xii.] A LIBRARIAN'S WORK. 261 



In the task of entering a book properly on the 

 alphabetical catalogue, the needful researches are for 

 the most part made by the assistants ; but the ques- 

 tionable points are so numerous, and so unlike each 

 other, that none of them can be considered as finally 

 settled until approved at head-quarters. After the 

 proper entry has been decided on, the work of tran- 

 scribing the title is comparatively simple in most 

 cases. The general rule is to copy the whole of the 

 title with strict accuracy, in its own language and 

 without translation, including even abbreviations and 

 mistakes or oddities in spelling. Mottoes and other 

 really superfluous matters on the title-page are 

 usually omitted, the omission being scrupulously 

 indicated by points. As regards the use of capital 

 letters, title-pages do not afford any consistent guid- 

 ance, being usually printed in capitals throughout. 

 Our own practice is to follow in capitalising the usage 

 of the language in which the title is written ; but 

 many libraries adopt the much simpler rule of reject- 

 ing capitals altogether except in the case of proper 

 names, and this I believe to be practically the better 

 because the easier method, 1 though the result may 

 not seem quite so elegant. 



1 Since this article was -written, I have adopted the simpler rule, 

 applying the French system of capitalisation to all languages, with the 



