Cuttering

Transliterated Names
Personal Surname Entries
     Surnames with Prefixes (Articles & Prepositions)
     Personal Names in Direct Order
     Corporate Names
Title Main Entries
     Uniform Titles
Double Cuttering
Automobiles

General Rules

The cutter is an alphabetical notation used for arranging fiction and sub-arranging other library materials on shelves.
It is, with few exceptions, based on the first three alphabetical letters of the first filing word of the main entry.
Word means characters, written together with or without punctuation, followed by a space.
Numerals only at the beginning of the field will be translated to their alphabetic equivalent; all other numerals are ignored.
Symbols, punctuation marks and other special characters appearing in the first three characters of the main entry are ignored, unless the symbol is acting as a replacement for a letter. In those instances, the replaced letter should be used in cuttering. A numeral as the second or third character means a one or two digit cutter, e.g.

OS/2	OS	OE&M	OEM
F2-M	F	E-@thletes	ETH

Transliterated Names

See Cataloguing Overview, 1XX Main Entry, 1XX 6XX 7XX Transliterated Names

Personal Surname Entries

Cutter for the first word of the surname, e.g.

Smith	SMI	Wilson-Barker	WIL
Ng	NG	W.-Jones, J.	WJO
McCracken	MCC	McDougall	MCD

Exceptions: Use 4 letters for names beginning with Mac

MacDougal

MACD

Macak

MACA

Surnames with Prefixes

Use 3 letters for cutter for names beginning with a prefix

De La Roche	DEL	Ó Sé, Diarmuid	OSE
D'Aquino	DAQ	d'Aprix	DAP
St. John	STJ	De Havilland	DEH

For Arabic surnames that include an article:
- Al or al is the definte article in Arabic
- Surnames that begin with al- often refer to the place where ancestors were born
- Reference works often alphabetize names beginning with al- under the word following al-, e.g. al-Hakami would start with H
- According to the Chicago Manual of Style, Arabic names are indexed by surnames. Names may be alphabetized under Abu (father of), Abd (servant of) and bint/ibn (daughter/son of), while names are not alphabetized under al- and el- and are instead alphabetized under the following element.
- Francophone countries are more likely to transliterate al- as el- e.g. Tunisia, but it is an individual’s personal preference.
- Just to be confusing Āl is a designator of a family or tribal name and is always romanized with a capital letter and a macron.

al-Hakami, Ibrahim	ALH	Al Majid, Rashed	ALM
Āl Aḥmad, Jalāl	ALA	El-Feki, Shereen	ELF

See RDA Toolkit, Appendix F, F.11 Recording Surnames That Include an Article and/or a Preposition, for additional guidelines on surnames with prefixes

Personal Names Direct Order

Cutter for the first word.

La Tamara	LA	Anne Boleyn, Queen	ANN
G. Love, 1972-	G	Sun Ra	SUN
Dr. N.	DR	Mr. T	MR
Mrs. Smith	MRS	Da Silva (Vocalist)	DA
Mr. John	MR	H. D. [initials with space]	H
Sa-Fire (Musician) (ignore hyphen)	SAF	TKO (Musician) [no spaces between letters]	TKO
Viðar Hreinsson (substitute d for ð) for an Icelandic name	VID

Corporate Names

Cutter for the first word of the corporate name.
Ignore punctuation unless accompanied by a space.

Canada. Dept.	CAN	United States. Dept.	UNI
De Havilland Aircraft	DE	ASS Goddard Memorial	ASS
De La Soul (Musical group)	DE	IFLA Office	IFL
R.O.A.R. (Musical group)	ROA	I Level (Musical group)	I
I-Threes (Musical group)	ITH	In Parallel	IN
T. Rex (Musical group)	T	St. Petersburger Kammerchor	ST
AC/DC (Musical group)	ACD	A-ha (Musical group)	AHA

Corporate Names with Numerics/Symbols in the First Word

Do not include numerics in cutter. When a numeric is the first character of a word, cutter for the numeric as spoken in the language of the title.
When numeric occurs within the first word use letter(s) given before the numerics.

U2 (Musical group)	U	UB40 (Musical group)	UB
20 Feet (Musical group)	TWE	2^nd chapter of Acts (Musical group)	SEC
3 Paraguayos (Musical group)	TRE	XIIth House (Musical group)	TWE
Hi-Five (Musical group)	HIF

Note: Use 3 letters for corporate names beginning with MAC.

