[Classweb-users] cutter from the Cutter Table or from G300 ?

[Pietris, Mary Kay]

The following background information may be of use when contemplating the LC shelflist and G 300.

Before 1988 some schedules, especially D and H, had their own lists of regions and countries in one alphabet.  The lists were not entirely consistent between schedules.  Chile and China were .C4 and .C5 in the 1959 edition of D but .C5 and .C6 in the 1981 H.  The Cutters sometimes changed between editions.  The 1959 edition of D gave Iraq as .I57, but the 1989 edition of DT-DX gave Iraq as .I72.  (D was split into 5 sections when new editions were published in the 1980s.)  The 1987 edition of DS included such a list, with the note "The Cutter numbers are intended as a guide for the best distribution of numbers and are not to be used as a fixed standard or to  affect numbers already assigned."  

When G 300 was compiled in 1986, the lists from the various schedules were compared, and the more frequently used Cutter  was selected.  Separate lists were then no longer needed in individual schedules.  In recognition that some schedules had used other Cutters, the instructions continued to give precedence to a Cutter used in the shelflist over G 300.  The current rules for G 300 state:   "[G 300] is applied to new entries in the shelflist ... provided that there is no conflict with existing entries,"  and  “If a Cutter for a region or country has been used in the shelflist or established in the classification schedule, use that number even if it is in conflict with the number in the regions and countries table.”  However, it is easy for catalogers, both inside and outside LC, to forget that G 300 exists and to use the Cutter table if there are no entries in the shelflist and no conflict. 

As for the number of digits in a Cutter, a single digit was originally used by LC for all Cuttering.  The author number table has gone through several revisions, with routine requirement of a second digit in the late 1970s.  

The use of a single digit to represent countries was also standard practice.  The D schedule was created before World War I and published in 1916, with no need for two digits for any country.  In the list of countries from the 1958 edition of E-F, 2 digits were used only when countries needed to be inserted where no number was available, such as Sudan (.S75) between Spain (.S7) and Sweden (.S8). Long-existing Western countries generally have single digits in G 300.

Use of the Cutter table instead of G 300 is not a mistake that needs to be remedied unless it results in an out-of-order shelflist.

Mary K. D. Pietris, Cataloging Policy Specialist
Library of Congress
Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate 
Policy and Standards Division

-----Original Message-----
From: Classweb-users [mailto:classweb-users-bounces at classificationweb.net] On Behalf Of Duijn, Aad van
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 6:33 AM
To: classweb-users at classificationweb.net
Subject: [Classweb-users] cutter from the Cutter Table or from G300 ?

010    2015394665
040  DLC ǂb eng ǂe rda ǂc DLC ǂd OHX ǂd QGK
0167 1062647513 ǂ2 GyFmDB
020  9783421046833 (hd. bd. : FSC paper)
020  3421046832 (hd. bd. : FSC paper)
0243 9783421046833
042  pcc
043  e-gx--- ǂa a-is---
05000DS119.8.G4 ǂb D56 2015
072 7DS ǂ2 lcco
049  QGKA
1001 Diner, Dan, ǂd 1946-
24510Rituelle Distanz : ǂb Israels deutsche Frage / ǂc Dan Diner.
250  1. Auflage.
264 1München : ǂb Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, ǂc [2015]
300  170 pages : ǂb illustrations ; ǂc 22 cm
336  text ǂ2 rdacontent
337  unmediated ǂ2 rdamedia
338  volume ǂ2 rdacarrier
504  Includes bibliographical references (pages 134-167) and index.
651 0Germany ǂx Foreign relations ǂz Israel.
651 0Israel ǂx Foreign relations ǂz Germany.
650 0Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) ǂx Influence.
…
DS119.8.A-Z History of Asia<javascript:parent.GoTo('up',%20'&span=DS119.8.G4&max=0&key=_00DS119_2E8_2EA_00DS119_2E8_2EZ_009_00',%20null)>—Israel (Palestine). The Jews<javascript:parent.GoTo('up',%20'&span=DS119.8.G4&max=1&key=_00DS119_2E8_2EA_00DS119_2E8_2EZ_009_00',%20null)>—History<javascript:parent.GoTo('up',%20'&span=DS119.8.G4&max=2&key=_00DS119_2E8_2EA_00DS119_2E8_2EZ_009_00',%20null)>—Political and diplomatic history. Foreign and general relations<javascript:parent.GoTo('up',%20'&span=DS119.8.G4&max=3&key=_00DS119_2E8_2EA_00DS119_2E8_2EZ_009_00',%20null)>—Relations with individual countries, A-Z
G4 = Germany

Dear colleagues,

My question is: is the A-Z in cases like this one ‘just’ a cutter from the Cutter Table or should it be taken from G300 Classification and Shelflisting Manual<http://desktop.loc.gov/search?view=document&id=43&fq=coreresources|true> — Shelflisting<http://desktop.loc.gov/search?view=document&id=Infobasescmclsl67&fq=coreresources|true> — General<http://desktop.loc.gov/search?view=document&id=Infobasescmclsl68&fq=coreresources|true> — G 300 Regions and Countries Table<http://desktop.loc.gov/search?view=document&id=Infobasescmclsl0Dash0Dash0Dash654&fq=coreresources|true> ?
Trying to answer my own question:
I think it is a cutter rather than something from G300 (in that case you’d rather expect G3 for Germany).
But on the other hand why only one digit  for Germany, if it is a cuter from the Cutter Table?
Because  LC once – when one digit for cuttering was normal - started that way?

I’m a bit puzzled, but hopefully someone can help me!



Met vriendelijke groet / Kind regards,



Aad van Duijn


Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam
Sector Acquisitie & Metadatadiensten
Aad van Duijn
Coördinator onderwerpsontsluiting
Postbus 19185 | 1000 GG Amsterdam
Singel 425 | 1012 WP Amsterdam
T 020 525 2432 | F 020 5252390
email: a.vanduijn at uva.nl<mailto:a.vanduijn at uva.nl>
www.uba.uva.nl<http://www.uba.uva.nl/>
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