Preface

Creating an Annotation was first published in 1979 as a guide for staff members of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress (NLS), who provide book announcements for the information of patrons using the service. Its purpose was to give a frame of reference for a consistent approach to annotation goals and content. The document was well received by a wider library community, being utilized by other Library of Congress units and appearing on library school reading lists. Copies have been requested from services throughout the United States and around the world.
   The need for well-written annotations remains the same today, and much of the material from the first edition is retained in this revision, although the presentation may be somewhat different. In addition, some material needed expansion, and some new areas for discussion have appeared.
   Much of the material new to this edition concerns specifics on treatments of bibliographic information and formal elements of style, which were mentioned only briefly in the1979 volume so that the content would have more general application. However, such considerations are essential for making this a truly useful manual for NLS staff. NLS treatments may not apply to other groups involved in annotation writing, but every group needs to establish a workable format. To this end, ours may be helpful as an approach.
   The original manual was conceived and written by Viola (Vicki) Harrington Fitzpatrick, writer-editor in the NLS Publications and Media Section, and has served as the basic annotation reference for NLS writers and editors for nearly a quarter century. She is also responsible for the gradual development over the years of this revised and expanded version. 
Contents

Part One
:The Words 
Why annotations? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Elements of book announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What an annotation does and doesnt do . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Considering content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
What makes a good annotation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Annotating a variety of books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Time and place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Sensitivities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Judgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Taglinessex, violence, and strong language . . . . . . . 37

Planning an annotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Study what the book is about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Select what to include . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Structure what is to be presented. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Determine an appropriate length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Choose a writing style to fit the book . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Writingthe last step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Get to the point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Choose appropriate language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Vary sentence structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Be specific and concise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Adhere to style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Editing an annotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Why edit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Is
 the annotation stylistically correct? . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Is
 the annotation grammatical? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Is
 the annotation interesting?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Is
 the annotation judgmental?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Does the annotation describe the book? . . . . . . . . . . 121
Are the facts accurate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Part Two
:Style and Presentation 
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Capitalsinitial letters only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Lower case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Punctuation and ampersands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Titles within titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Subtitles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Punctuation between title and subtitle . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Titles within subtitles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Series name as subtitle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Series name as title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Series titles in text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Forms of names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Parts of a name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Coauthors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Multiple authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Editors, selectors, compilers, and the like . . . . . . . . . 146

Text style. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Type styletitles in text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Dates and times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Historical and cultural periods and events . . . . . . . . . 152
Genres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Titles and offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Religious terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Additions to text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Taglinesdescriptive phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
PRINT/BRAILLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Grade levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
For older readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Bestsellers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Foreign language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Dates and time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Dates at the end of annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Time-sensitive phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Eras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Dates and the database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

One-line annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Grade levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Prequels and sequels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Familiar characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Repetition of annotation text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Catalog subject categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
About NLS catalogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Subject categories for catalogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Assigning subject categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Things to consider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Dealing with different types of category records . . . . 172
Reviewing catalog categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Catalog subject headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Adult catalogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Childrens catalogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Part One:
The Words

Why annotations?

NLS provides information to readers through book announcements, and annotations are an integral part of these announcements. 
The purpose of annotations is to help readers select books that they want to read. This aim is consistent with, and part of, the purpose of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS)to make available to blind and physically handicapped readers a library collection and service similar to that available to any reader through the public library system. 
Individuals who are blind or handicapped have the same need as other library patrons to know about the contents of books before they decide to read them, but special conditions prevent them from using print library services for information. They cant browse until something attracts attention or use card catalogs and other reference material. They cant hold the book in hand and see the pictures, check the table of contents for material included, or flip pages to sample writing style. 
NLS works to provide access to book-information services through book announcements to readers, and annotations are an integral part of these announcements. These announcements are used in a variety of ways: on the copy-allotment information used by network libraries to determine the number of copies of a particular book they wish to order for circulation to readers; in the bimonthly magazines Talking Book Topics and Braille Book Review, which readers use to select recently produced books; in annual and biennial catalogs of books produced during the dates listed; in subject bibliographies and minibibliographies devoted to a specific topic. The annotation is also narrated as part of the introductory information to a recorded book. 
Elements

Most important, the annotation forms part of the database for the NLS International Union Catalog, which contains bibliographic records for braille and audio books available from a variety of sources in the United States and abroad. All records cite the holding agency, an essential feature for access to the material listed. 
Annotations seem to be everywhere, and they remain with us for a long, long time. Consequently, each one needs careful consideration to begin with. While NLS has not recorded titles on either rigid or flexible discs for more than a decade, books already produced remain a part of the collection. Similarly, production of titles on cassette is being phased out in favor of a digital format, but the existing books will remain available to patrons, probably also for many years to come. 
Elements of book announcements 
Basic information about the book appears first. It is generally the same information available to print readers: 
	
titleidentifies the book 

	
subtitle (if any)provides additional information 

	
author (or editor, compiler, translator). 

Also included is information specifically for our audience: 
	
a book number for ordering, which consists of a two-letter prefix that indicates the medium (RC for recorded cassettes, BR for braille, RD or FD for discs) followed by four or five digits 

	
the name of the reader in case patrons have favorites or prefer male or female voices 

	
the number of discs, cassettes, or braille volumes to indicate the length of the book 

Additions 
Annotation replaces browsing 
	reissue or rerecord (when appropriate) to indicate that the book has been available before; patrons may have read it or wish to read it again. 
Annotations, brief descriptions of whats in the book, follow and form the core of book announcementsthe part that gives the content and flavor of the work. Other information that readers might find useful is incorporated in the annotation and often comes after the description of the books content: 
	
sequel or prequel to . (early in the annotation or the first item after the description) 

	
part of a series (if not given in a subtitle) 

	
statements about strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex 

	
grade level for juvenile or young adult books 

	
awards to author or book 

	
status as a bestseller. 

Such information is available, most of it on book jackets, to library patrons who can handle books. Sighted people can often determine the presence of sex, violence, and strong language through jacket summaries or by sampling a few pages. Sampling will also help with decisions about grade level and appropriateness of content. Because our readers cannot sample the books, they need to be provided with the information. 

What an annotation does and doesnt do 
An annotation covers the scope of the book and the authors approacheither directly through statements or indirectly through tone and styleand gives readers enough information to make their own decisions. It does not say this is a good book; it shows that. Good annotation 
An annotation should... 
An annotation is not... 
writing doesnt declare itself; it is good because it doesnt intrude on content, but complements it. An annotation should: 
 
reflect content 

 
be interesting and readable 

 
avoid being judgmental. 

The announcement as a whole should be 
 
bibliographically accurate 

 
stylistically correct 

 
written for audio as well as visual readability. 

An annotation is not a review. A review gives general information about content, considers the authors intent, and comments on success. It expresses a personal point of view and is always signed, either individually or in a list of editors. 
An annotation is not an abstract. An abstract gives a condensed version of total content. Its generally used for technical works and shows the problem tackled, method or procedure, and conclusions drawn. Total content is more information than our readers need; too many facts can kill interest rather than arouse it. 

Considering content

The good annotation 
Eleven models: 
(1) 
Before writers can write or editors edit, they must understand the goals and recognize the elements that make up a good annotation. They also need to be aware of general approaches, specifics that need attention, and areas that can create problems. 

What makes a good annotation? 
Bad annotations will generally declare themselves; the good ones pass by relatively unnoticed. This phenomenon is not unique to annotations or to good writing of any kind. People send letters to newspaper editors about grammatical mistakes and typographical errors, while accepting as normal and expected all the words that are correctly spelled and properly used. 
Therefore, lets take a look at some well-written annotations and focus on what makes them work. The concepts covered in the comments will be developed in more detail later, but an overview here helps to establish the goal. 
Open Season: Sporting Adventures 
by William Humphrey 
Annotation: Thirteen urbane articles by an outdoor writer. My Moby Dick finds Humphrey in the Berkshire Hills resolved to take a thirty-pounder in a sporting manner befitting its own dark nobility. The Spawning Run, about salmon fishing, is also an essay on the ancient sport of cuckoldry. A self-revealing story, Birds of a Feather, is an ode to a plucky little woodcock. 
Comment: The introductory sentence provides specific information about the books contents (thirteen articles) and contrasts the approach (urbane) with the subject (the outdoors). The three articles selected 
(2) 
(3) 
illustrate the writers respect for the creatures he pursues (sporting manner befitting, dark nobility, plucky) and hint at whimsy and another kind of hunt (the ancient sport of cuckoldry). Note how well the descriptions relate to the title of each article. 

