Building Cutter Numbers:An Overview

Webinar Cheryl Boettcher Tarsala,

Ph.D.September 12, 2014

Webinar Outline

1. Principles and Types of Cuttering2. How to Use the Cutter-Sanborn Table3. Varied Uses for Cuttering in LCC4. Basic Use of the LC Cutter Table

Tarsala * Slide 2

Principles

• Alphanumeric codes– Letter(s) A-Z + Numbers (1-999+/-)

• Numbers are decimals• Reduces cognitive load for

shelving and filing Photo of Charles Ammi Cuttersource: Wikimedia CommonsQuote: LJ July 1887, p. 251

“This notation is designed to

keep books on the shelves alfabeted by

authors.”

Tarsala * Slide 3

Little House Authors

Book covers from HarperCollins “Little House” seriesTarsala * Slide 4

Little House AuthorsCutter Full Last Name Title (Author)

WIL Farmer Boy (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

WIL Farmer Boy Goes West (Williams, Heather)

WIL Little House in Brookfield (Wilkes, Maria D.)

WIL Little House in the Big Woods (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

WIL Little House in the Highlands (Wiley, Melissa)

WIL Little House on the Prairie (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

WIL Little Town on the Prairie (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

WIL Mary Ingalls on Her Own (Willard, Elizabeth Kimmel)Tarsala * Slide 5

Little House AuthorsFull Last Name Title (Author)

WILDER WIL Farmer Boy (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

WILDER WIL Little House in the Big Woods (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

WILDER WIL Little House on the Prairie (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

WILDER WIL Little Town on the Prairie (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

WILEY WIL Little House in the Highlands (Wiley, Melissa)

WILKES WIL Little House in Brookfield (Wilkes, Maria D.)

WILLARD WIL Mary Ingalls on Her Own (Willard, Elizabeth Kimmel)

WILLIAMS WIL Farmer Boy Goes West (Williams, Heather)

Tarsala * Slide 6

Cuttered Little House AuthorsCuttered Title (Author)

W673f WILDER WIL Farmer Boy (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

W673ℓhb WILDER WIL Little House in the Big Woods (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

W673ℓhp WILDER WIL Little House on the Prairie (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

W673ℓt WILDER WIL Little Town on the Prairie (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)

W676ℓ WILEY WIL Little House in the Highlands (Wiley, Melissa)

W682ℓ WILKES WIL Little House in Brookfield (Wilkes, Maria D.)

W692m WILLARD WIL Mary Ingalls on Her Own (Willard, Elizabeth Kimmel)

W723f WILLIAMS WIL Farmer Boy Goes West (Williams, Heather)

Tarsala * Slide 7

Types of Cuttering• Standalone Cutter Tables– Cutter two-figure– Cutter three-figure

– Cutter-Sanborn

• Cutters for Library of Congress Classification image source

openclipart.orgby Nina GeometrievaTarsala * Slide 8

Availability of Standalone Cutter Tables

• Complicated by copyright– 1969 Swanson-Swift Revision

• Available from Hargrave House or used– All three variants on 15-inch cardboard

• OCLC’s cuttering program– OCLC Four-figure Cutter and Cutter-

Sanborn

• Non-U.S. websites– Only Cutter-Sanborn three-figure

Cover imagesLeft: Original Cutter-Sanborn table, ca. 1920-1940, dist. by H.R. Huntting Co.Right: Swanson-Swift Revision (1969), printed 1976, dist. by Hargrave House Tarsala * Slide 9

Cuttering Steps

1. Scan the alphabetical list to identify where the word you wish to cutter falls.

2. If it matches an entry exactly, choose that number.

3. If it falls in between two entries, choose the entry above where it should file.

4. Each cutter number represents all possible names beginning with the exactly listed entry and ending just before the next listed entry.

5. Place a capital letter representing the first letter of the word before the number.

Tarsala * Slide 10

How to Use the Cutter-Sanborn Table

Images of Cutter-Sanborn Three-Figure Author Table (Swanson-Swift Revision), p. 23. Tarsala * Slide 11

Cutter-Sanborn PracticePot 859

Potti 871Tarsala * Slide 12

ImageDetail from Cutter-Sanborn Three-Figure Author Table (Swanson-Swift Revision), p. 23.

DIY Expansion• Titles or corporate body names

• Non-European words with j’s, q’s, x’s and z’s,

especially Arabic and Pinyin

• But … only under the sameclassification number

Tarsala * Slide 13

XiXiaoXing

Xa 1Xan 2Xav 3Xe 4Xen 5Xer 6Xl 7Xu 8Xy 9

Amen 511Amer 512Ames 513Ames M 514Amh 515Ami 516Amin 517Amm 518Ammir 519

American Art AssociationAmerican Art BureauAmerican Art Clay CompanyAmerican Art Corporation

Why the Swanson-Swift Revision Was Needed• Did not change the numbering, only the presentation• 1969 Image: Original Cutter-Sanborn table,

ca. 1920-1940, dist. by H.R. Huntting Co.Tarsala * Slide 14

Work marks

• Lower-case letters placed at the end of a cutter number used to subarrange titles

• Letters after cutter can signal other aspects of the work

• Script “ℓ” [Unicode U+2113]• Instructions are available in the front of

the Cutter-Sanborn (Swanson-Swift)table – Cutter’s “Explanation” pamphlets freely

available via Google Books, Internet Archive, etc.

