Page 37 - Training for Librarianship Library Work As a Career

TRAINING FOR LIBRARIANSHIP

sion and duplication have no place in
scientific classification. Furthermore, a
classification to be usable requires an
adequate index.
After a book has been classified, the next
step is that of assigning a book mark to it;
this book mark determines the place and
order of the volume on the shelves. It con-
sists of two parts, one to denote the classifi-
cation of the book, the other to indicate its
order on the shelves. This book mark serves
as a means of identifying the book when
wanted by any reader calling for it It is
also referred to as the " call number."
The catalog is perhaps the most important
working tool in the library. Upon it depends
in large measure the ease with which the
library is used. A good catalog may cover
faults in classification and in other directions
and a bad catalog, conversely, may undo all
the good work which has been done in other
directions. A catalog is a list of books,
magazines, pamphlets and other material in
the library. Such a list may be written, type-
written or printed, on single cards or in a
31