQ L54 R English] Kingdom of the Golden Dragon / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- 1st ed. -- New York : HarperCollins, c PQ L54 Z Conversations with Isabel Allende / edited by John Rodden ; foreword by Isabel Allende. -- rev. ed. -- Austin : University of Texas Press, Interviews. 8 Lucinda D. Mazza

9 PQ L54 Z , PQ L54 Z Mi país inventado : un paseo nostálgico por Chile / Isabel Allende. -- 1st ed. -- New York : Rayo, c PQ L54 Z English] My invented country : a nostalgic journey through Chile / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- 1st U.S. ed. -- New York : HarperCollins, PQ L54 Z Paula / Isabel Allende. -- 1st ed. -- New York : HarperLibros, Family. PQ L54 Z [Paula. English] Paula / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- 1st ed. -- New York : HarperCollins, Translation of: Paula. PQ L54 Z , Lucinda D. Mazza

10 PQ L54 Z English] The sum of our days / Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. -- 1st ed. -- New York : Harper, c PQ L54 Z Benatar, Raquel. [Isabel Allende : recuerdos para un cuento. English] Isabel Allende : memories for a story / by Raquel Ben --, c2003. Translation of: Isabel Allende : recuerdos para un cuento Childhood and youth. PQ L54 Z Cox, Karen Castellucci Isabel Allende : a critical companion / Karen Castellucci Cox. -- Westport, Conn. : Greenwood, Criticism and interpretation. PQ L54 Z Critical approaches to Isabel Allende's novels / edited by Sonia Riquelme Rojas and Edna Aguirre Rehbein. -- New York : P. Lang, c Criticism and interpretation. PQ L54 Z Galarce, Carmen J. La novela chilena del exilio ( ) : el caso de Isabel Allende / Carmen J. Galarce. -- 1st ed. -- Santiago de Chile : Universidad de Chile, Criticism and interpretation. PQ L54 Z Hart, Patricia Narrative magic in the fiction of Isabel Allende / Patricia Hart. -- Rutherford, [N.J.] : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ; London : Associated University Presses, c Criticism and interpretation. 10 Lucinda D. Mazza

11 PQ L54 Z Hart, Stephen M. Isabel Allende, Eva Luna & Cuentos de Eva Luna / Don Cruickshank. -- London : Grank & Cutler, c Eva Luna 2.. Cuentos de Eva Luna 3.. Criticism and interpretation. PQ L54 Z Isabel Allende today : an anthology of essays / edited by Rosemary G. Feal and Yvette E. Miller. -- Pittsburgh, Pa. : Latin American Literary Review Press, Criticism and interpretation. PQ L54 Z Levine, Linda Gould Isabel Allende / Linda Gould Levine. -- New York : Twayne, c Criticism and interpretation. PQ L54 Z Main, Mary. Isabel Allende : award-winning Latin American author / Mary Main. -- Berkeley Heights, N.J. : Enslow, PQ L54 Z Mauritz, Martina, Isabel Allende : von Martina Mauritz / Martina Mauritz. -- Originalausg., 1. Aufl. -- Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp, PQ L54 Z McNeese, Tim. Isabel Allende / Tim McNeese. -- New York : Chelsea House, c PQ L54 Z La Narrativa de Isabel Allende : claves de una marginalidad / edicion de Adriana Castillo de Berchenko. -- Perpignan : CRILAUP, Université de Perpignan, c Criticism and interpretation. 11 Lucinda D. Mazza

12 PQ L54 Z Ramblado-Minero, Lewiston, N.Y. : E. Mellen Press, Criticism and interpretation. -Minero Lucinda D. Mazza