Welcome the Morning 
by Bobby Hutchinson 
Annotation: Charlie Cossini looks like a frail Dresden figurine. But when she bellows orders to her carpenters in that strong, husky voice, its easier to believe that shes the boss of her own, all-female construction crew. Idle rich playboy Ben Gilmour, a Hawaiian real-estate baron, is captivated by Charlies incongruities at their first meeting. Explicit descriptions of sex. Harlequin Novel. 
Comment: The description of the heroine, whose name (Charlie) implies a male, is immediately contrasted with her appearance (frail Dresden figurine) and then the traditional masculine image is restored (bellows orders; strong, husky voice; boss of her ownconstruction crew), and the image is reinforced by incongruities in the next sentence. The hero, in contrast, is described only by who and what he is (idle rich playboy, real-estate baron). The only hint as to plot is in the final sentence; hes captivated by. Thats enough plot; these two people are surely going to get together somehow. Its more than enough when followed by explicit descriptions of sex and Harlequin Novel. 

Magic Kingdom for SaleSold! 
by Terry Brooks 
Annotation: When Ben Holiday arrives in Landover, the magic kingdom he purchased through a mail-order department store, he finds the place in a shambles. The taxes have not been collected, the peasants are without hope, the barons refuse to rec
(4)

(5)

ognize him as king, and a dragon is laying waste to the countryside. Bestseller. 
Comment: What can you expect when you buy a kingdom by mail order? The second sentence builds, with fine parallel construction, from the mundane of uncollected taxes to the exotic of a destructive dragon. The tone fits the book. 

An Evil Cradling 
by Brian Keenan 
Annotation: Held hostage for four and a half years in Beirut, an Irish teacher describes how he dealt with the mental and physical abuse inflicted by his captors. First in solitary confinement and later in the company of other hostages, Keenan was determined to endure the maltreatment by the Shiite militiamen. He attributes his survival in part to his ability to explore the condition in which he found himself. Violence. 
Comment: An appalling subject is given serious and careful treatment. The first sentence defines the evil cradling of the title immediately with held hostage, adds information about the place and duration, identifies the author (an Irish teacher), and concludes with the books thesis: how he dealt with twofold abuse, both mental and physical. The second sentence adds details about his confinement and his captors, and reinforces the theme of determination. The final sentence deals with how he believes he set his mind to accomplish his goal. Violence is implicit in the subject, and the one-word descriptive tagline sets that out starkly. 

Pubis Angelical 
by Manuel Puig 
Annotation: Experimental novel interweaves reminiscences and dreams with an examination of political and sexual issues. The storyset in central Europe in the 1930s and a Mexico City hospital 
(6)

ward in the 1970scontains allegorical excursions, possibly fantasized, into a post-atomic age of the far future. Explores the vicissitudes of twentieth-century Argentine history, the travails of the female psyche, and the necessary role of fantasy in human life. Descriptions of sex. 
Comment: Good defining first sentence: Experimental novel provides an immediate alert to something unusual, followed by the contrast of mystical elements (reminiscences and dreams) with more earthy concerns (examination of political and sexual issues). The rest of the annotation provides supportive details about the approach (allegorical excursions, possibly fantasized; post-atomic age of the far future) and the contrast (the entire third sentence). The plot is alluded to only in an aside about time and place. This book is not about plot. 

Malice Domestic 
by Mollie Hardwick 
Annotation: The coming of forbidding Leonard Mumbray to the peaceful English village of Abbotsbourne seems to cast an evil spell. Pretty antique-store proprietor Doran Fairweather feels it, as does local vicar Rodney Chelmarsh, a widower with whom she has a budding romance. When Mumbray is found murdered, there is a collective sigh of relief. But Fairweather, a nosy type, is unable to rest until she finds the killer. 
Comment: Again, a fine first sentence, in this case filled with foreboding. The second sentence introduces the main characters, in connection with the attitude already indicated. The third sentence also deals with attitude, this time that of the whole peaceful English village. The final sentence sets the plot in motion. 
(7) 
(8) 

(9) 

The Panic of 89 
by Paul Erdman 
Annotation: It is late 1988, and eminent economist Paul Mayer contemplates a grim future. The second lucky term of Ronald Reaganblameless and unworried during his last days in officeis about to end, leaving a very troubled world economy in its wake. As the stock market drops out of sight, Mayer must race against time and adversaries to save international banking from total chaos. Strong language and descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 
Comment: A suspense novel featuring an unlikely hero, introduced in the first sentence along with the date and a hint at the problem. The rest of the annotation continues to set up the situation and the conflict. 

The Rose in My Garden 
by Arnold Lobel 
Annotation: A story in rhyme about the many kinds of flowers that grow near the hollyhocks that give shade to the bee that sleeps on the only rose in the garden. For grades K-3. 1984. 
Comment: The single run-on sentence, which would not be good for most books, echoes the premise of this one: that all these things are together in the garden and doing something for each other. 

Lightning: An 87th Precinct Novel 
by Ed McBain 
Annotation: A series of grotesque crimes confronts the officers of the 87th Precinct. First, two women track stars are found hanging, lynch-mob style, from the lampposts of brilliantly lit city streets; then a rapist stalks an increasing number of victims. Gutsy Eileen Burke, an undercover officer in Special Forces, undertakes a key role in catching the maniac. Some strong language. 
(10)

(11)

Comment: Another in a popular series of police procedurals; all many readers will need is the subtitle identifying the series. The annotation lays out the subject, two types of crimes against women, and the featured detective, also a woman. It catches the flavor with adjectives such as grotesque followed by the most visible image of women hanging, lynch-mob style, from the lampposts of brilliantly lit city streets, which is juxtaposed with the dark, stealthy image of a rapist stalking. 

Maiden Voyage 
by Graham Masterton 
Annotation: In 1924 the SS Arcadia, the greatest luxury liner ever built, is on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York. Among her passengers is twenty-one-year-old Catriona, flapper of the seas and heiress to the vessel. Dramatic adventures occur in rapid succession against a backdrop of wild love affairs, financial intrigues, and popping champagne corks. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 1984. 
Comment: The annotation is almost entirely setting. Time: the Roaring Twenties, which is reinforced by labeling the young, rich protagonist a flapper. Place: a luxury liner crossing the Atlantic. Background: wild love affairs, financial intrigues, popping champagne corks. What happens? dramatic adventures and in rapid succession too. The reader doesnt need to know more. 

The Downing Street Years 
by Margaret Thatcher 
Annotation: Memoirs of the grocers daughter who became prime minister of Great Britain. Thatcher recounts her political life, beginning with the day the Conservatives gained a majority in the House of Commons and she, as head of the party, was asked to form a new government. She speaks 

General approaches 
 Fiction 
candidly of the members of her cabinet, her contacts 
with foreign leaders, her efforts to reform the 
Tories, her pursuits of national interests, and her last 
days at Number 10. Bestseller. 
Comment: The first sentence announces the category (memoirs) and identifies the author from her origins to high office. The next sentence defines the area covered (her political life) and adds information about her party and the British political process. The final sentence adds still more information about the wide range of subjects, both national and international, and about people involved. All three sentences present her voice behind the book (memoirs, Thatcher recounts, she speaks candidly). 

Annotating a variety of books 
Different types of books need different approaches for annotations. Some are harder to annotate than others, and some have particular things to include and particular traps to avoid. Most books will fall into a recognizable category and some general approaches will apply. 
The basic divisions are fiction and nonfiction, and the annotation should make the distinction clear. The annotation should be written from different premises for fiction and nonfiction and should sound different as a result. 
Fiction 
Give enough information to show the tone of the book, the general plot elements, and the characters involved. Use the language of the annotation to pique the readers imagination. Prefer present tense and active voice. Dont simply summarize the plot, and never disclose the ending. 
Escapist fiction: westerns, gothics, romances, family sagas, historical novels, adventure stories, science fiction, detective and mystery stories, spy stories, and suspense. Probably the largest part of the material in our col
lection, or any general public library collection, falls into these categories. These books are for fun, relaxation, getting away. Many of these books are written according to a formula: 
	
Beautiful heroine and handsome hero meet; something or someone keeps them apart for 200 pages; they finally get together (gothics, romances, some historical novels, some mysteries). 

