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Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue / U. S. Bureau of Education Special Report on Public Libraries—Part II, Third Edition cover

Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue / U. S. Bureau of Education Special Report on Public Libraries—Part II, Third Edition

Chapter 52: G. LANGUAGE.
By Charles A. Cutter
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About This Book

This work presents a comprehensive guide to the principles and practices of creating a dictionary catalogue for libraries. It discusses various entry methods, including author, title, and subject entries, and emphasizes the importance of systematic organization and clarity in cataloguing. The text outlines different types of catalogues, such as short, medium, and full-title catalogues, and provides detailed rules for each category. It also addresses the need for flexibility in cataloguing practices to accommodate different library types and user needs. The author encourages feedback from librarians to improve future editions, highlighting the evolving nature of cataloguing standards.

G. LANGUAGE.

204. The language of the compiler’s part of an English catalogue should be English.

Therefore all notes, explanations, and such words as in, see, see also, note, contents, and (between joint authors), and others, n. p., n. d., should be English; however, etc., q. v., and sic may be used.

For the language of HEADINGS, see §§ 27–36. In the entry of Government publications the name of the country or city will have the English form (§§ 33, 34), but the name of the department should usually be in the language of the country, e. g.:

Italy. Ministero di Agricoltura.

But for countries like Russia, Turkey, Japan, where the vernacular name could not easily be ascertained, an English form may be used.

For titles see §§ 165–169, 175; put the specifications of the EDITION in the language of the title, also the IMPRINT (§ 179), CONTENTS, NOTES, and REFERENCES.

H. CAPITALS.

205. In English use an initial capital

1. for the first word,

a. of every sentence,

b. of every title quoted,

c. of every alternative title,

2. for all proper names, each separate word not an article or preposition.

a. of persons and places,

b. of bodies

c. of noted events and periods,

N. B. This does not include names of genera, species, etc., in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, which in an ordinary catalogue should not be capitalized; as digitalis purpurea, raia batis, the horse.

3. for adjectives and other derivatives from proper names when they have a direct reference to the person, place, etc., from which they are derived.

4. for titles of honor standing instead of a proper name.

Ex.

  • 1b. Reply to the Essay on the discovery of America.
  • 1c. Institutio legalis; or, Introduction to the laws of England. But it is better, when the sense will permit, to omit the “or” and consider the second title as a clause explanatory of the first, as Institutio legalis; introduction to the laws of England.
  • 2b. Society for Promoting the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
  • 2c. Boston Massacre, French Revolution, Gunpowder Plot, Middle Ages.
  • 4. The Earl of Derby, but John Stanley, earl of Derby. {81}

206. In foreign languages, use initial capitals

  • 5. for 1a, 1b, 1c.
  • 6. (Persons and places)
    • a. In German and Danish for every noun and for adjectives derived from names of persons, but for no others.
    • b. In the Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese) and in Swedish and Greek for proper names of persons and places, but not for adjectives derived from them.
    • c. in Latin and Dutch for proper names and also for the adjectives derived from them, but not for common nouns.
  • 7. (Bodies) as in English, except that in German and Danish only the nouns are to be capitalized, and adjectives when they begin the name.
  • 8. (Events and periods) as in English, with the same exception.
  • 9. (Titles) in German and Danish, but not in the Romance languages, in Latin or in Greek.

Ex.

  • 6a. Die Homerische Frage, but Die griechischen Scholien. In many German books capitals are not used even for adjectives derived from personal names.
  • 6b. Les Français, but le peuple français.
  • 7. Société de l’Histoire de France.
  • 8. Le Moyen Âge, la Révolution Française, Die französische Revolution. The French, however, now generally print le moyen âge, la révolution française. Capitals are to be avoided, because in the short sentences of which a catalogue consists they confuse rather than help the eye. For this reason it is better not to capitalize names in natural history whether English or Latin (bee, rana pipiens, liliaceæ, etc.). Several libraries following the lead of the Congress catalogue have discarded capitals for German nouns. Grimm’s authority is alleged in justification, but Grimm’s example is followed by a very small minority even of German scholars, and the titles so printed still have an awkward look to most readers. The Boston Public Library also goes to an extreme in its avoidance of capitals, not using them for such proper names as methodists, protestant episcopal church, royal society, etc.

The names of languages are not to be capitalized in the Romance languages, as “traduit de l’anglais,” “in francese.”

Titles of honor are not to be capitalized in the Romance languages, as comte, conte, marchese. But Monsieur, Madame, Signor, Don, Donna always begin with capitals.

Use capitals (or, better, small capitals) for numbers after the names of kings (Charles III. or Henry IV.) and for single-letter abbreviations (A. D., B. C., H. M. S., F. R. S. E., etc., or A. D., F. R. S. E., etc.). But n. p. no place, n. t. p. no title-page, may be in lower-case letters or small capitals, and b. born, d. died, ms. manuscript, should be in lower case.