MacGill and Co.

MAC

Machine Head (Musical group)

MAC

Title Main Entries

The symbol "#" at the beginning of a title will be cuttered as the word "number"; the abbreviation “No” will be cuttered as NO, e.g.

245 |a #1 hits 1965-1969, cutter: NUM
245 |a No. 1 70’s rock album, cutter: NO.

Cutter for the first filing word only.
Numerics or dates in titles are cuttered for the numeric or date as spoken in the language or usage of the title.
If the first filing word is a combination of letters followed by numbers, cutter for the letters only.

ABC of science	ABC	A B C of science	A
e.encyclopedia	EEN	20^th century art	TWE
1 2 3 game	ONE	4 maisons [i.e. quatre maisons]	QUA
1984 [as a date]	NIN	BMX Motorcycles	BMX
1984 days [as a number]	ONE	D.W. rides again	DW
Da Vinci code	DA	ES&T presents VCR…	EST
St. Elmo’s fire	ST	It's magic	ITS
MS-DOS	MSD	SM5000	SM
OS/2	OS	1080 Degree snowboarding	TEN
M:I:III (Mission Impossible 3)	MI	D.Gray-man	DGR

Note: Use 3 letters for titles (main entries) beginning with MAC.

Machinery

MAC

MacDonald and I

MAC

Uniform Titles

When cuttering for uniform title, that is videorecordings, cutter with the established form of uniform title - not with the English form of name.

240 |a Fille du regiment.
(Cutter FIL not DAU for Daugher of the Regiment).

Double Cuttering

Double cuttering is used so that items about specific persons, or on certain specific subjects, sit together on the shelves.

E.g. A book about Raspberry Pi (computer) is classified as 005.265 RAS ABC

Double cuttering may be used in all classes in Dewey, for all items which are classified by the Dewey Decimal classification (e.g. print materials, videorecordings, talking books) but it is especially important in biography, 920-928 and literature, 800.
In literature (800’s) double cutter only for criticism, not for a subject dealt with in the literary text, e.g. book of poems about Bob Dylan is cuttered only for the author of the poems.

E.g. A book about the English painter Stanley Spencer by G. Behrend is classified 759.2 SPE BEH.

E.g. A book about Spencer with the title main entry Stanley Spencer would be classified 759.2 SPE STA.

E.g. If the title main entry were Spencer, also double cutter 759.2 SPE SPE; however, for a book by Spencer on his own work, do not double cutter, i.e., 759.2 SPE.

If the main theme of the material is about the subject heading (600/610/611/630), then double cutter.
Only double cutter for 650 when required by Dewey or specified in the Manual.

610 \|a Titanic (Steamship)	910.91631 TIT BAL
611 \|a Mount Everest Expedition (1996)	796.522 MOU COB
630 \|a Microsoft Excel 2003 (Computer file)	005.54 MIC FRY

If the material has more than two themes, then the cutter would be for the main entry only.
Do not double cutter if the Dewey number represents the subject and double cuttering would be redundant.

for a work on Freud	150.1952
for a book about the YMCA	267.3

An autobiography needs only to be cuttered for the author; however a biography written by someone with the same surname would be double cuttered as would a title main entry beginning with the subject's name.
If a book is about two people, cutter for the one named first on the title page, or the one given prominence in the text.
A book with the title main entry Shakespeare's influence on Keats would be classified 821.7 KEA SHA
Note: The second cutter is always for the main entry. If a book is about three or more people do not double cutter; instead cutter for the main entry.
Autobiographies may not sit together because of their cutters; this will be an infrequent occurrence if an author uses a different name from time to time, i.e. Roseanne, Roseanne Arnold, Roseanne Barr.

Double Cuttering for Automobiles

Double cutter for the first of 1 or 2 specific makes as listed in the 650’s.
Do not double cutter if there are 3 specific makes; cutter only for main entry.
For more than 3 specific makes: if possible, choose a broader subject heading which would then allow double cuttering.

650 \|a Ford trucks	FOR
650 \|a Chevrolet trucks	CHE
650 \|a Harley-Davidson motorcycle	HAR

In general, the first cutter in such cases is for the make of automobile, not for its manufacturer.