	
Hero and heroine get together in the first chapter and have trouble with their relationship(s) for 300 or more pages (contemporary novels). 

Popular genres 
	Stern, lonesome male struggles against outside forces 
vary the formula 
and his own isolation; he eventually wins out (west
erns, adventures, some historical novels, some sci
ence fiction). 
	
Someone is murdered; suspects abound; the detective, or other protagonist, mustand willdiscover the murderer (mysteries). 

	
Someone (usually the protagonist or a major world figure) is about to be killed. Alternatively, all of civilization is about to be destroyed. Our hero/hero-ine must locate the source of danger and avoid that fate (suspense novels and some science fiction). 

Such material is among the easiest to annotate. The basic concern is to show what happens or who is involved in this book that makes it different from other books of the same kind. Because the author had the same problemmaking this book different in some waylook for his or her plot or character twist and emphasize it. 
Some fine books have been developed from such formulas; some authorities argue that there are only five or six basic plots and that all fiction is a variation on one of them. Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice is plotted around what keeps a beautiful heroine and a handsome hero apart; Shane is a 
Classics be careful 
Dont assume fame lasts 
western with the stern, lonesome male as its central character. Both books are generally considered classicsbecause of what the authors made of the basic plot elements. Annotations for such books should not be simply summaries of plot. Do incorporate plot elements, but stress presentation. 
Classics. Annotations for familiar books, classics both old and new, must be handled carefully. These books are well known and people can feel strongly about the words used to describe their content. Annotation writers need to determine and express the factors that make these books exceptional. 
The Glass Menagerie: A Play by Tennessee 
Williams 
Annotation: Portrays the remnants of a southern family with pretensions to gentility. The plot centers on the crippled daughter, who lives in her dream world with a symbolic collection of fragile glass, in vivid contrast to the familys slum apartment. 
Comment: The background, characters, setting, theme (fantasy vs. reality), and symbolism are there. There is no attempt to summarize the plot, which is not the important element of this play. 
Note that a book is not necessarily a classic because it is old. Books generally considered classics will not only have been in print and available to several generations of readers but will also have had an impact on the literature that followed. Minor works by authors of classics may be of interest but are not classics in themselves. 
Bestsellers. Current bestsellers have been widely reviewed and annotated in other sources. The authors are probably promoting their books on the talk-show circuit and are available in the readers living room at a flick of the TV switch. Friends and family members may be discussing 
 Nonfiction 
Dealing with reality, or an opinion on reality 
these books. Because readers can make critical comparisons between what they already know about the book and what the annotation tells them, the bestsellers annotation should receive careful consideration and be as full, accurate, and interesting as possible. 
Just as for other books, however, the annotation will outlive the books bestseller status, and writers should not assume that patrons will later instantly recognize the contents. Particularly for nonfiction books of timely interest, writers must make sure the subject matter is clearly identified. For example, readers who avidly followed the O.J. Simpson murder trial will probably easily place the lawyers for both sides who have written books on their version of events, but the annotation should spell out what the trial was about and the particular point of view of the author. The material will not be so familiar a decade after the event. 

Nonfiction 
The language or the annotation should make clear immediately that the content is either factual or a commentary on actual events. Avoid using the story of, which suggests fiction even though colloquially that phrase is also used to describe nonfiction. 
Magnetic North: A Trek across Canada 
by David Halsey 
Sentence: Tells the story of a twenty-year-old inexperienced camper who set out from Vancouver in 1977 to traverse the wilderness to the other coast. 
Rewritten: Recounts the adventures of Note that the simple change not only indicates that the events described are real but uses, appropriately, much more active words. 
Biographies and memoirs. Such books are primarily nonfiction, but occasionally a novel can be a thinly disguised memoir, and fictionalized biographies are quite common. If the bibliographic information is not sufficiently clear, make 
Life of... or memorable events 
sure that the annotation explains that the work is a fictionalized biography of or is based on personal experience. 
For biographies, give the authority of the author when it is relevant. For memoirs, the authors name can be sufficient authority, but an identifying word or phrase is helpful (actress, salesman, evangelist). Avoid inserting superlatives; if the person is indeed one of the worlds most famous, he or she doesnt need such a wordy label. More information is needed for memoirs that are related to a personal experience of an unfamiliar individual. 
Keep the annotation balanced by summarizing the total approach and scope. Dont use all the space for background and early years, even though those may be the least familiar areas of the subjects life, unless that is the emphasis of the book. 

Emerson: The Mind on Fire 
by Robert D. Richardson 
Annotation: Traces the life and intellectual odyssey of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the nineteenth-century writer, poet, and essayist. Discusses Emersons development of the principles of individualism, self-reliance, and transcendentalism that have influenced American letters and thought. Richardson chronicles Emersons life as student, minister, traveler, speaker, social activist, good friend, and loyal family man. 
Comment: The introductory sentence identifies the person of the title and indicates the dual thrust of the bookthe course of a mans life and the extensive reach of his mind. The next two sentences expand the first, covering first his thoughts and then his actions. 
Mental health: professional approaches and popular gurus 

The Village 
by Alice Taylor 
Annotation: Warm remembrances of daily life in the Irish authors adopted County Cork village. In this sequel to Quench the Lamp (RC 33774), she relates with humor and a bit of wistfulness the changes that married life brought to her and that modern times brought to the village. 
Comment: The first sentence, which briefly outlines the authors background, shows immediately that the events covered are intimate rather than newsworthy. The approach is summed up in warm and with humor and a bit of wistfulness. 
Psychology and self-help. These books generally cover a particular aspect of mental function and health or present a method for achieving desired attitudes and behavior. Such information forms the body of the annotation. Some background or authority of the author is essential for readers to understand and give weight to the usefulness of the approach for their needs and interests. 
Often in such works, the author uses familiar words in a specific context or coins phrases to apply to this particular method or conclusion. Such phrases are fundamental to the book and often receive fairly lengthy treatment. In the annotation, they need brief definition, at least parenthetically, to define the special meaning. Alternatively, they should be put in quotes to indicate that there is something particular in the way the words are used. 

Emotional Intelligence 
by Daniel Goleman 
Annotation: The New York Times science writer argues that emotional intelligence is as much a factor of success as is the intelligence quotient. And because self-awareness and control of toxic emotions can, he says, be taught, he calls for education to 
Instructions on doing practical things 
guide childrens emotional development. He also dis
cusses ways adults can continue to grow emotionally. 
Comment: The authors authority and thesis are
laid out in the first sentence. Proposals for action
follow.

How Good People Make Tough Choices 
by Rushworth M. Kidder 
Annotation: The founder of the Institute for Global Ethics and former columnist for the Christian Science Monitor offers guidelines for dealing with ethical dilemmas. Using anecdotes to illustrate conflicts between truth and loyalty, individual and community, short-term and long-term goals, and justice and mercy, Kidder shows how decisions are made using ends-based, rule-based, or care-based principles. 
Comment: The first sentence introduces the author and the subject. The next lays out the type of choices dealt with and the authors method of categorizing them. 
How-tos and practical guides. The annotation should give an overview of the books content and note any background of the author that has a bearing on his expertise. It can be short if the title and subtitle are close to a full explanation, but it cannot be omitted because an entry without an annotation appears to be an error. 
If the book has special sections, indexes, or summaries, the annotation should explain that these are included. Use contains or includes for publications that have separate sections on particular subjects. For content description, it is better to use covers, describes, explains, explores, or an appropriate synonym. 
 Collections
Poetry 

The Able Gardener: 
Overcoming Barriers of Age and Physical 

Limitations 
by Kathleen Yeomans 
Annotation: Nurse and gardener Yeomans covers general aspects of gardening while emphasizing adaptive techniques such as using raised beds, back-saving tools, and easy-care plants. For visually impaired gardeners, she suggests designing with plants that are fragrant, textured, edible, or even audible. Contains exercises for gardeners and mail-order sources for plants, seeds, and supplies (including adaptive tools). 
Comment: Its all there: authors background, general approach and specifics for the topic, followed by supplementary information. 

