Alphabetical List Purpose of work (Gathering term; do not assign)

Purpose of work (Gathering term; do not assign)

SN: Gathering term; do not use; index under a narrower term.

.. HN: 1/05 Term added.

.. SN: Use for cards distributed by merchants or manufacturers to
.. advertise or promote their business or product, common
.. beginning in the late 19th century.

.. Advertising mail

.. Books printed as advertisements

.. SN: Use for books issued by advertisers, the contents of which
.. are not primarily advertising matter.

.. Booksellers' advertisements

.. SN: Use this term rather than "Publishers' advertisements" for
.. examples appearing before the roles of bookseller and
.. publisher were clearly differentiated.

.. Printers' advertisements

.. Prospectuses

.. HN: 7/00 Scope note and narrower terms "Book prospectuses" and
.. "Company prospectuses" added.

.. SN: Use for formal summaries of proposed commercial, literary,
.. or other ventures to solicit investment, purchase, or
.. participation.

... Book prospectuses

... HN: 7/00 Term added.

... SN: Use for printed descriptions or accounts, sometimes
... incorporating sample text or specimen pages, issued
... separately or as part of books or periodicals, to solicit
... subscription, purchase, or other patronage of forthcoming
... books.

... Company prospectuses

... HN: 7/00 Term added.

... SN: Use for formal summaries of proposed commercial ventures
... distributed to prospective investors or participants.

.. Publishers' advertisements

.. SN: Use "Booksellers' advertisements" rather than this term for
.. examples appearing before the roles of bookseller and
.. publisher were clearly differentiated.

.. Sales catalogs

... Auction catalogs

.... Book auction catalogs

.... HN: 6/98 Term added.

.... SN: Use for auction catalogs in which a majority of the items
.... listed are books.

... Booksellers' advertisements

... SN: Use this term rather than "Publishers' advertisements" for
... examples appearing before the roles of bookseller and
... publisher were clearly differentiated.

... Booksellers' catalogs

... SN: Use this term rather than "Publishers' catalogs" for
... examples appearing before the roles of bookseller and
... publisher were clearly differentiated.

... Manufacturers' catalogs

... Publishers' catalogs

... SN: Use "Booksellers' catalogs" rather than this term for
... examples appearing before the roles of bookseller and
... publisher were clearly differentiated.

... Trade catalogs

.. Sample books

.. SN: Use for books of actual samples.

.. Type specimens

. Catalogs

. CM: Although Webster's 3rd New International Dictionary of the English Language (the authoritative dictionary for the RBMS thesauri) lists "catalogue" as merely an alternate spelling to "catalog," and although the shared cataloging code used by the English-speaking world is entitled Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, the former has increasingly come to be viewed as a British spelling. More to the point, all of the other thesauri with which we have agreed to cooperate both in resolving existing conflicts and preventing future conflicts use the spelling "catalogs."
. We realize this change introduces some ironies, particularly that of putting the spelling of the term within the thesaurus at variance with the spelling of the term on the title-pages of the thesauri. Nevertheless, we think that this is a change that has to be made, barring the wholehearted re-embrace of the "ue" by Americans, and fear that the longer we wait, the greater the conflict between RBMS thesaurus terms and other thesaurus terms commonly used in the cataloging of American libraries.

. HN: Change spelling of "Catalogues" to "Catalogs

. SN: Use for a list of items, arranged methodically, containing
. descriptive details for each item.

.. Academic catalogs

.. SN: Use for publications issued by an educational institution
.. listing course offerings, calendars, and programs.

.. Exhibition catalogs

.. Library catalogs

.. Museum catalogs

.. Sales catalogs

... Auction catalogs

.... Book auction catalogs

.... HN: 6/98 Term added.

.... SN: Use for auction catalogs in which a majority of the items
.... listed are books.

... Booksellers' advertisements

... SN: Use this term rather than "Publishers' advertisements" for
... examples appearing before the roles of bookseller and
... publisher were clearly differentiated.

