Science/Fiction Collections

Fantasy, Supernatural and Weird Tales

Lee Ash

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780917724497
• eBook ISBN: 9781134754694
• Subtopic: Library & Information Science

Science/Fiction Collections offers different views and attitudes toward Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature and descriptions of a variety of collections. Written during a time when Science Fiction and Fantasy writings had just gained widespread popularity, it offers suggestions and considerations for approaching any special collection dealing with a relatively new field.

The Cataloging and Classification of Science Fiction Collections

Fred Lerner

Despite the increase in the number of science fiction collections in research libraries since the Clarkson Collection was donated to Harvard in 1955, very little attention has been paid to their cataloging and classification. Those which are primarily manuscript collections, such as those at Boston University and Syracuse University, are arranged according to the principles of archival management. The papers of a particular individual or organization are listed in card-files and descriptive brochures; and calendars are prepared for those whose extent warrants it. Books and periodicals are either regarded as adjuncts to the manuscript material, or are integrated into the rare book collection. In the latter case, descriptive cataloging is generally limited to the basic information required by the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, and subject cataloging, if provided at all. is limited to the application of subject headings from the Library of Congress list.

Even in those collections consisting primarily or entirely of printed materials, cataloging receives minimal attention. Relationships between works, problems of anonymous or pseudonymous authorship, and peculiarities of publishing history are left to the bibliographical literature, which fortunately is voluminous in this field. Thematic bibliography of science fiction is much less advanced than enumerative bibliography: despite Sackett’s call for a “Motif Index of Science Fiction” in 1960,¹ neither amateur nor professional scholars have done much toward facilitating a subject approach to science fiction stories. Until recently, neither the bibliographical literature nor the subject headings applied in library catalogs have offered much help to the reader seeking stories using a particular setting, theme, or device.

The rules laid down for descriptive cataloging in the second edition of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules are in most regards suitable for science fiction collections. Of the three levels of description outlined in AACR2, the third level, which is the most detailed, would be preferable for research collections. More detailed description might be warranted for unique items or for those substantially altered from their original condition (as by annotation, insertion of illustrations, or the like); but the need for title-page transcription or other painstaking distinctions of state and issue might be obviated by the publication of detailed descriptive bibliographies, to which reference might be made in notes to the catalog entries.²

Certain aspects of the publishing of science fiction deserve the cataloger’s attention. The description of a science fiction book should indicate whether it is a deluxe hardcover, trade hardcover, book club, trade paperback, or mass-market paperback edition. The printing should also be identified, as there are often slight changes in text or artwork between printings. Cover, jacket, and interior artists should always be identified; and publishers’ stock numbers and cover prices should be recorded. The role of editors and publishers in determining or influencing the content of many works should be borne in mind whe...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• The Special Collections Series
• Title Page
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• Foreword
• Introduction: The State of the Art
• Science Fiction at the Library of Congress
• The J. Lloyd Eaton Collection
• The Science Fiction Research Collection at Texas A&M University
• Out of the Closet: Science Fiction at Eastern New Mexico University
• Syracuse University
• Spaced Out Library: Toronto Public Library’s Spaced Out Collection
• The M.I.T. Science Fiction Society Library
• Anatomy of a Collection: The Sam Moskowitz Collection
• The Fantasy Foundation: Forrest J. Ackerman’s Archive of the Fantastic
• Science Fiction Specialty Publishers
• Bibliographic Control in Fantastic Literature: An Evaluation of Works Published 1941-1981
• The Cataloging and Classification of Science Fiction Collections
• A Checklist of Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Dealers
• A Brief Directory of Science Fiction Research Collections