Collections 
Collections are popular with many readers; they like material broken into segments that can be read at one sitting. But such fragmentation of material makes it difficult to give an overall picture of the book. There is no space for annotating individual stories, essays, or poems; therefore, the whole collection must be described in general terms, augmented with specifics that can capture interest. 
Poetry. Books of poetry are probably the most extreme example of fragmented material. They often cover long periods of time in the poets thinking and development, many different thoughts with various treatments, and some images and ideas concisely expressed. The nature of the material makes for slow reading, and the concepts are extremely hard to express in a brief annotation. 
Dont fall back on vague phrases about love and life that could mean anything and could apply to almost any poetry collection. Be specific. Look for a unifying theme, or summarize two or three representative subjects and approaches. 
Short stories

Mention titles that may be familiar or interesting, but offer more than a list. 
My Alexandria: Poems 
by Mark Doty 
Annotation: Doty uses the ancient city as a metaphor for his search for an ideal place of beauty and light. Although he sees demolished buildings, panhandlers, dementia, and mortality, he finds the substance of poetry in a flower garden, in stories in a book, in innocent children, and in the power of hope as in an unopened Advent calendar. 

Collected Poems 19191976 
by Allen Tate 
Annotation: Roughly chronological arrangement of poems written over almost six decades by the classicist and critic. Subjects range through the emotion of Death of Little Boys, memories of southern boyhood in The Swimmers, and reflections on the futility of war in Ode to the Confederate Dead. 
Short stories and essays. These collections have the same problem of fragmentationtoo many subjectsalthough not to the same degree as poetry. In most cases the same solutions and techniques apply: find a unifying theme or list two or three representative ones. Frequently the collection will be built around a theme covered in the title or subtitle, and all that is needed is some explanation or enlargement. 
Usually, tell how many stories, essays, or articles are included; the number will give the reader some idea of the length of each. When one piece is familiar, be sure to list it. If short stories are interrelated, say so. When different authors are represented, select a few of the most popular for mention. 

Key West Tales 
by John Hersey 
Annotation: Set in Key West, Florida, these fifteen short stories form a coda to a life of writing that began in World War II. Gods Hint is a brief tale about a preacher who spots an offshore wreck in the midst of his Sunday sermon and positions himself to capture the prize. Seven more historical anecdotes follow, alternating with longer contemporary stories. 

The Mysterious West 
edited by Tony Hillerman 
Annotation: One character in this anthology observes that where people live has an influence on how they live and who and how they choose to kill. These twenty suspenseful short stories are set in the American West. Authors best known for westerns are mixed with those known for mysteries, including Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Bill Crider, and Stuart Kaminsky. Some strong language and some violence. 

The Complete Essays of Montaigne 
by Michel de Montaigne 
Annotation: English translations of the sixteenth-century French philosophers essays, a literary form Montaigne invented to convey his ideas and opinions. His diverse subjects include feelings, the education of children, the custom of wearing clothes, the disadvantage of greatness, evil employed as a means to a good end, the power of the imagination, a lack in administrations, and not communicating ones glory. 
Humor. Books intended to evoke a laugh, or at least a smile or two, can be in either the fiction or nonfiction category. Nonfiction books are most often collections of essays and are subject to the same problems as other collections. 
Funny stuff
fiction and not

Fiction books usually involve odd characters in improbable situations. In either case, the situation should be described, not simply pronounced as funny. There are many types of humor that can be indicated: parody, satire, slapstick, dark. Give examples that evoke the flavor of the book, and use language to intensify the image. 
Descriptive adjectives are acceptable; judgmental ones are not. A descriptive adjective applies to the authors intent or approach to the subject; a judgmental adjective tells what the writer thinks about it. The author can intend to be humorous and that term used to describe the approach; how well he or she succeeds in provoking mirth is up to the reader to determine. 

A Farce to Be Reckoned With 
by Roger Zelazny and Robert Sheckley 
Annotation: This comic fantasy features the fox-faced demon Assie Elbub, who hits on the idea of bringing humanity to Evil by staging an immorality play with all of Renaissance Europe as the backdrop. But the meddlesome Archangel Michael, that insufferable agent for Good, arrives on the scene and threatens to close down the play before it ever opens. 

Dave Barrys Complete Guide to Guys: 
A Fairly Short Book 
by Dave Barry 
Annotation: According to Barry, this is a book about guysnot a book about men; books about men are too serious. Barry begins with a test to determine the readers guyness and then gives a brief account of the role of guys in history, their biological nature, their social development, and their special guy problems. For women, there is a chapter on dealing with guys. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 
Take special care with warnings 
 Juvenilia 
Sex, violence, and strong language. Statements about strong language, violence, and explicit descriptions of sex are hard to apply to collections; they may be needed for only one story or a particular section of the material. Readers who are concerned with avoiding these aspects might be deprived of much they would enjoy if the whole book were given a warning label. In these cases, the information is better incorporated into the annotation. Sometimes both notations may be needed, with the information within the description indicating where this material is found. 

Amen 
by Yehuda Amichai 
Annotation: Israeli poet mingles simplicity with directness in poems on the Jewish experience of alienation and the constant threat of war. Collection also contains intense and erotic love poems. Some explicit descriptions of sex. 

Childrens books 
Basically, language and construction are the same as for adult books, but vocabulary is simpler. Character names should be used, since they are usually chosen by the author to be appealing. Content should relate to the childs experience and engage the imagination. 
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing 
by Judy Blume 
Annotation: Peter Hatch resigns himself to losing the battle for attention with his two-year-old brother. Little Fudge ruins Peters special poster, gets lost at the movies, and eats Peters pet turtle. For grades 3-5. 
Comment: Including some of Fudges antics lets a child know exactly what Peter must contend with and hints at humor. A child might be motivated to read the book because he identifies with Peter or because she wants to find out how Peter handles the problem. 

Hot as an Ice Cube 
by Philip Balestrino 
Annotation: Clear text and simple experiments present basic information about heat, which exists in everythingeven in ice cubes. For grades K-3. 
Comment: Strictly speaking, the mention of ice cubes is not essential. The rest of the annotation is pretty dry, however, and the ice cubes add the ironic punch inherent in the title. 

The Mitten: An Old Ukrainian Folktale 
by Alvin Tresselt 
Annotation: On the coldest day of winter, a little boys lost mitten becomes the shelter for a mouse, a frog, an owl, a rabbit, a fox, a wolf, a boar, and a bear! For preschool-grade 2. 
Comment: Naming the animals is a direct appeal to children, most of whom like stories about animals, and it creates wonder about how all the animals crowd into one mitten. Young children like the cumulative effect of long lists of things. 

Curious George Flies a Kite 
by Margaret E. Rey 
Annotation: Curious George tries to fly a big kite one windy day, but the kite pulls the mischievous little monkey way up in the sky! 
Comment: Children thrill to the switch herethe kite flying the monkey instead of the monkey flying the kite. The idea is both titillating and scary. And of course, they want to know how George gets down. 
Annotations for older children have the same characteristics, but there can be more detail and more information about real people, especially those whose names do not have instant recognition. 

How I Broke Up with Ernie 
by R.L. Stine 
Annotation: Amy has grown tired of her relationship with Ernie and just wants out! No one seems to understand why she wants to break up with Ernie, and, worse still, no one seems to accept it. Ernie keeps coming around; her parents welcome his presence; and he even tags along when Amy goes out with Colin, the new guy in her life. For grades 6-9 and older readers. 
Comment: This situation is familiar to most young people just moving into pairing off, and there doesnt have to be a reason for it. One person is ready to move on, and the other isnt. The repetition of Ernies name would be too much in most annotations but not in this one; Ernie is always there. 

