Hyphenated Spine Labels

Guidelines for Hyphenating Literary Biographies and Edited Collections

Cast a wide net when classifying books in the 800s. Follow the general guidelines for attaching form facets (i.e., novels in 8X3, essays in 8X4), but aim to group related material under the same number as much as possible. Basically, when new literary histories/critiques come in, think broadly about where best to put them. Derivative works that look at a particular author’s themes or legacy often go best alongside the biographies of the original writer rather than under the first three letters of the critic’s name. A few examples:

• 1984 revisited: totalitarianism in our century, a collection of critical essays, doesn’t mention George Orwell by name. Use a two-part call number to shelve it next to our other works on him. Image below.
• Daniel Pipes takes a broad cultural look at The Satanic verses in The Rushdie affair: the novel, the ayatollah, and the west. Use a combination call number to put it next to any other books on Rushdie.
• We have several books on the Nancy Drew series. The character was launched by a publisher and the individual books have been ghostwritten by various authors over the years. To shelve them together, use the character’s name (Drew) as the grouping element. For example, Melanie Rehak’s book on the early writers of the series: 813.52 Dre Reh.