1. Shelving
Anomalies:
therefore often
Cataloguing
anomalies!

2. Fiction Anomalies

3. Mac OR Mc: that is the question.
Often “Mc” is treated as though spelt “Mac”. Names
such as “Mace” and “Mack” are sorted with those
names which commence with “Mc” and “Mac”.
McDonald, Cary MacDonald, Cary
MacDonald, G MacDonald, G
Mace, Henry (Mace) Mace, Henry
Macey, Peter Macey, Peter
McFarlane, Kathleen MacFarlane, Kathleen
Mack, W. D. Mack, W. D.
McKay, L. J. MacKay, L. J.
MacKay, Martha MacKay, Martha

4. Mac OR Mc: that is the question.
Depending on the model chosen, both
shelving lists below are correct.
MacDonald, G Mace, Henry
Mace, Henry Macey, Peter
Macey, Peter Mack, L. J.
McFarlane, Kathleen MacKay, Martha
Mack, W. D. McDonald, Cary
McKay, L. J. McFarlane, Kathleen
MacKay, Martha McKay, L. J.

5. Hyphens: stuck with glue
Names which contain a hyphen are treated as
one word, and are sorted accordingly.
Cassar-Daley, Troy
King-Smith, Dick
Miller-Heike, Kate

6. Prefixes: not always stuck with glue
A prefix is not always included as part of the
surname of an author.
Beauvoir, Simone de
De Burgh, Chris
Le Carre, John
Le Guin, Ursula
O’Neill, Mary le duc

7. Author Pseudonyms: alias or not
Some authors write in different genres and styles, and when
they do this they use a pseudonym.
Krentz, Jayne Ann Castle, Jayne (fantasy)
James, Stephanie
Krentz, Jayne Ann (modern day)
Quick, Amanda (historical)
Rendell, Ruth Rendell, Ruth
Vine, Barbara
Roberts, Nora Roberts, Nora (romance)
Robb, J.D. (murder)

8. Author Pseudonyms: alias or not
Some libraries choose to catalogue to the
Pseudonym (as the author wanted); others
choose to catalogue all works by one name,
so customers can find everything by that
author.

9. Shelving to the END of an authors
surname and 1st name
Even though a call number has 3 or 4 letters, when shelving you should
shelve to the end of an authors surname and then if required their 1st
name.
Patterson, James
Patterson, Michael
Pattinson, James
Smith, Ann
Smith, Anne
Smith-Jones, Anne

10. Series: together or not
Sometimes a series title is used to “market” books. For example:
Star Trek, once again some libraries choose to catalogue under
the author’s name and others under the series title.
Where would you put it?
Star Trek Aftermath Bennett, Christopher L.
Star Trek After the fall David, Peter
Star Trek Demands of honor Ryan, Kevin
Star Trek Burning dreams Shatner, William

11. Non-Fiction (Dewey) Anomalies

12. A 820s and NZ 820s
Most libraries identify Australian (A) and New Zealand (NZ) literature.
However, some inter-file the Dewey numbers and others shelve these
“runs” of numbers separately (between 828 and 829). Examples are:
820/ HUTC 820/ HUTC
A820.803995/ GROW 820.809282/ COLE
820.809282/COLE 821.008035/ FORW
821.008035/ FORW 823.8/ DICK
A821.3/ MACD A820.803995/ GROW
823.8/ DICK A821.3/ MACD
829/ AAAA 829/ AAAA

13. Shakespeare
Shakespeare has his own special place in the Dewey system
(DDC23, Vol. 3, p. 802-803). Different titles of his works have
different Dewey numbers.
All’s well that ends well 822.33/ O1/ SHAK
Anthony and Cleopatra 822.33/ S1/ SHAK
Hamlet 822.33/ S7/ SHAK
King Lear 822.33/ T3/ SHAK
Macbeth 822.33/ T5/ SHAK
Romeo and Juliet 822.33/ U3/ SHAK

14. Different “runs”
As you know from using the library, there are many different “runs” of Dewey
numbers. The prefix depends on the type of collection or the target audience.
J Junior REF or R Reference CH Chinese
JQ Junior AV Audio-Visual CHJ Chinese Junior
Q Quarto DVD DVD CHAV Chinese AV
Y Youth Video or V Video CHDJ Chinese DVD Junior
YQ Youth quarto PTC Parent Teacher CHD Chinese DVD
Coll’
F Folio TMW Tell me why CH Chinese Talking
TB Book
P Periodical TB Talking book ++++ many, many more

15. Want to practice Dewey (DDC) shelving
Dewey practice online
http://monarchlibrary.wikispaces.com/OrderInTheLibrary
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~vvesper/dewey2.htm
Pictures from © Kazmierz Szmauz Bookman, 2001.
www.anyamountofbooks.com
© S.Byers – August 2012
Version 2