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Whenever I see a discussion of cataloging and shelf placement in this
forum, I like to remind everyone that cataloging and call number are two
different animals.  Cataloging refers to the intellectual content of the
materials and follows AACR2 rules which define the way to catalog an
abridged version so the MARC record refers to the authors of both the
abridgement and the original.

The call number is a shorthand method to locate the physical item among
the rest of the items in a collection.  And it also follow rules:  LOC
is one set of rules, Dewey is another set, but others can be devised,
such as the simplified color rules recently discussed for early
elementary students.  Bookstores have a variety of ways to keep track of
the way they display their materials, but I doubt if it interferes with
the way an item is "cataloged" in their database, since most bookstores
use Bowker or a similar professional database.  As long as the catalog
record shows shelf placement -- where the book is -- it doesn't really
matter what method was devised to assign it there.

Putting a call number on an abridged book to place it next to the
original story is only assigning it a shelf location that tells someone
where to locate the book in the collection once they've used the catalog
record to identify which book they want or need.  And I think we
librarians can use our good professional judgment to do so without
earning the wrath of the "Powers that be" -- accepting, of course, that
the next person who has our job may change it completely differently and
with perfectly good rationale!!

Barbara Paciotti, SLMIS
Barbara Bush MS, Irving TX

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