Catalogue of the Books in the Library of the Institute of Jamaica: Arranged Under Authors Names and Under Titles (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Catalogue of the Books in the Library of the Institute of Jamaica: Arranged Under Authors Names and Under Titles

In preparing a catalogue it is necessary, while making something more than a mere hook-list, to avoid the danger of letting it develop into a bibliography. In cataloguing, and in using a catalogue, it is to be remembered that it is the title of a book and not its subject, that is to be dealt with. In a bibliography, it is, of course, the subject which is considered.

To make a good catalogue is a far more difficult matter than those unacquainted with the subject suppose. There is no doubt that as a rule the librarian should make the catalogue with his own hands, and not by more direction in any case, it should, as far as possible, be the work of one person. In the present case, the librarianship of the Institute being joined to the secretaryship, it has been found impossible for the holder of the dual office to perform the actual work of cataloguing. The work has, however, in the main, been prepared under his direction and has been seen through the press by him.

The pros and cons of printed and manuscript catalogues have often been discussed, but it would seem that the advantages of the printed catalogue far outweigh the dis advantages, which are apparently based on the assumption that, because a catalogue is printed it cannot be kept up to date in the library. The disadvantages are more apparent than real.

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