Isaac Newton 
by Douglas McTavish 
Annotation: Explains how Isaac Newton, best known for his discovery of the laws of movement and gravitation, effectively invented modern science by using methods to test and cross-check scientific theories. The author traces Newtons life from his birth in England in 1642 through his long years of scientific discoveries that include the laws of light and refraction, the invention of the reflecting telescope, and calculus. For grades 4-7 and older readers. 
Comment: Because Newtons name may not be instantly familiar, the first sentence repeats it and goes on to tie him to his fieldscienceand explain his preeminence. The remainder of the annotation is more specific about what the book covers, including time and place. 
24 
When and where make a big difference 
 Nonfiction 
The title may tell 
Or the annotation must 
Time and Place 
Most annotations need to be anchored in a place and a time frame. Without some allusion to place, the text can be misleading; mysteries set in a large American city and in a small English village are likely to have fundamental differences in approach and atmosphere. Indicating that a book is a historical novel cries out for some reference to the time of the action. Nonfiction works, of course, are usually very specific. 
Nonfiction 
For some books, the title and subtitle will include this information, and it should not be repeated in the text. 
Stolen Continents: The Americas through Indian 
Eyes since 1492 
Rising in the West: The True Story of an Okie 
Family from the Great Depression through the 
Reagan Years 
Europe in Our Time: A History, 19451992 
Moving the Mountain: The Womens Movement 
in America since 1960 
Some figures or events will be familiar enough to suggest an era without adding a date. Most American readers will instantly place George Washington with the American Revolution, Abraham Lincoln with the Civil War, and Dwight D. Eisenhower with World War IIand thereby identify at least the appropriate century. Napoleon has also lent his name to an era. However, some well-known figures of the distant past probably need dating; not all readers could immediately place the Chinese philosopher Confucius in, or even near, the fifth century B.C. 
Some more recent figures would benefit from dates, a time span, and even a place. 
Showa: The Age of Hirohito 
by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler 
Annotation: Covers Hirohitos years as emperor of Japan from 1926, when he was hailed as a god-king, to his death some seventy years later, when he had become a constitutional monarcha symbol of state as well as a symbol of the profound changes that had taken place during his reign. During this period Japan experienced tremendous industrial-military expansion, World War II, and unparalleled postwar growth. For junior and senior high readers. 
Comment: This book is intended for young adults. Given what studies keep finding about general knowledge of history and geography in this age group, it is doubtless useful to be specific about the country and the dates as well as who this person was and events in his life. Older people wont be hurt by a reminder. 
Queen Victoria: A Portrait 
by Giles St. Aubyn 
Annotation: The author of several books on Britains royal family, including Edward VII: Prince and King (RC 15046), provides a portrait of the woman who came to the throne in 1837 as an unknown girl and who was, when she died in 1901, mourned by the whole world. St. Aubyn represents Victorias development in six distinct stages: princess, young queen, bride, wife, widow, and ruler of a vast empire. 
Comment: The person portrayed will suggest the last half of the nineteenth century, which is close enough for most references. For a full, lengthy biography (this book takes six cassettes), more precision is needed. 
26 Other nonfiction works can be handled very briefly in the text with phrases denoting the decade or century, references to well-known historical figures or events, or even specific dates. 
	
life of the late-nineteenth-century novelist 

	
during World War II 

	
with Robert E. Lee at Appomattox 

	
after the Norman invasion of England in 1066 

Phrases that work 
	
the British explorer (16301675) 

	
political and economic decisions of the 1920s that led to the Great Depression 

	
Jack Bennys popular radio show of the 30s and 40s moved to television in the 50s. 

Contemporary works, especially memoirs, usually declare themselves as such by the content but may need a reference to the current decade to retain clarity in the future. For all books, but particularly for nonfiction, phrases that indicate currentness of a book should be avoided. Use specific dates or decades, or tie the annotation to events with a familiar time frame. Avoid such phrases as: 
	
from  to the present 

	
using recently discovered material 

	
new research shows 

Words to avoid 
	
newly released papers 

	
todays 

	
in this decade 

 Fiction 
About the past 
Fiction 
Historical. Historical fiction is the fiction genre that most obviously needs to be firmly rooted in a time and place. It matters in giving substance to the plot elements that the setting is real and tied to a particular location and situation; that the time is in the far past or relatively recent. Some Australian fiction sounds remarkably like an American western if not identified, for the good reason that both are dealing with similar frontier societies. And settingtime and placecan be almost the only thing that differentiates one historical romance from another. 
The Sheriff of Nottingham 
by Richard Kluger 
Annotation: In 1208, English churches are closed because of a clash between King John and Pope Innocent III. Hoping to quell the rebellious clergy, the king sends sheriffs into each shire. Philip Mark goes to Nottingham. A kind-hearted man, Philip is sorely tested when ordered to hang a group of Welsh boys held as hostages. He is also among the justice-seeking men who draw up the Magna Carta. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex. 
Comment: The time, country, and situation are specific, as they need to be to lead up to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. Because placing this particular sheriff in Nottingham evokes the familiar Robin Hood legends, the annotation has to point out the somewhat later time frame and the considerable difference in this mans character from Robin Hoods adversary. 
Audrey 
by Mary Johnston 
Annotation: In early eighteenth-century Virginia, young Haward takes an orphaned girl, Audrey, as his ward but places her care in someone elses hands. When he next sees Audrey, he is amazed by her 
Or from the past 
Old and historical 
beauty, but unfortunate circumstances turn her 
against him. 
Comment: The setting differentiates this book
from others of its kind. Change the locale and the
names and you have another formula romance.

Historical vs. old. Note that there are some traps in dealing with what at first glance appears to be historic in nature. The Grapes of Wrath now appears to be set in the past, but John Steinbeck was writing in the 1930s about a situation that was all too real at that time and presenting characters who could have lived his tale. Thomas Hardy used the English countryside and the attitudes of its people as basic elements of his novels, and the novels belong to that time. The annotation should make clear that the books subject was contemporary for its author. This can be done through the date at the end, if the writing was long enough ago for the date to attract attention. Generally, it is better to include some time reference in the body of the annotation: 
 
Nineteenth-century novel explores 

 
First published in 1819 

 
Eighteenth-century comedy of manners 

Dates, which generally are not included in the examples in this manual, are the last element in NLS annotations and serve to give information about the time the book was written. (See Dates and time, p. 150.) 
Historical fiction is not a new form, so annotation writers will also have to deal with some older books, including classics, that are about times that were long past when the book was written. Sir Walter Scott may have invented the form in the nineteenth century; certainly he was an early and prolific practitioner with such classics as Ivanhoe and a host of others. Napoleons invasion of Russia happened two generations before Tolstoys massive and evocative War and Peace. The American Civil War was only a memory, 
New but sounding old 
The time is now, and the place matters 
Be clear about places 
although a persistent one, when Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind. Both time frames may not need to be spelled out, depending as usual on the content, but make sure the annotation does not cause confusion. 
An additional difficulty comes in differentiating contemporary works set in a previous era and written at least somewhat in the style of the era. Regency romances have become a genre in themselves in the past few decades and will probably not be confused with works from that time, even with dust-jacket claims about the author being a successor to Jane Austen. But novels labeled as Victorian should be by authors of that period; contemporary works with a Victorian setting need to be identified as such. (See Eras, p. 162.) 
Contemporary settings. As mentioned earlier, the setting adds to the atmosphere of the book and needs to be indicated, at least briefly if incidental and more specifically if it is essential to the tone and situation. A small, sleepy southern town will present a picture quite different from in lower Manhattan or at a Malibu beach. A city name is usually enough, but towns often need states or countries, especially when the place is obscure or has the same name as several other towns. And New York as a name is rarely sufficient by itself; the city and upstate areas are distinctly different. 
Sometimes adjectives describing a character will also indicate the setting. Scotland Yard detective places the setting in England, most probably London. Hollywood starlet covers both a profession and a location. 
Using the books language. Within the book, the setting is doubtless clear and references to places willand shouldbe those used in that region. Using the same terms in the annotation will not work unless the setting and the attitude have already been indicated. A reference to the Cape obviously means Cape Cod when the characters are known to be somewhere in Massachusetts, but not other
Sensitivities Watch your words carefully 
 Disabilities
People with handicaps are people 
wise; there are many capes in this country and around the world. 
Annotation: Tomboy Jessie Warfield and her friend James Wyndham often compete in horse races in 1820s Baltimore, Maryland. James speaks of his English cousins, Marcus and Duchess Wyndham, so when Jessie must flee the colonies, she turns to them for help. 
Comment: The book does use the term colonies, probably because the English cousins still thought and spoke of the United States that way. But without that context established, writers have to treat Maryland and other parts of the United States, which had achieved independence almost forty years earlier, in more usual terms. Jessie was fleeing the 
country. 
Sensitivities 
Word choices can say much about attitudes, and annotations should be free of the annotation writers attitudes. The authors attitudes are another matter; points of view should be both noted and attributed. The following situations can present problems. 
Disabilities 
Because the audience for NLS annotations is, by definition and statute, made up of people who have a visual or physical disability, the book collection offers many titles on or about disabilities. Annotation writers must take great care not to stereotype or depict people with disabilities negatively or as objects of pity. So should all writers, but we in particular want to set a standard of writing without even a hint of condescension. 
Several organizations working in the field of disabilities produce material about acceptable terminology. Particular phrases change over time, and people concerned with dis
 Ethnic and race

