F 632 Literary Authors

Background:

Normally, all works by or about an individual literary author are classed together in the same number or span of numbers in Class P regardless of the number of names under which the person may be entered and regardless of any changes in the form of heading for the person. However, multiple numbers or spans of numbers may be established for those authors who write in more than one language.

The principal factors to be considered in determining the location of individual literary author numbers in Class P are the language in which the author wrote, the author’s nationality, and, if required, the time period during which the author was productive. The simplest situation encountered in establishing an author’s number is the author who wrote in one language only and was a citizen of only one country. Authors living in the country most commonly associated with a particular language are classed with the general literature area for that language.

Authors of a country other than the one most commonly associated with the language in which they write may be classed by country in the area developed for that literature in other countries. Many literatures, however, have no geographic development, may be only partially expanded (such as literature of former colonies), or may have special locations for collections but not for individual authors. The literature of the United States is the exception to the standard arrangement of keeping the literature of a particular language together in the subclass. No special section for Untied States literature exists in subclass PR, English literature. Instead, subclass PS has been reserved for literature in English of the United States.

This instruction sheet provides guidelines for classifying works by and about individual literary authors.

Procedures:

1. Using established literary author numbers.

Searching

Number providing

Name changes for authors with established numbers

Authors entered under mote than one name

2. Establishing new literary author numbers.

Authors writing inn one language

Authors writing in more than one language

Authors associated with more than one country

3. Printing literary author numbers in the P schedules.

When to print a literary author number

Formulating captions and see references

4. Special cataloging situations.

Authors writing in more than one language

Fiction works in English

Non-literary works by literary authors

See also:

Special Topics, Categories of Material, Etc.