A title on how to repair your Ford Pinto by Chalmers-Hunt
092 |a 629.28722 PIN CHA
100 |a Chalmers-Hunt, B. L. (Brian Leonard)
245 |a Ford Pinto owners workshop manual ...
650 |a Pinto automobile

A title main entry Pinto tune-up & repair
092 |a 629.28722 PIN PIN
245 |a Pinto tune-up & repair.
650 |a Pinto automobile

Note: In practice, EPL has been making exceptions to this "make" vs. "manufacturer" distinction (chiefly to satisfy customer demands). Books on car or truck make designated only by letter and number or by manufacturer and number are being cuttered for manufacturer, not for make.

Audi 4000

AUD

Mazda RX7

MAZ

Double Cuttering for Audio-Visual Materials

Generally do NOT double cutter for those items which are not classified by the Dewey Decimal system (this affects most sound recordings), e.g.

245   Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre
099   DVD J SHE
     NOT
099   DVD J FAE SHE
245    Walt Disney's 101 dalmatians

099    DVD J ONE WAL
     NOT
099    DVD J WAL
(there is a general exception for titles prefaced by "(Walt) Disney's")

For exceptions, see Non-Classical Sound Recordings, Soundtracks ; Juvenile Sound Recordings.

Double Cuttering for Ballets

Double cuttering, when classified using Dewey, is mandated to "arrange alphabetically by title."
Double cutter based on the 730 uniform title for choreographic work if the 245 is title main entry and if its |a is not the same as the 730.

E.g. 1. Alexander Ekman's A Swan Lake

092 DVD 792.842 SWA ALE
245 Alexander Ekman's a swan lake|h[videorecording]...
730 Swan lake (Choreographic work)

E.g. 2. Ondine

092 DVD 792.842 OND
245 Ondine|h[videorecording] /|c[film director, Ross MacGibbon].
700 Henze, Hans Werner,|d1926-2012.|tUndine.
730 Ondine (Choreographic work)

Double Cuttering for Musicals, Stage or TV Presentations

The instruction in Dewey to “Arrange alphabetically by name of program” does not require double cuttering unless the main entry is not the same as the title of the program, e.g.

092 |a DVD 791.4572 RED
245 |a The Red Green show.|n1999 season|h[videorecording]

Double cutter only if the title of the musical, stage presentation or TV presentation and the 245 |a are not the same, e.g.

092 |a DVD 792.642 MUS MER
245 |a Meredith Wilson's the music man

Double cutter if the videorecording is about the musical, stage presentation or TV presentation, e.g.

Double Cuttering for Video Games

Cutter first for the game's title, then for the creator's name as it appears in the 245 $a, e.g.

092 |a Video game 794.8 RAI TOM
245 |a Tom Clancy's Rainbow six.|pExtraction|h[game]

Double Cuttering for Computer Languages

Cutter first for program language, then for main entry. Form cutters for program languages from the first three letters of the first word.

BASIC	BAS	COBOL	COB
SNOBOL	SNO	FORTRAN	FOR
RPG	RPG	dBASE	DBA

Double Cuttering for Fairy Tales classed 398.2

Double cutter adaptations of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Grimm Brothers, Charles Perrault and Aesop, if the work openly states that it is a version of the original story by one of these authors.

Double cutter adaptations of anonymous fairy tales for uniform title of the tale, if not redundant.

092 |a J 398.22 ALA DAN
100 |a Daniels, Patricia
245 |a Aladdin and the magic lamp / |c retold by Patricia Daniels.

092 |a DVD J 398.22 ALA
245 |a Aladdin |h [videorecording].

Double cutter for legendary characters.

092 | a J 398.22 BUN KEL
100 |a Kellogg, Steven
245 |a Paul Bunyan ...
650 |a Bunyan, Paul (Legendary character)

Double cuttering for Mother Goose in 398.8
Where the main entry cutter is not MOT, double cutter collections of original Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

MAC Double Cutters

When cuttering for subjects cutter 4 letters for 6XX.

600 \|a MacDonald, J. A.	MACD	630 \|a Maclean's	MACL
650 \|a Macintosh computer	MACI

Double Cuttering for Topical Subjects

Double cutter for topical subjects where Dewey instructs you to sub-arrange by subject of work.