... Booksellers' catalogs

... SN: Use this term rather than "Publishers' catalogs" for
... examples appearing before the roles of bookseller and
... publisher were clearly differentiated.

... Manufacturers' catalogs

... Publishers' catalogs

... SN: Use "Booksellers' catalogs" rather than this term for
... examples appearing before the roles of bookseller and
... publisher were clearly differentiated.

... Trade catalogs

. Commemorative works

. SN: Gathering term; do not use; index under a narrower term.

.. Albums

... Libri amicorum

... Scrapbooks

.. Awards

.. Certificates

.. SN: Use for documents containing certified statements of
.. ownership, membership, fulfilled requirements, legal
.. status, etc.

.. Epitaphs

.. Eulogies

.. Festival books

.. SN: Use for accounts of festivals, parades, ceremonial entries,
.. and the like.

... Wedding books

... SN: Use for works which recount and depict nuptial festivities
... and events, chiefly of royalty, nobility, or famous
... persons, and which may also include literary works offered
... to the principals, such as epithalamia or the Italian "per le nozze.

.. Festschriften

.. Funeral books

.. SN: Use for works which recount aspects of funeral and memorial
.. activities relating chiefly to royalty, nobility, or famous
.. persons, usually illustrated and containing some
.. description of mausoleums, caskets, church decorations,
.. funeral guests, etc. May include accounts of sermons,
.. eulogies, etc.

.. Guestbooks

... Christening books

... SN: Use for books containing the names of those individuals in
... attendance at the christening of a given individual.

.. Keepsakes

.. SN: Use for works produced to mark the occasion of a gathering
.. or event, distributed to those in attendance and not
.. usually otherwise available. For 19th century gift books,
.. use "Gift books.

... Cruise books

... HN: 6/98 Term added.

... SN: Use for pictorial publications, usually amateur in nature,
... documenting a voyage of a particular ship and distributed
... to the ship’s crew.

.. Memorials (Commemorative)

.. HN: In the 1983 edition of this thesaurus, this term was
.. authorized without a parenthetical qualifier, thus items
.. may have been indexed under "Memorials.

.. Obituaries

.. Souvenir programs

.. SN: Use for programs distributed to commemorate a specific
.. event, e.g., the dedication of a monument.

. Discoursive works

. SN: Gathering term; do not use; index under a narrower term.

.. Addresses

... Academic addresses

... HN: 7/00 Term added.

... SN: Use for addresses delivered at educational institutions.

.... Baccalaureate addresses

... Convicts' addresses

.... Gallows speeches

... Lectures

... Legislative addresses

.... Congressional addresses

... Occasional addresses

... SN: Use for addresses given on special occasions.

.... Baccalaureate addresses

.... Fast day addresses

.... Fourth of July addresses

.... HN: Changed 1/91. Formerly, "Fourth of July addresses" may have
.... been indexed as "Fourth of July orations.

.... Funeral addresses

.... Thanksgiving day addresses

... Sermons

.... Apocalyptic sermons

.... Children's sermons

.... SN: Use for sermons addressed to children.

.... Occasional sermons

.... SN: Use for sermons given on special occasions.

..... Anniversary sermons

..... Artillery election sermons

..... Baccalaureate sermons

..... Battle sermons

..... Century sermons

..... SN: Use for sermons given to commemorate a centennial
..... anniversary.

..... Christmas sermons

..... Dedication sermons

..... SN: Use for sermons given as part of a ceremony of dedication.

..... Election sermons

..... Execution sermons

..... Farewell sermons

..... Fast-day sermons

..... HN: 1/99 Changed existing term from "Fast day sermons" to
..... "Fast-day sermons". Add SN and UF to existing term.

..... SN: Use for texts of sermons given on days designated as days
..... of fasting.

..... Feast day sermons

..... Fourth of July sermons

..... Funeral sermons

..... Half century sermons

..... Installation sermons

..... SN: Use for sermons preached at the installation of a person in
..... a religious office or parish, whether delivered by that
..... person or another.