abilities should refer to current lists for information, particularly as to approach and attitude. Such suggestions are not necessarily definitive, however; some attempts to be politically correct have been so arcane as to be devoid of meaning. Judgment is needed. 
In general, NLS writers always try to think in terms of people rather than conditions. Thus, we use phrases such as people with cerebral palsy rather than the cerebral palsied, and blind individuals rather than the blind. 
Never use words or phrases like afflicted with (which evokes pity), or the victim of (which indicates some kind of intention). And wheelchair users are not confined by their method of locomotion but rather given the ability to move. Be specific whenever possible (the person has a particular condition), and avoid characterizations and implied judgments. Crippled implies complete dysfunction and has no place in an annotation for nonfiction titles; it might sometimes be appropriate for a fiction work where the physical condition is symbolic of an emotional state or an attitude. 
Ethnic and racial designations 
We try, as much as possible, to use terms that reflect the preferences of the group involved. These terms also tend to change over time, often by design of the group members themselves, to emphasize a particular aspect of their background or an attitude toward it. Thus, African American is the current term for Americans of African descent, but some annotations for books in the collection reflect the time when they were written by their use of Afro-American, black, Negro, and even colored. These terms should be updated to current usage when such titles are reissued or when older material is listed in subject bibliographies. Note that black is still acceptable and useful, especially when referring to communities or neighborhoods; the other terms listed above are not, except on rare occasions when needed for historical context. 
Dont create anachronisms 
Dont hyphenate people 
In general, we use Native American to refer to the indigenous people of the whole Western Hemisphere, and more particularly those of Canada and the United States. That does not mean, however, that the word Indian has vanished from our vocabulary or theirs. Those peoples in Mexico and further south are often still referred to as Indians in their own countries and therefore often in material about those countries. Also, references to specific groups sometimes need the word Indian, as in Delaware Indians, where changing the term to Native Americans would be both historically inaccurate and linguistically forced. For groups where the designation is appropriate, the term nation is desirable: the Sioux Nation, for example. This term does not, however, apply to subgroups within a nation or smaller groups that were never affiliated with others; these can always be identified by name. Indian should usually be preferred to Native American in annotations for classics; James Fenimore Cooper was not writing about the French and Native American Wars, and his attitude and approach are distorted by applying modern terms to a historical context. 
NLS follows Chicago (The Chicago Manual of Style, Fourteenth Edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), which calls for leaving ethnic designations followed by American open (no hyphens), both as adjectives and nouns: African American, Italian American, Japanese American. It is not always necessary to use the full term, however, if the context makes it clear that a community in this country and not overseas is being discussed. If the annotation places the setting in a section of Boston largely occupied by people of Irish extraction, the reader is not going to be misled into thinking that Irish means people in Ireland. 
Jewish is generally used as a religious designation and not followed by American, even though the term also has ethnic connotations. 
 Gender
Watch word choices 
Hispanic can be used for all groups from a Spanish-speak-ing background, although some groups immigrating to the United States or with ancestors from western hemisphere countries are endorsing Latino as the preferred term, since the connection with Spain is several centuries old and by conquest to boot. 
Needless to say, terms considered derogatory have no place in an annotation. If a biased attitude is a major aspect of the book, readers can be informed of the content without the use of inflammatory language. 
Gender 
Avoid using gender-specific words to encompass both sexes. Human can usually be used in some form for words like mankind or mans, and both sexes are people. The context will suggest other possibilities. 
Most gender-specific words for occupations are rapidly disappearing from the language, partly in response to civil-rights protests and partly to reflect reality, as women continue to enter many occupations that were once dominated by men. Often the word has simply been truncated to remove a male suffix or changed to reflect the activity; thus, policemen become police, workmen become workers, mailmen become letter carriers. In many cases, one designation encompasses both sexes, and most of the ess suffixes to indicate a female practitioner of a craft have for practical purposes ceased to exist. Poetess, always slightly archaic in sound, is never seen, and even actress is used primarily where a distinction needs to be made, as for awards and the like; collectively, people whose profession is acting call themselves actors. 
Pronouns can lead to considerable difficulty. Dont use he or his for both sexes; if a singular is called for, use he or she or his or her. Sometimes indefinite pronouns such as anyone or everybody can be used, but these can lead to a reappearance of the problem in a later clause that refers 
Watch your attitude 
 Lifestyle 
Dont be evasive 
back to the singular subject and leaves the writer again reaching for a way around he or his. Using the plural form after this construction is not acceptable to NLS, even though it is often done elsewhere. The easiest solution, when possible, is to use the nonspecific they (or a plural noun) to begin with, followed by the plural form of a verb and plural references thereafter. 
All of these guidelines concern language and usage, but some more subtle practices can also relegate women to a secondary position. Books by or about a man and a woman should indicate an occupation or characteristic for both, not just for the man. The phrase wife of, by itself, is insufficient and demeaning, especially when applied to coauthors or subjects of a dual biography; both people must be credited for their activities and achievements. Likewise, referring to male characters by their last names and female characters by their first names indicates that the women are somehow less important or less worthy of respect. The type of book will determine whether first or last names are used, but the sexes should be treated evenhandedly. Even the choice of descriptive adjectives can contain not-so-subtle put-downs: all denoting vigorous and powerful for the men and vapid and voluptuous for the women. 
Lifestyle 
More and more books are featuring characters with nontraditional family arrangements and lifestyles, not surprisingly, as these situations become more common and more openly discussed in our society. Descriptions of this material should let the reader know what to expect, just as in descriptions of any other kind of book. If the annotation depicts a tender love story, the reader will assume two sweet young people of different sexes unless told otherwise, either directly (homosexual, lesbian) or by sentences that feature men or women together. This practice does not mean that the sexual orientation of all characters has to be listed any more than does other descriptive information, but 
Judgments best left to the reader 
features bearing on motivation or the direction of the plot should be clear. 
Judgments 
One of the fundamentals of annotation writing is to avoid judgments. This concept can be difficult for people who are accustomed to reading book reviews. Reviews are supposed to give opinions; that is their function. Reviews in publications like Library Journal not only give opinions but recommend books for general collections or for specific types of libraries and clientele; these reviews help librarians in buying books for their collections. Selection in these cases means choosing where to expend funds, and advice can be useful. 
The purpose of an annotation is different. The book has already been selectedand deemed worthy of inclusion in the collectionaccording to a carefully written policy designed to provide many books of interest to the majority of readers and something in all fields for readers with particular interests. In that sense, it has already been judged to be good. The annotation is there to help an individual reader decide if this particular book is one he or she would want to read. The decision is up to the reader; the annotation gives information for making that choice. 
There are two strong reasons for avoiding judgments. One is credibility. It is not unusual for people reading a book because of a recommendation to find that they disagree, sometimes strongly. People react to books in different ways, and a reader may react to the same book differently at various times. After a few experiences with following someone elses opinion and being disappointed, the reader can easily mistrust information that is supposed to be helpful. 
A second reason for avoiding judgments is that they often appear as condescending. (See Sensitivities, p. 31.) Most blind people have experienced the degrading attitude that 
Taglines are content information 
their blindness makes them inferior and renders them somehow incapable of making their own judgments and decisions. They surely do not want that kind of negative thinking reflected in information they receive about books produced specifically for them by a service that should be well aware of this issue. 
Taglinessex, violence, and strong language 
Information on the existence of strong language, violence, and sex is available to library patrons who can handle print books, either through summaries on book jackets or by skimming through the pages. These elements are frequently more vivid in spoken than in written form and can disturb some readers. Because our readers cannot sample the content before ordering the book, they need to be made aware of the presence of these elements. 
These phrases are not considered judgmental; they simply contain information for readers similar to information conveyed in the other parts of the annotation. It is up to the reader to determine whether he or she wishes to read the book, or if such content has any bearing on that decision. 
Neither are these taglines a form of censorship, as has sometimes been suggested. The books are available for any reader who wishes to order them. It would be censorship to delete the passages or to decide not to produce the books in recorded or braille formats because they contain offensive elements, rather than to follow general selection guidelines for the approximately two thousand titles that can be produced each year from the more than sixty thousand titles listed in Books in Print. (For specific use of taglines, see 
p. 155.) 
Planning an annotation 

Studyplanning begins with learning 
 Sources include... 
Writers cant just plunge in and write something; they have to know where they are going and why. Creating a good annotation takes thinking and planning. There are five steps, which will take varying amounts of time depending on the content of each book. 
 
