with the other two. In some cases the book's title and its subject
will be identical; for example, Geology, by Tompkins, or Washington's
boyhood, by Jones. For such books one card answers for title and
subject. For fiction no subject-card is necessary. On the other hand,
many books have to do with more than one subject; a volume of essays,
for example, or a group of biographical sketches. For such it is
desirable to add to the subject-list by writing as many cards for each
book as the importance of the several subjects therein and the space
the author gives to them seem to demand. Each card will have for the
first word of its entry the subject to which it refers, followed by
the author and title of the book.

Arrange these cards also alphabetically with all the others. Put on
every card in the catalog the call-number of the book to which it
refers. This author-title-subject-list, or dictionary catalog, will
tell at a glance if the library has books a) by a certain author; b)
with a given title; c) on a given subject. These are the questions
most often asked.

[Illustration: Subject card. (Reduced; actual size, 7-1/2 x 12-1/2
cm.)

973.2 U.S. history- colonial.
C65 Coffin, Charles Carleton 1823-
_Old_ times in the colonies.
460 p. il. O N.Y. c[1880]]

There are in print several books giving rules for cataloging. Some of
these are mentioned in the chapter on Things needed (9). In a small
library which is always to be small it is not necessary to follow all