..... New Year sermons

..... Ordination sermons

..... Thanksgiving sermons

..... Visitation sermons

..... SN: Use for sermons preached by a bishop, etc., during an
..... official visitation.

..... War sermons

..... Wedding sermons

.. Dialogues

.. Interviews

.. Letters

.. Questions and answers

.. SN: Use for works consisting primarily of a series of questions
.. and answers.

. Gift books

. HN: 1983 Remove from "Commemorative works" hierarchy; change
. scope note. Prior to 1997 was a NT of "Commemorative works.

. SN: Use for illustrated literary miscellanies, popular in the
. 19th century, intended to be given as gifts and often
. published annually.

. Humorous works

. SN: Gathering term; do not use; index under a narrower term.

.. Burlesques

.. SN: Use for literary or dramatic travesties characterized by
.. ludicrously extravagant incongruity between a subject and
.. its treatment.

.. Caricatures

.. SN: Use for verbal or visual works which portray in a critical
.. or facetious way a real individual or group, or a figure
.. representing a social, political, ethnic, or racial type.
.. The effect is usually achieved through distortion or
.. exaggeration of some characteristic or characteristics.

.. Cartoons

.. SN: Use for pictorial images executed in an exaggerated or
.. abbreviated manner intended as satire, caricature, or humor.

.. Comedies

... Farces

... Harlequinades (Plays)

.. Comic books

... Tijuana bibles

... HN: Approved 6/2007.

... SN: Use for small, oblong comic books, clandestinely published
... in the U.S. between the 1930s and 1950s and parodying
... figures of popular culture in explicit sexual situations.

.. Comic histories

.. Epigrams

.. SN: Use for short satiric poems or any similar pointed sayings.

.. Facetiae

.. SN: Use for literary works characterized by coarse or obscene
.. wit.

.. Jestbooks

.. Minstrel jokes

.. SN: Use for collections of jokes made by blackface comedians of
.. the 19th- and early 20th-century United States.

.. Nonsense verse

... Limericks

.. Parodies

.. SN: Use for humorous, sometimes satiric, imitations of other
.. works.

.. Pastiches

.. SN: Use for literary or other artistic works created by
.. assembling bits and pieces from other works.

.. Satires

... Calaveras

... HN: 1/98 Term added.

... SN: Use for satirical broadside poems, usually in the form of
... mock epitaphs, illustrated with skeleton caricatures and
... issued around the Day of the Dead.

... Lampoons

... SN: Use for comic or satiric attacks on persons.

... Pasquinades

... SN: Use for satires or lampoons intended to be posted in a
... public place.

. Instructional works (Gathering term; do not assign)

. SN: Gathering term; do not use; index under a narrower term.

.. Alphabet wheels

.. SN: Use for teaching devices, whether individual or in books,
.. consisting of a circular wheel bearing alphabet letters
.. mounted beneath a sheet with a cut-out.

.. Catechisms

.. Cookbooks

.. Fables

.. Interlinearies

.. SN: Use for works of language instruction in which the text is
.. interlined in a second language.

.. Lecture notes

... Class notes

.. Manuals (Handbooks)

... Drawing books

... SN: Use for books on how to draw.

... Emigrant guides

... HN: 1/99 Term added.

... SN: Use for works giving detailed information useful to those
... emigrating or resettling.

... Merchant manuals

... HN: 1/00 Term added.

... SN: Use for manuals containing information on trade routes,
... market locations, business practices, merchant ethics, etc.

... Military manuals

... Pilot guides

... HN: 1/00 Term added.

... SN: Use for nautical guides that describe coast lines, harbors,
... dangers, and aids to navigation.

... Writing books

... SN: Use for books which provide instruction in handwriting or
... penmanship.