Study what the book is about. 

 
Select information to include. 

 
Structure the order of presentation. 

 
Determine an appropriate length. 

 
Choose a writing style to fit the book. 

Note: the actual writing will come last! 
Study what the book is about 
Sources 
A multitude of sources exist for information that could be used in an annotation. These include prepublication announcements; reviews in newspapers, magazines, and professional journals; listings in book digests and similar reference material; the book jacket, table of contents, and index; and the text of the book itself. These materials have varying degrees of usefulness, depending on the nature, importance, and publication date of the book. 
Dont plan or write anything until all sources have been consulted! 
Reviewsbut watch out

Announcements and reviews. Some of the information in prepublication announcements can be useful. The primary sources for such reviews are Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Review, trade magazines that describe books soon to be published and give information about promotional campaigns that could influence demand. 
These reviews are intended for the professional who selects books for a collection. They are not designed to be totally objective about the worth of a book, but instead to alert librarians, booksellers, and other people involved in book selection as to what may be in demand. They contain basic information about the books content, opinions as to its value, estimates of its potential sales, and suitability for general or specialized collections. For example: 
	
This book is not up to the authors previous standards but might sell on the strength of the last hit. 

	
potential hit 

	
among the most specious of the proliferating publications supposed to offer advice to casualties of the sexual revolution 

Specific information cited in a prepublication review can differ from details in the published version. Publishers sometimes change the name of a character, add or remove a subtitle, and even change the title between sending out advance copies for review and going to press. 
Critical reviews become available upon or soon after publication; Library Journal, Book List, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post Book World, and the New York Times Book Review are usual references. Reviews from these sources are for the most part signed articles that indicate the background of the reviewer and the basis for his or her opinions. Library Journal reviewers for nonfiction tend to be college faculty or specialists working in the subject area of the book; for fiction they are usually librarians. Book List primarily uses its own editorial staff for reviews. The 
Digests for retrospective 
selections 
Book jackets meant to entice 
New York Times often uses reviewers who have written books on similar subjects, or big-name personalities. 
Critical reviews are a valuable source of information, but using them requires careful selection of material to transmit to the reader. Information gleaned from reviews must be facts and content, not opinion. Reviews are expected to contain judgments; annotations are not. 
Book digests. Reference material of this kind is not sufficiently timely to cover current books, but for older selections such digests can be most helpful. Particularly valuable is Book Review Digest, which gives a brief description of the book and lists several excerpts from critical reviews. The Wilson catalogs also use this format. Digests do sometimes contain errors; be sure they are describing the correct book. 
Special-interest sources, including both current magazines and cumulative digests, are utilized for some kinds of material, such as books on religion, detective stories, science fiction, literature, and the like. 
Book jackets. These summaries are part of the promotion of the book. People browsing through bookstores read them and are tempted into buying (or so the publishers hope). The jackets sometimes contain the best summation of content available anywhere. On the other hand, they sometimes misrepresent contenteven characters names or spellingsor stress sensational elements. Annotation writers should investigate the content of the book before using any book-jacket information. This information should not be ignored, merely approached warily. 
Book-jacket information should never be copied for annotations, both because it can be suspect and because the information source will be readily apparent to the reader of the book. For recorded books, after the basic opening announcements (title, author, date, length, reader), the first 
Paperback blurbs meant to entice quickly 
The book, the ultimate sourceevaluate by skimming 
 Commondenominators 
what the sources indicate 
thing narrated is the Library of Congress annotation, immediately followed by from the book jacket. Oops! Cribbing from the book jacket makes nonsense of calling this a Library of Congress annotation. 
Paperbacks. Information on the backs of paperbacks is even more suspect than book-jacket information. These books are sold everywherenewsstands, drugstores, super-marketsand the publishers want pictures, colors, and words that will catch the attention of a potential buyer who came in to do the weekly shopping or wanted to grab something to read on the bus. The teasers on the backs of paperbacks often have only a remote kinship with the books contents; they are generally useless for writing annotations. 
If the content summary is the only information available, tread warily in using the same words or exact phrases. Generally, the thrust of the book can be indicated without specific plot details. And that content summary will probably be treated on the recording as information from the book jacket and read in its entirety. 
The book. It would not be cost-effective or practical to read every word of every book before writing an annotation. But books do have to be skimmed for content and tone of writing. For nonfiction, the table of contents, introductions, and postscripts are good guides. All books have to be checked carefully for sex, strong language, and violence. 
Finding common denominators 
Information from all these sources should indicate common elements. If two reviews and the book jacket say that the book is a futuristic science fiction novel, then the book is most likely to be a futuristic science fiction novel. Such fundamental information should set the tone for the annotation. 
Select 
 Determine basiccontent 
Isolated points of interest or background facts that one reviewer picks outbut go unmentioned anywhere else are unlikely to be the main emphasis of the book; these should probably be discounted for use in the annotation. When all this information is considered together, the main idea of the book should be clear. Details on subject, author, theme, plot, setting, and characters can then be selected to flesh out the annotation. 
Using well-written phrases from any of these sources is tempting; its a shame to let good words go to waste. But this procedure is reasonable only if these phrases truly describe the book, deserve emphasis, and fit together. A cut-and-paste job of words lifted out of context can be mis-leadingor convey no meaning at all. 
Select what to include 
Content is fundamental 
A properly written annotation should quickly clue readers to the type of book and its general purpose or approach, leading them to read further if they are interested in this type of material. A misleading annotation may cause a reader to ignore a book that he or she would enjoya loss to the reader. Or a misleading annotation may lead to selection of a book that disappoints, making the reader wary about future selections. Either way, the annotation fails in its purpose. 
First consider the type of book: 
 
light reading for pleasure 

 
practical or how-to guide 

 overview of or introduction to a particular subject 

 
in-depth study 

 
fiction with a serious theme. 

 List (facts) 
Your notes, unadorned 
Six questions 
These five categories encompass most of the books for which annotations have to be written. Some types of material are not listed, and some books escape categorization. Annotation writers have to be flexible. 
Annotations for books in the first three categories are generally easier to write: their purpose is simple, their construction is rarely complex, and their message is straightforward. Plan to spend more thoughtand more timeon the last two categories. 
Jot down notes about the book 
Dont arrange them, just make a list. Use the book to verify that names, dates, and places are accurate and correctly spelled. Dont adorn the information; language comes later. Notes should cover what is necessary or important about the particular book. They will vary, depending on the type of book. What should be included in the annotation will vary, depending on the category. Notes should cover answers to these questions: 
 
Who is essential to this book? 

 
What is it about? 

 
When does it take place? 

 
Where is it set? 

 
How is the subject developed? 

 
Why was it written or is it useful? 

These are the six questions drummed into reporters, with a slight revision of emphasis because of the difference in purpose. How does not always need to be answered for a news article; but for books, and therefore annotations, how the author develops his or her idea is what makes one book different from another. 
 Structure notes 
Rank order 
 Determine length 
These questions contain the raw material from which annotations are made, even if they do not all have to be answered for every book. Every one should be considered for notes, and some should be selected for the annotation. 
Structure what is to be presented 
Structured notes will help the writer build the annotation properly, usually from the general to the specific. They should identify what must be included and ensure that equal concepts are given equal weight. Structuring will prevent omitting the point of the book, distorting the emphasis, or developing one aspect to the exclusion or subordination of others that are equally important. The annotation should 
 
explain or indicate the books major emphasis 

 
include essential but secondary information 

 
provide supportive detail for interest. 

