LCSH Subject Headings:
Quiet, by Susan Cain
● Introverts
● Introversion
● Personality
● Temperament
● Interpersonal Relations
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
● Germany --History --1933-1945 --Juvenile fiction
● Germany --History --1933-1945 --Fiction
● Book burning --Fiction
● Books and reading --Fiction
● Death --Fiction
● Jews --Germany --History --1933-1945 --Fiction
● World War, 1939-1945 --Germany --Fiction
Classification Numbers
•
•
Quiet, by Susan Cain: BF698.35.I59
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak: PZ7.Z87
MARC Records
Quiet, by Susan Cain
020 ## $a 9780307352156 $q pbk.
050 04 $a BF698.35.I59
100 1# $a Cain, Susan
245 10 $a Quiet : $b the power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking / $c Susan Cain.
250 ## $a First paperback edition.
260 ## $a New York : $b Broadway Paperbacks, $c c2013.
300 ## $a 352 pages ; $c 21 cm.
500 ## $a Includes notes, index, and reader’s guide.
520 ## $a This book demonstrates how introverted people are misunderstood and undervalued in
modern culture, charting the rise of extrovert ideology while sharing anecdotal examples of how
to use introvert talents to adapt to various situations. At least one-third of the people we know are
introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate
and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in
teams. Although they are often labeled "quiet," it is to introverts that we owe many of the great
contributions to society, from van Gogh's sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.
650 #0 $a Introverts.
650 #0 $a Introversion.
650 #0 $a Personality.
650 #0 $a Temperament.
650 #0 $a Interpersonal Relations.
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, cataloged by Kaia Sievert
020 ## $a 9780375842207 $q pbk.
020 ## $a 9780375831003 $q trade
020 ## $a 9780375931000 $q lib. bdg.
050 04 $a PZ7 $b .Z87
100 1# $a Zusak, Markus
245 14 $a The book thief / $c by Markus Zusak
250 ## $a 1st Knopf trade paperback ed.
260 ## $a New York : $b Alfred A. Knopf, $c 2007.
300 ## $a 552 p., 15 p. : $b ill. ; $c 21 cm.
500 ## $a Includes reader’s guide.
520 ## $a Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel-a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and
the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
650 #0 $a Book burning $v Fiction.
650 #0 $a Books and reading $v Fiction.
650 #0 $a Death $v Fiction.
650 #0 $a Jews $z Germany $v History $y 1933-1945 $v Fiction.
650 #0 $a World War, 1939-1945 $z Germany $v Fiction.
651 #0 $a Germany $x History $y 1933-1945 $v Juvenile fiction.
651 #0 $a Germany $x History $y 1933-1945 $v Fiction.
Reflection
Over the past semester, I learned quite a bit about the organization of knowledge and
library cataloging. This knowledge has already been useful for me when using and interpreting a
library catalog and will continue to be useful. This class gave me a lot of insight into the type of
work that catalogers do, and why their work is important to library science. In this reflection
paper, I will discusses the process of creating catalog records for two books step-by-step, along
with what it taught me about the world of cataloging.
During the first half of the semester, we worked on descriptive cataloging. As I examined
in my mid-term paper, one of the biggest challenges with descriptive cataloging was managing
the number of standards and rules when building a bibliographic record. At times I would find a
rule and apply it, but wonder if it was the right rule, or if I had missed some sort of exception or
additional step. A lot of the challenge simply came from being unfamiliar with AACR2 or RDA.
I imagine that the situation is similar to a cataloger. When they first begin a job or learn a new
standard, they will work more slowly, until they internalize the rules so that they can navigate
them and apply them more efficiently.
In addition to navigating the standards, a lot of the other major decisions I struggled with
concerned the extent of the description. Should I include a table of contents in the notes field?
Do I need to mention that the book was an honoree for a prize? Do I need to include the
publication history?
When working on the descriptive portion of my record, I considered three questions when
making a decision. What best encapsulates the nature of the book? What have I seen in records
I’ve worked with at the University of Minnesota Libraries? What decision would be the most
useful for the end user? When it came to decisions about standards, I considered common library
practices and what best described the book. When it came to making decisions of extent, I tended
to focus on the usefulness to the end user most, followed by gut feelings based on records I’ve
used in an academic library.
I also learned viewing the way my classmates described their books, as explained in class
presentations. Both books I cataloged were fairly straightforward. It was fascinating to learn
about some of the challenges when it comes to describing books in a foreign language, or
graphic novels, for instance. For example, I was struck by the challenges of describing the issues
inside a graphic novel or the extent of the images, and trying to fit these details into standards
that have varying degrees of flexibility. Another trend I noticed in my classmates was a concern
for describing the audience of the book. I worked under the assumption that I wouldn’t specify
an audience unless it was very clearly stated on the book. Even then, I would think about
including it, because I think audience descriptions are more likely to discourage people from
reading an item then encouraging them. So, it was interesting to observe that some thought they
were important to include, even if it wasn’t on the book.