.... Copy books (Penmanship)

.... SN: Use for penmanship or calligraphy manuals which include
.... instructional text and examples as well as blank areas
.... designed for a pupil’s practice writing. For works which do
.... not contain such blank areas for practice, use "Penmanship manuals.

.... Exercise books (Penmanship)

.... SN: Use for books containing only blank, usually ruled pages,
.... intended for a pupil’s practice penmanship or calligraphy.

.... Penmanship manuals

.... SN: Use for penmanship or calligraphy instruction books which
.... include instructional text and examples but which do not
.... include blank areas for a pupil’s practice writing. For
.... works which also include blank areas for practice, use "Copy books (Penmanship).

.... Penmanship specimen books

.... SN: Use for books consisting solely of samples of handwriting
.... or calligraphy, intended for instruction. For works which
.... also include instructional text, use "Penmanship manuals.

.. Maxims

.. Proverbs

.. Textbooks

... Alphabet books

... HN: Changed 1/91. Formerly, "Alphabet books" may have been
... indexed as "Alphabets (Primers).

... SN: Use for both alphabet books meant as primers for teaching
... the alphabet and those intended as vehicles for an
... illustrator’s art.

.... Alphabet rhymes

.... SN: Use for works consisting of short rhymes for teaching the
.... alphabet.

... Chrestomathies

... SN: Use for collections of excerpts from original texts used as
... teaching specimens of a literature or language.

... Grammars

... Hornbooks

... SN: Although some authorities attempt to distinguish
... "Hornbooks" and "Battledores" by type of material used or
... by date produced, no consistent distinction in usage has
... been documented.

... Primers (Instructional books)

... Readers

... Spellers

. Record-keeping works

.. Account books

.. CM: Specialized collections may wish to subdivide by specific
.. types, e.g., "Account books $x Ledgers.

.. SN: Use for account books of original entry which record the
.. various transactions of the day in the order in which they
.. occurred. For works sometimes known as daybooks which are
.. diaries rather than account books use "Diaries.

... Daybooks

... SN: Use for account books of original entry which record the
... various transactions of the day in the order in which they
... occurred. For works sometimes known as daybooks which are
... diaries rather than account books use "Diaries.

.. Appointment books

.. HN: 1991 term added. 2/97 "Engagement books" added as UF.

.. Baptismal records

.. Bills of mortality

.. SN: Use for periodically published official records of the
.. deaths in a given locality, often including causes of death
.. and usually in broadside form. Having originated in London
.. in the 16th century, some of these records eventually
.. included other vital statistics such as christenings and
.. marriages.

.. Blank forms

.. Cast lists

.. HN: 5/02 Term added.

.. SN: Use for lists associating specific performers with their
.. parts.

.. Censuses

.. Certificates

.. SN: Use for documents containing certified statements of
.. ownership, membership, fulfilled requirements, legal
.. status, etc.

.. Diaries

... Maritime journals

... HN: 1/99 Term added.

... SN: Use for personal narrative accounts of journeys over bodies
... of water.

... Overland journals

... SN: Use for narrative accounts of journeys on overland routes,
... especially to the American West.

.. Division lists

.. SN: Use for lists recording the names of members of a
.. deliberative body at the time of a vote, divided according
.. to the position taken by each voter.

.. Guestbooks

... Christening books

... SN: Use for books containing the names of those individuals in
... attendance at the christening of a given individual.

.. Logs

.. Membership lists

.. Military registers

... Army lists

... Navy lists

.. Notebooks

... Commonplace books

... SN: Use for personal notebooks in which the owner has copied
... passages of interest or written his or her own
... compositions; use also for printed versions of such works.

... Field notes

... Laboratory notes

... Lecture notes

.... Class notes

.. Passenger lists

.. Price lists

.. Subscribers' lists

.. HN: 6/99 Delete term from Genre terms

.. SN: Deleted term. Use form "Subscription lists" from RBPUB.

.. Voting registers

. Recreations

.. Coloring books

.. Games

.. SN: Use for materials designed for play, usually according to
.. prescribed rules.