005.133 (computer program languages)
629.2222 (passenger automobiles)
629.287… (maintenance and repair)
791.4372 (film titles)

In such cases, use LC subject headings as a guide in forming the first cutter.
Exceptions:
Double cutter for:

650 |a Dionne quintuplets.
650 |a Joan (Legendary Pope)

Do not double cutter for biographies of animals, e.g.

Seabiscuit (Race horse)

Double cutter for other types of vehicles in:

629.223 [Light trucks]
629.224 [Trucks]
629.2275 [Motorcycles]

Appendix

Shakespeare

For added editions of works by Shakespeare, do not add date of publication to call no.
Special Author Table for William Shakespeare 822.33
A1 Complete works of Shakespeare
B1 Selected works of Shakespeare
C Single plays: C plus number for play from below e.g. 822.33 C17

C1	All's well that ends well	C18	The merchant of Venice
C2	Antony and Cleopatra	C19	The merry wives of Windsor
C3	As you like it	C20	A midsummer night's dream
C4	The comedy of errors	C21	Much ado about nothing
C5	Coriolanus	C22	Othello
C6	Cymbeline	C23	Pericles
C7	Hamlet	C24	Richard II
C8	Henry IV*	C25	Richard III
C9	Henry V*	C26	Romeo and Juliet
C10	Henry VI*	C27	The taming of the shrew
C11	Henry VIII	C28	The tempest
C12	Julius Caesar	C29	Timon of Athens
C13	King John	C30	Titus Andronicus
C14	King Lear	C31	Troilus and Cressida
C15	Love's labour's lost	C32	Twelfth night
C16	Macbeth	C33	The two gentlemen of Verona
C17	Measure for measure	C34	The winter's tale

* Do not add part no. to call no.

Criticism of single plays

C plus play number, plus cutter, e.g. 822.33 C17MAN
For criticism, write play number and cutter for the main entry on the same line.
D2 Poems
D2 Criticism of poems (plus cutter for main entry)
D3 Sonnets
D3 Criticism of sonnets (plus cutter for main entry)
E2 Authorship (plus cutter for main entry)
F2 Bibliography (plus cutter for main entry)
G2 Biographies (plus cutter for main entry)
H2 General criticism (plus cutter for main entry)
I2 Concordances (plus cutter for main entry)
J2 Dictionaries (plus cutter for main entry)
K2 Quotations (use for compilations only; do not add cutter for Shakespeare main entry. For criticism, use H2)
L2 Textual criticism (plus cutter for main entry)
M2 Stage presentations (plus cutter for main entry)
N2 Adaptations (plus cutter for main entry)
O2 Miscellany (plus cutter for main entry)
Note: There is no space between the cutters, e.g. H2ABC

Rev.: Mar. 9, 2022

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OS/2

OS

OE&M

OEM

F2-M

F

ETH

Smith

SMI

Wilson-Barker

WIL

Ng

NG

W.-Jones, J.

WJO

McCracken

MCC

McDougall

MCD

MacDougal

MACD

Macak

MACA

De La Roche

DEL

Ó Sé, Diarmuid

OSE

D'Aquino

DAQ

d'Aprix

DAP

St. John

STJ

De Havilland

DEH

ALM

Āl Aḥmad, Jalāl

ALA

El-Feki, Shereen

ELF

La Tamara

LA

Anne Boleyn, Queen

ANN

G. Love, 1972-

G

Sun Ra

SUN

Dr. N.

DR

Mr. T

MR

Mrs. Smith

MRS

Da Silva (Vocalist)

DA

Mr. John

MR

H. D.[initials with space]

H

Sa-Fire (Musician)(ignore hyphen)

SAF

TKO (Musician)[no spaces between letters]

TKO

Viðar Hreinsson(substitute d for ð) for an Icelandic name

VID

Canada. Dept.

CAN

United States. Dept.

UNI

De Havilland Aircraft

DE

ASS Goddard Memorial

ASS

H. D.
[initials with space]

Sa-Fire (Musician)
(ignore hyphen)

TKO (Musician)
[no spaces between letters]

Viðar Hreinsson
(substitute d for ð) for an Icelandic name

2^nd chapter of Acts (Musical group)