I found RDA easier to use than AACR2, due to its flexibility. It is interesting that once
you enter the data into a record using AACR2 or RDA, it looks almost the same. Because RDA
is based off of FRBR, it will be interesting to see how cataloging develops and takes advantage
of describing relationships between items and individuals. Based on my experiences in class, I
would prefer cataloging using RDA. This surprised me, because whenever I heard RDA
mentioned prior to taking LIS 7030 (or sometimes on the cataloging listservs), I generally heard
negative or distrustful opinions about the standard. Making major changes in any type of work
will always be difficult, so I can understand where the negativity comes from. However, this also
highlights the importance of being open to change and willing to keep up with standards in
cataloging.
During the second half of the semester, we moved from describing what an item is to
explaining what it is about with subject cataloging. For this half of the project, we worked in
pairs, which was useful when it came to sharing ideas with each other. My partner, Anna, and I
started off with very different approaches to assigning Library of Congress Subject Headings.
We both had noticed that the publishers of all of our books had included subject heading
suggestions on the title page versos. My initial plan was to follow a process of subject analysis
independent of the suggested headings, using the general format explained by Taylor (2004). At
the end, I expected to compare them with the suggested headings in the book for additional ideas.
Anna took a more practical approach and started with the headings in the book, not accepting
them automatically, but using them as a launching point for the subject analysis.
In the end, we combined our methods. We were familiar with our books, and spent time
thinking about the book and the subjects that best described it. Then we compared our ideas with
the headings in the book, looked them up, and considered alternative headings before making
final decisions.
This approach may be similar to the approach an actual cataloger may take, especially a
copy cataloger who is reviewing a record. Instead of independently assessing a book, a cataloger
may use their own assessment along with provided headings (whether from within the book or
from the catalog record they are editing) to determine the best headings for the book within the
context of their library.
When I was both assigning subject headings and classification numbers, I also compared
information with the records of similar books for additional ideas. When I was working with The
Book Thief by Markus Zusak, I examined two other records of young adult books dealing with
World War II and the Holocaust—a very recent book, Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein,
and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. When I was working with my non-fiction book, Quiet:
The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, I examined the record of another
non-fiction book about introversion--The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert
World.
Anna and I had read all four books that we cataloged, which gave us a definite advantage
when it came to assigning subject headings, because we came to the project with a good
understanding of the “aboutness” of the books. Comparing the experience of choosing headings
for our selected books compared with a question on our take-home final about finding
information from an unfamiliar book for subject headings, I could understand how subject
cataloging can become very challenging. In class, we discussed the value of having both a wide
understanding of different fields along with bringing deeper subject-specific knowledge to a
cataloging position. For example, I would have an easier time cataloging a book about a different
culture or language (I was a global studies major) over cataloging a book about engineering.
Below, I’ve compared my subject headings from the in-class presentation and the final
project with the headings suggested on the title page verso in each book.
Quiet, by Susan Cain
Suggested by the book:
• Introverts
• Introversion
• Extroversion
• Interpersonal Relations
In class presentation:
• Introverts
• Introversion
• Extroverts
• Extroversion
• Social Psychology
• Interpersonal Relations
Final LCSH:
• Introverts
• Introversion
• Personality
• Temperament
• Interpersonal Relations
When it came to choosing subject headings for Quiet, Introverts and Introversion were
the clear subject of the book. I wrestled awhile with whether or not to include Extroversion and
Extroverts. I ultimately did not include them, because although they are discussed thoroughly in
the book, they are not the subjects of the book. You would not want a book about introverts to
show up in a list of items about extroverts. At some point when I was examining the authority
record for the subject headings or looking at records of related introvert books, I came across
Social Psychology as a heading. I added it for the presentation, but later decided it was more of a
related topic. I did add temperament and personality (both are broader fields that include the
study of introversion and extroversion) onto my final record.
