What Do You Do With Quotes, Poetry, Other 'Non-Traditional' books?
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1GraceCollection
I know that at the end of the day, there is no 'right' answer, but nonetheless I'd like to hear how others tackle these types of books, and if you've come across any difficulties with method you've used or any tips and tricks on dealing with these or similar cases:
Books of quotes: Do you put these in fiction or non-fiction? Do you order by topic, date, author/editor, something else? If you had multiple books of general quotes with no single author and no listed editor, how would you order them on the shelf?
Poetry: Do you put these in fiction or non-fiction? Do the poem types matter, ie would you shelve a novel told in verse differently from a collection of stories told in verse, differently from a collection of poetry that doesn't really have any kind of narrative(s)? There do, technically, exist poems in which the content is non-fiction, (granted, mostly as mnemonics or rhymes for children, but still). If you had a book of poems that were all non-fiction in content (poems about science facts, for example), would you shelve it differently from other poems? How do you order poetry books? If you have multiple with no single author or listed editor, how you order them?
Books with fiction and non-fiction: I have a few books that contain both fiction and non-fiction, some which are collections for children and some which are collected works of authors who wrote works in both categories. If you have such books, or if you can imagine that you do, how would you order these and where would you put them?
What other 'special case' books do you have or have you come across?
Books of quotes: Do you put these in fiction or non-fiction? Do you order by topic, date, author/editor, something else? If you had multiple books of general quotes with no single author and no listed editor, how would you order them on the shelf?
Poetry: Do you put these in fiction or non-fiction? Do the poem types matter, ie would you shelve a novel told in verse differently from a collection of stories told in verse, differently from a collection of poetry that doesn't really have any kind of narrative(s)? There do, technically, exist poems in which the content is non-fiction, (granted, mostly as mnemonics or rhymes for children, but still). If you had a book of poems that were all non-fiction in content (poems about science facts, for example), would you shelve it differently from other poems? How do you order poetry books? If you have multiple with no single author or listed editor, how you order them?
Books with fiction and non-fiction: I have a few books that contain both fiction and non-fiction, some which are collections for children and some which are collected works of authors who wrote works in both categories. If you have such books, or if you can imagine that you do, how would you order these and where would you put them?
What other 'special case' books do you have or have you come across?
2thorold
It perhaps gets a bit easier if you think of the “fiction” category as an umbrella for prose novels and short stories, and “non-fiction” as everything else, rather than getting tied up in their literal meaning.
Quotation books probably go under “Reference”, unless you have a better entry for the specific subject (e.g. “food quotations” might go better in the Food and Cookery section).
I put poetry books in a dedicated Poetry section, alphabetically by poet for single author collections; anthologies have their own sub-section within Poetry, and I sort them roughly by type. Verse-novels could go either way: I think I have Vikram Seth’s Golden Gate filed in fiction with his other novels and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh in the poetry section.
Collections of miscellaneous writings (stories plus essays, etc.) generally end up with the essay collections in Literature. Unless it’s an author who is well-represented in Fiction as well, in which case it might make more sense to put them there with the author’s other works.
In the end it’s all about putting things where you (or your users) expect to find them.
Quotation books probably go under “Reference”, unless you have a better entry for the specific subject (e.g. “food quotations” might go better in the Food and Cookery section).
I put poetry books in a dedicated Poetry section, alphabetically by poet for single author collections; anthologies have their own sub-section within Poetry, and I sort them roughly by type. Verse-novels could go either way: I think I have Vikram Seth’s Golden Gate filed in fiction with his other novels and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh in the poetry section.
Collections of miscellaneous writings (stories plus essays, etc.) generally end up with the essay collections in Literature. Unless it’s an author who is well-represented in Fiction as well, in which case it might make more sense to put them there with the author’s other works.
In the end it’s all about putting things where you (or your users) expect to find them.
3anglemark
I use a traditional classification system, so I only need to see how the big libraries shelve the book. Problem solved.
4lilithcat
Books of quotes: reference
Poetry: literature
Fiction & non-fiction: anthologies
Collected works: collections
Poetry: literature
Fiction & non-fiction: anthologies
Collected works: collections
5WholeHouseLibrary
I agree with >2 thorold:. Poetry is a classification unto itself. Whereas the poem I wrote about my late wife's accursed cockatiel is entirely non-fiction, the poem I wrote in seventh grade about Social Security is purely a flight of fancy and therefore fiction. Regardless, they would share the same shelf had I published them.
6bnielsen
>5 WholeHouseLibrary: Ah, that begs the question of where to shelve unpublished publications :-)
