Lexicon of Bibliographical, Cataloguing and Library Terms in English, Chinese and Japanese
By Harold A. Mattice
Acting Chief of the Oriental Division
The assembling of this list was begun about seven years ago for my own use in the cataloguing of Chinese and Japanese books. It had been the practice of The New York Public Library in cataloguing Arabic books to give information in both English and Arabic on the cards, so that it was possible to find entries with a knowledge of either of the languages. In accord with this principle I worked out a system for Chinese and Japanese books that gives complete bibliographical information in English as well as in the original — an all-purpose card that can be filed either in an alphabetical or an Oriental language catalogue.[1] For this it was necessary to have a list of bibliographical and cataloguing terms for Chinese and Japanese. Nothing of practical use was available for either language, and I soon found myself collecting my day-to-day findings in a notebook. A third revision of this list proved interesting to several Sinologists who examined it, and the suggestion that it should be published came from them.
In offering the work I feel justified in supplying myself generously with emergency exits and apologies. In the first place, I lack the intimate knowledge of the languages which would be necessary for a finished performance in so difficult and little-worked a field. Further I have no authority to dictate terminologies; a task which must be reserved for native librarians, if and when they are willing to undertake it. Meanwhile a considerable amount of raw material for the future is here available, as well as something to work with in the present.
There is some authority for every entry, but values differ. Actual constant usage, a few brief lists by competent scholars, and the suggestions of educated persons of both nationalities, are among the best. On the other hand, some of the terms taken from a large number of general dictionaries are possibly open to criticism, for the transfer of technical vocabularies from one language to another presents numerous pitfalls for the lexicographer. Another element of uncertainty is due to the confusion that exists in both
languages over the special meanings of a considerable number of terms.
- ↑ For an account of this system see: The Library Quarterly, v. 8, January, 1938, p. 13–24, "Japanese books in American libraries."
