Orderliness

Is it just me, or is this what comes to mind when you hear the term "orderly?"



But no, it's the subject term you need to search for if you want to find books like this, on organization and organizing.



Then again, any excuse to reminisce about the 80's...

Uxoricide

Spotted this book yesterday, with a subject of Uxoricide--Fiction. Had to immediately google uxoricide to find from Wikipedia that it means "The murder of one's wife." Doing a little more searching, I see that we have 29 books in our catalog with a subject containing "uxoricide," both fiction and non-fiction. One of the best? "Uxoricide--Greece--Athens--History--Case studies," for The Murder of Regilla: A Case of Domestic Violence in Antiquity.

About this blog

Hi. I'm a copy cataloger at a mid-sized public library system. One of the things that keeps me sane (I hope) during the day is noting strange language in the Library of Congress Subject Headings that I see.

Have you ever searched for “cookbooks” in a public library system's catalog, and not found anything? That's because the Library of Congress Subject heading for cookbooks is actually “cookery.” “Brazilian cookery,” “Vegan cookery,” “Quick and easy cookery” - whatever variation is needed. Problem being, of course – who says that? Who's going to search for that? No wonder library patrons can't find what they're looking for.

“Cookery” is one of the most classic examples, but I see new ones all the time. This blog is a place to collect them.

(To be clear - I'm not criticizing the LCSH, or advocating some sort of change. Unless I should be? I don't know. Really, I'm just noting some of the strange things that I see in a day's work...)