Subject Cutters:

S+ Historical Geography:

This subject Cutter category is used for items that show particular historical events or activities, routes, etc., or a range of historical evens (e.g., changing boundaries, sites of historical events through a period of years, etc.).

Items which show military activity during a war are classed in subject Cutter category S rather in subject Cutter category R. Indications of military activity include troop movements, gun emplacements, marches, sieges, earthworks, campaigns, etc.

Maps of cities, regions, countries, etc. that do not show historical or military sites or activities, or historical trends or changes, but instead merely show a particular place as it was at a particular time are not classed in subject Cutter category S. These materials have as the date of situation in the call number the date that corresponds to the information on the item, regardless of publication date.

Because forts are usually military in their function, a map drawn during a war, of a fort located in the area involved in that war automatically received a subject category S Cutter.

When there is doubt whether or not an item should be classed in subject Cutter category S, class in the more general number (i.e., not in S).

Since, in the application of subject Cutter category S, the place rather than the event is given prime consideration, the following guidelines may be of help in dealing with some of the more common types of problems with subject Cutter category S classification:

if the event or site is located on or near an identifiable physical feature, the item is classified under the feature; Example:

if the event in question is not closely associated with an identifiable physical feature (an event taking place somewhere in a particular river valley, or in a range of mountains is generally not considered to be closely associated with the physical feature) the map may be classified with the nearest city; Example:

if the site of the event is a named fort, the item is classed as a history map, under the name of the fort;

if the site is within the environs of a current city, and if it covers, or if the map covers, an area that would today cross several administrative boundaries, or if it otherwise takes in a considerable amount of what would today be the city’s "suburban area," and if there is no physical feature with which to associate the site of the event, the item is classed under the city suburban area, even though the city might not have extended that far when the map was made. Since any subject Cutter takes precedence over any A subject Cutter, the class number will reflect only the city plus S+, and not the city plus A1.

History Decision Table