Tarsala * Slide 16

“Two-figure” Special Issues

• No online versions of these tables except OCLC• For vowels, use two letters before the number

– Ed98

• For the letter S, use two letters before the number– Sm64

• For words beginning with the letters Sc, use three letters before the number– Sch56

• Also includes Cutter three-figures– Not for Cutter-Sanborn

Tarsala * Slide 15

Last Words From Charles Ammi Cutter“Some persons are

apprehensive that this decimal arrangement will

be hard to use. … It may be so sometimes;

I can only say that I never had any difficulty

with any one, boy or girl, man or woman, when the

arrangement is explained as it is above.”

Charles A. Cutter, Explanation of the alphabetic-order marks(two-figure tables) (1911), p. 5.Tarsala * Slide 17

CLASSIFICATION

USING CUTTERING WITH

Library of Congress logo fromWikimedia CommonsTarsala * Slide 18

Cutters in LC Call Numbers

• A Library of Congress call number may have one, two, or three cutter numbers– Rarely: none– Three are used only in Class G for maps

• The first one is always preceded by a period• Subsequent ones are not• One letter + one or two digits

– Rarely: three or more

• LC Cutters file decimally, with or without the period in front of them

• There are no work marks

Tarsala * Slide 19

How is Cuttering Used in LCC?• Author’s last name

• Topic words

• Geographical Place Names

• Subarranging Types of Works

Tarsala * Slide 20

TS755 Gemstones.P3 = Pearls

UH30 Military Cyclists.F8 = Fürstenberg

G2972 Atlas.T3 = Tahiti

GV884 Basketball players.J63 Magic Johnson A3 = Autobiography

Types of LC Cutter Tables

• General Use

• Biography Table• Regions and Countries• Translations• Table XL for literary “Z” cutters

Tarsala * Slide 21

Availability of LC Cutter Tables

• Online Toolboxes• Library of Congress Classification and

Shelflisting Manual– PDF Downloads from Library of Congress

(free)– Through Cataloger’s Desktop (subscription)

• Printed – Cataloging Textbooks– Lois Mai Chan’s Guide to the Library of

Congress Classification

Tarsala * Slide 22

Basic Practice with LC Cutters

Tarsala * Slide 23 Image from Library of Congress Classification and Shelflisting Manual, sheet G63

The Name of the Game is Shelflisting

Tarsala * Slide 24

Photo of Lois Mai Chan from Library of Congress Cataloging Directorate, 2001.Quote: Chan’s Cataloging and Classification, 2nd ed, p. 288.

“Since the table provides only a general

framework for the assignment of numbers,

the symbol for a particular name or

work is constant only under a particular class

number.”

Lois Mai Chan

Shelflisting in PracticeMake newcomers fit with existing

numbers to preserve alphabetical order

Tarsala * Slide 25

LC Call Number Author/Title

SF426.5.B35 2012 Baines, Rebecca Everything Dogs

SF426.5.B37 1987 Bare, Colleen Stanley To Love a Dog

SF426.5.B375 2000 Barner, Bob Walk the DogSF426.5.B38 1990 Barrett, Norman S. DogsSF426.5 ???? 2014 Barzoi, Sam A Special DogSF426.5.B45 2006 Bennett, Leonie My Dog’s a

Mommy

SF426.5.B47 2001 Berman, Ruth My Pet DogSF426.5.B53 2000 Blankenhorn, Rebecca World of

Dogs

SF426.5.B63 2007 Bodden, Valerie Dogs

Shelflisting in PracticeMake newcomers fit with existing numbers

to preserve alphabetical order

Tarsala * Slide 26

LC Call Number “Correct” Cutter

Author/Title

SF426.5.B35 2012 .B35 Baines, Rebecca Everything Dogs

SF426.5.B37 1987 .B37 Bare, Colleen Stanley To Love a Dog

SF426.5.B375 2000 .B376 Barner, Bob Walk the DogSF426.5.B38 1990 .B377 Barrett, Norman S. DogsSF426.5.B385 2014 .B379 Barzoi, Sam A Special DogSF426.5.B45 2006 .B46 Bennett, Leonie My Dog’s a

Mommy

SF426.5.B47 2001 .B47 Berman, Ruth My Pet DogSF426.5.B53 2000 .B53 Blankenhorn, Rebecca World of

Dogs

SF426.5.B63 2007 .B63 Bodden, Valerie Dogs

For a more advanced understanding of LC cuttering, register for my

Library of Congress Classification eCourse opening October 6, 2014

Tarsala * Slide 27

Image: Manual of Library Classification and Shelf Arrangement (1898), p. 167.Internet Archive Book Images