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
Suggested by the book:
• Germany –History –1933-1945 –Juvenile Fiction
• Germany – History –1933-1945 –Fiction
• Books and reading –Fiction
• Storytelling –Fiction
• Death –Fiction
• Jews –Germany –History –1933-1945 –Fiction
• World War, 1939-1945 –Jews –Rescue –Fiction
In class presentation:
• Germany--History--1933-1945--Juvenile fiction
• Germany --History --1933-1945 –Fiction
• Book burning —Fiction
• Books and reading –Fiction
• Storytelling –Fiction
• Death –Fiction
• Jews --Germany –History --1933-1945—Fiction
• World War, 1939-1945 —Germany –Fiction
Final LCSH:
• Germany --History --1933-1945 --Juvenile fiction
• Germany --History --1933-1945 –Fiction
• Book burning –Fiction
• Books and reading –Fiction
• Death –Fiction
• Jews --Germany --History --1933-1945 –Fiction
• World War, 1939-1945 --Germany –Fiction
The title page verso in The Book Thief suggested quite a few headings. I used many of
them in my final record, though I edited the World War, 1939-1945 to a more general heading
(not specific to Jews—Rescue). I added a heading on book burning and removed storytelling,
because the focus of the book is much more on books and learning to read and the power of
books in the face of oppression, and I felt these two heading better captured that idea than
storytelling.
I also spent quite a lot of time trying to decide whether to end the headings in –Fiction or
–Juvenile fiction. While the book is written for a young adult audience, I worried that ending the
heading with juvenile fiction was too limiting and would keep it from being connected with
similar books. To make the final decision, I looked up my related books (Code Name Verity and
Remember the Stars) in several different public library catalogs. Most of them just used Fiction
under the regular LCSH (not the juvenile version), so I chose to follow their decision.
The final part of our project included assigning classification numbers to our items. This
was a bit more challenging than I expected. In this case, the challenge was more in figuring out
how to navigate the website and the very long lists of classification numbers rather than making
decision about which classification numbers to choose or subjects to classify the books under
(this would perhaps be difficult in books with less clear subjects or multiple subjects).
Finding the classification number for Quiet was fairly straightforward, once I found the
correct place on the website. The main subject of the book was introversion, and I was able to
look up the subject heading to find a correlating classification number: BF698.35.I59. Once I
found this, I examined the path to get to the classification number to ensure it made sense to
include the book: Psychology—Personality—Personality types—Special personality traits or
aspects, A-Z—Introversion.
The Book Thief was a bit more challenging, mainly due to assumptions I brought to the
project. We found PZ1 through PZ7 for The Book Thief and I Want My Hat Back right away. I
had never heard of juvenile belles lettres before, so we initially discounted PZ7. Once we figured
out that it acted as a comprehensive number for literature for children, we assumed there would
be more divisions. It did not seem logical to collocate picture books and young adult books
together. Anna considered a classification number for children’s books about animal tales and I
considered putting the book under Australian fiction (the author is Australian). However, when I
looked up my comparison books, Code Name Verity and Number the Stars, both of them were
assigned a PZ7 number. Looking at the path for PZ7 gave me a bit more confidence that I was
using the correct number (Fiction and juvenile belles lettres—Juvenile belles lettres—American
and English—General juvenile belles lettres, 1870-), but I still wasn’t comfortable with the idea
of all those types of juvenile literature mixed together.
PZ7 also felt like too short of a classification number. At my job, one of my main tasks is
to conduct searches for missing items, so I spend quite a lot of time playing with longer, more
unwieldy call numbers such as PR6039.O32 L6x 1965. Having a classification number of PZ7
seemed a bit strange. So, I figured out how to assign a Cutter number. Using the chart from the
Library of Congress, I assigned .Z87 after the classification number. A quick look at the Library
of Congress catalog for another book by Zusak shows that they use .Z837. The process of
assigning Cutter numbers was much easier than I expected.
Overall, my experiences learning about the organization of knowledge and library
cataloging were very enriching this semester. In hindsight, I do wish I would have chosen more
challenging books for my mid-semester/final projects. I only had a limited number available
when I made my selection. It would have been helpful to have a more challenging book, like
some of the classmates, such as a book in a different language, a book with contents by multiple
authors, etc.
I’ve already benefited from what I’ve learned in this class. My library is currently
migrating to a new ILS and “discovery layer.” Taking this class at the same time helped me
better understand the explanations for what was changing and having a brief background
knowledge of RDA and FRBR was useful in understanding why some of the changes were being
made. Much more of my training on the new system would have gone over my head without this
course.
More generally, understanding the background of cataloging helps me better understand
and interpret records I use at work. When I do a search in the library’s OPAC that doesn’t work
as well, knowing how the information has been structured and is being searched helps me
understand where I went wrong in setting up a search. Understanding the organization of
knowledge allows me to help library patrons more effectively.
References
Cain, S. (2013). Quiet : The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking. New York:
Broadway Paperbacks.
Taylor, A. G. (2004). The organization of information. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Zusak, M. (2007). The book thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.