.. Puzzles

.. SN: Use for toys, contrivances, questions or problems designed
.. for testing ingenuity.

... Acrostics

... Anagrams

... Charades

... SN: Use for collections of puzzles and conundrums in which
... words, phrases, concepts, short dramatic scenes, etc. are
... meant to be conveyed by brief enigmatic rhymes or by means
... of pantomime, to be interpreted by listeners or onlookers.

... Ciphers

... SN: Use for texts, the meaning of which is concealed by
... substitution or transposition of letters or numbers.

... Mathematical recreations

... Rebuses

... Riddles

... Scientific recreations

. Reference works

. SN: Gathering term; do not use; index under a narrower term.

.. Academic catalogs

.. SN: Use for publications issued by an educational institution
.. listing course offerings, calendars, and programs.

.. Almanacs

.. SN: Use for works containing a calendar of days, weeks, and
.. months, together with information such as astronomical
.. data, various statistics, etc. Do not use for modern
.. factual compendia such as the World Almanac.

.. Alphabets (Writing systems)

.. Armorials

.. HN: 1/98 Term added.

.. SN: Use for books containing depictions of coats of arms.

.. Atlases (Geographic)

.. HN: Changed 1/91. Formerly, "Atlases (Geographic)" may have
.. been indexed as "Atlases.

.. SN: Use for collections of maps in book form.

.. Atlases (Scientific)

.. HN: Changed 1/91. Formerly, "Atlases (Scientific)" may have
.. been indexed as "Atlases.

.. SN: Use for comprehensive, systematically arranged collections
.. of plates, charts, etc. that illustrate a scientific or
.. technical subject.

... Anatomical atlases

.. Bibliographies

.. Brand books

.. HN: 1/98 Term added.

.. SN: Use for books containing illustrations of livestock brands.

.. Calendars

.. SN: Use for tabular registers of days, not for lists of
.. manuscripts or documents; subdivide by date.

... Perpetual calendars

... HN: 6/98 Term added.

... SN: Use for tables that allow determination of the correct day
... of the week for any given date over a wide range of years.

.. Celestial atlases

.. Directories

... City directories

... HN: 1/98 Term added.

... SN: Use for works containing names, addresses, and other
... identifying data of inhabitants and/or businesses of a city
... or cities.

.. Ephemerides

.. SN: Use for works giving the computed positions of celestial
.. bodies for each day or other regular interval; used by
.. navigators and astronomers.

.. Exhibition catalogs

.. Formularies

... Legal formularies

... Medical formularies

... SN: Use for works not having the contemporary status of a
... standard. For works having the status of a standard, use
... "Pharmacopoeias." When in doubt, use "Medical formularies.

... Technical formularies

.. Gazetteers

.. Herbals

.. Indexes

.. Library catalogs

.. Museum catalogs

.. Pattern books

.. SN: Use for books of actual patterns.

.. Pharmacopoeias

.. SN: Use for works having the contemporary status of a standard.
.. When in doubt, use "Medical formularies.

.. Quotations

.. Wordbooks

.. SN: Gathering term; do not use; index under a narrower term.

... Alphabet books

... HN: Changed 1/91. Formerly, "Alphabet books" may have been
... indexed as "Alphabets (Primers).

... SN: Use for both alphabet books meant as primers for teaching
... the alphabet and those intended as vehicles for an
... illustrator’s art.

.... Alphabet rhymes

.... SN: Use for works consisting of short rhymes for teaching the
.... alphabet.

... Concordances

... Dictionaries

.... Etymological dictionaries

.... Reverse dictionaries

... Encyclopedias

... Glossaries

... Phrase books

... Thesauri

.. Yearbooks

.. SN: Use for annual compendia of facts and statistics of the
.. preceding year, frequently limited to a special subject.

RBMS Controlled Vocabularies: Genre Terms

Alphabetical List | Hierarchical List