Book Numbers (indian And Cutter)

This manual of book numbers explains the working mechanism of book numbers in all their intricacies. It illustrates the versatility of book numbering systems designed by Asa D. Dickinson, Sayyed Bashiruddin, S. R. Ranganathan, the National Library of India and Charles Ammi Cutter. Systems by Dickinson and Bashiruddin are now somewhat obscured by time. Here they are again brought to light. Dickinson method is a simplification of Cutter table made to suit Indian libraries at that time. Professor Bashiruddin devised author marks for books in Indian languages, including Urdu. His Hindi table has been described in detail with numerous newly devised examples of representative Hindi authors. His original table has been enormously expanded. Both these systems are for small libraries. Ranganathan’s book number system is described in its minutest details with many suitable examples. His system is applicable to all libraries transcending the barrier of language and collection size. The author table designed by the National Library, Kolkata, is for Indian language writers. This table makes a long list of Indian authors writing in Indian vernaculars and proposes their author numbers in Roman script. This book explains with ample examples the book number systems devised by S. R. Ranganathan, S. Bashiruddin, Asa Don Dickinson and the National Library of India, and offers a brief but practical introduction to Cutter-Sanborn Table. Book numbers have an important role to play in shelf classification in the era of relative location of books. There are only a few authentic books on book numbers, and the major texts in the subject are all written in the American context. Book Numbers Indian and Cutter supplements these books and exposes the Indian systems to a wider community of practising librarians and library science teachers. Moreover, it illustrates and explains what Ranganathan and others have at times merely insinuated. The chapter on the popular Cutter-Sanborn table has been added to help working and budding librarians. Key About Author: Mohinder Pratap Satija is Professor and Head, Department of Library and Information Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. He is in the library profession for the last three decades. His works have been translated into Hindi, Spanish, German and French. Having done his Ph.D. in Ranganathan studies, he has been instrumental in interpreting and propagating Ranganathan’s works and ideas to the new generation