Number notes (1), (2), or (3) according to whether facts are major, secondary, or supportive. Many items are supportive details and can be numbered (3); some are essential but secondary and can be numbered (2); only one is a major emphasis, although there can be two items under this heading if there is a premise and a conclusion. 
These three categories are enough. Too many groupings and subgroupings are time consuming and will result in an overly complex annotation. 
Determine an appropriate length 
NLS uses a computer system to track titles through the production cycle from selection through shipment of the braille or recorded versions to network libraries for circulation to readers. The screens for this system were planned to limit the length of each entry to what would fit on the copy-allotment cards for network libraries and bookcards 
Long titles

then in use, automatically adjusting the space for the annotation to accommodate a long title or a subtitle, which could also be long. Therefore, the average annotation was limited to about fifty words. Because long titles or subtitles usually contain information that would otherwise be included in the annotation, a shorter annotation for those books should not be a loss to the reader. 
The Innocents Abroad; or, The New Pilgrims 
Progress; Being Some Account of the Steamship 
Quaker Citys Pleasure Excursion to Europe 
and the Holy Land, with Description of 
Countries, Nations, Incidents, and Adventures, 
as They Appeared to the Author 
by Mark Twain 
Annotation: A satiric account of a voyage through the Mediterranean and travel in the bordering countries, and a classic study of the differences between Americans and Europeans. 1869. 
Comment: nonfiction classic, and Twain had fun with the title 
Journal of the Gun Years: Being Choice Selections 
from the Authentic, Never-Before-Printed Diary 
of the Famous Gunfighter-Lawman Clay Halser! 
Whose Deeds of Daring Made His Name a 
Byword of Terror in the Southwest between the 
Years of 1866 and 1876! 
by Richard Matheson 
Annotation: Multicareered Clay Halsers talent with a gun was the stuff of legends. After Halser dies, his journal is discovered. It describes the mortal behind the myth. Violence and some descriptions of sex. 
Comment: A western written in 1991. The title is a take-off on the long journal titles popular in the mid-1800s. The author had fun with the exclamation points, too. 
When a few words are enough 
In many cases, a brief annotation is all that is needed, and there is no need to fill the space just because it is there. Some books can be described with great accuracy in one short, direct statement. In particular, childrens books, familiar references, and how-to books often need only a few carefully chosen words. 
Galloway 
by Louis LAmour 
Annotation: Flagan Sackett finds himself a fugitive in the mountains with only his wits as defense against the Apache warriors and the hungry wolves stalking him. 
Comment: The protagonist, the setting, and the conflict are laid out in one sentence. This information is surely enough to entice readers of westerns, if the authors name has not done that already. Yes, the plot could probably be explained more fully, but to what purpose? 
The Scott, Foresman Roberts Rules of Order, 
Newly Revised 
by Henry R. Robert 
Annotation: First published in 1876, this manual of parliamentary procedure serves as the countrys recognized guide to running and taking effective part in meetings. Revised and modernized. 
Comment: Classic reference work, as the title and the annotation state. Thats enough. 
Hitlers Willing Executioners: 
Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust 
by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen 
Annotation: Makes the case that the perpetrators of the Jewish genocide were ordinary Germans driven by anti-Semitism and not just military officers and Nazi Party members. Bestseller. 
Choose appropriate writing style 
Comment: One sentence lays out the authors thesis succinctly. For elaboration of how he reached that controversial conclusion, read the book. 
Note that a few of the examples provided in this manual exceed the fifty-word precept. In general, these annotations were included in the 1979 edition, before the advent of the current computer system and the explosion in printing costs. These annotations have been retained because the points they illustrate are still valid, even though current writers would aim for something shorter. As shown in the previous examples, much shorter is sometimes quite enough. Say whats needed and then stop, rather than strive to fill whatever space is provided. 
Choose a writing style to fit the book 
Consider and convey the authors intent and the mood of the book. A serious study should not sound like a light novel; a light novel should not sound like a philosophical treatise. The tone should enhance the description. 
The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western 
by Richard Brautigan 
Annotation: Romp through a surrealistic world. A young Indian girl wanders into the wrong brothel looking for the right man to kill the monster that lives in the ice caves under the basement of an old house. 
Comment: The annotation is almost as surrealistic as the world of the novel. All those phrases would be too much for most books; they are right for this one. 
The Human Pedigree 
by Anthony Smith 
Annotation: A British science reporter confronts the complex medical, legal, and political problems of genetic engineering. He considers such moral questions as whether people with defective genes should marry and whether seriously defective infants should live. 
Comment: Straightforward treatment of a difficult subject with many ramifications. The authors background is given immediately, and confronts is an excellent choice for the main verb. 
Writingthe last step 

Now write 
Get to the point 
Finally, its time to turn all that preparation into an annotation. Using the preliminary notes 
 
get to the point 

 
choose appropriate language 

 
vary sentence structure 

 
be specific and concise 

 
watch grammar and punctuation 

 
adhere to style 

While the planning steps are basically consecutive, the elements that make up writing are incorporated largely simultaneously. As soon as you begin writing, language, sentence structure, grammar, and style come into play. That does not mean every sentence or every word will be exactly what is needed on the first draft. The general approach needs to be achieved first and then more attention paid to specific details. But choice of language and how to use it are there from the beginning. The elements are separated here to focus on some fundamentals and considerations. 
Get to the point 
A strong first sentence sums up or indicates the main emphasis of the book. Supportive details follow. 
Edward VIII 
by Frances Donaldson 
Annotation: Lady Donaldson suggests that Edward VIIIs abdication to marry Mrs. Simpson was a willful abandonment of the throne rather than a noble sacrifice. The eldest son of King George V is 
 The first sentence sets the tone 
portrayed as a tragic personality, the victim of his 
own flawed character and judgment. 
Comment: The opening sentence presents the authors thesis. The second develops it. While active voice is generally preferable, the second sentence works in passive voice with some supporting information on either side of the verb. 
Dhalgren 
by Samuel R. Delany 
Annotation: As the sun grows deadly, the world goes mad. Society perishes, savagery rules, and all that was known is over. In these dying days of Earth, a young drifter enters the city. Explicit descriptions of sex, strong language, and violence. 
Comment: The opening sentence presents the situation and sets the mood. The second adds details, opposing the concepts of society and savagery. The concluding sentence inserts a person into the setting, implying that something is about to happen and enticing the reader to find out what that is. The warning tags indicate that the action may not be to everyones taste. 
That vital first sentence 
The opening sentence lets the reader know immediately what this book is about. 
For nonfiction, the information could include the authors premise or approach, the time period covered, a succinct introduction to the subject matter, a brief statement of the authors credentials, or whatever else is essential to the particular book. Note that the statement must indicate something about the book, not just about the person or situation covered in the book. 
For fiction, the first sentence should capture the mood, and could introduce the major character(s), set the plot in motion, or anchor the book in place and time, along with 
 Good
Get to the point

leading the reader into the next sentence for more information. Sometimes it needs to state the nature of the book, usually for genres that are hard to depict through plot and mood. Not all these elements should be included in every first sentence; the writer must select what is essential to this book. Remember that some information has already appeared in the title. 
Good starts 
Obviously there can be as many good beginnings as there are books being annotated. 
Fragments of the Ark 
by Lousie Meriwether First sentence: Peter Mango has been a slave all his life. 
Comment: Identifies the protagonist and his situation, and at the same time implies that something is about to happen to change things. 
Next Time, Shell Be Dead: 
Battering and How to Stop It 
by Ann Jones 
First sentence: A study of the institutions and attitudes that foster the problem of domestic violence in America. 
Comment: Straightforward exposition about what the book contains. There are five useful nouns (study, institutions, attitudes, problem, violence) and a well-chosen verb that has the sense of giving aid to a situation that should be halted, not encouraged. 
The Last Integrationist 
by Jake Lamar First sentence: A political tale set in a racially divided America. Comment: Both the genre and the subject are hinted at in the title. The explanatory opening sentence 
clarifies the direction of the novel, leading to plot 
elements to follow. 
Always try to get directly to the authors approach for nonfiction books. Some possibilities include: 
	
A behind-the-scenes look 

	
Reminiscences about 

	
A personal and political discussion 

	
Interviews with [whomever] demonstrate 

	
An investigative reporter examines 

	
A discursive, detailed biography 

	
Techno-thriller author Tom Clancy provides an in-depth look 

	
A multifaceted reflection on 

	
Williams ponders 

	
Explanation of 

	
The authors architectural engineering backgrounds and personal experience inform their descriptions of earthquakes and volcanos. 

	
The authors define 

	
The authors discuss 

	
The author highlights 

	
The authors assert 

	
The author focuses 

	
The author tells how 

	
The author describes 

	
Richards outlines the life of 

	
Traces 

	
More than two hundred [people] contributed their recollections to 

	
A broad survey 

	
According to two proponents of Darwinian medicine, the body is a bundle of compromises 

	
Literary biography of 

	
Literary notable remembers 

	
A musicologists documented account 

	
Sociology professor criticizes 

	
Myers states he does not possess final answers to the mysteries of well-being 

	
A reporters account of 

	
Presents frank views 

	
Critical biography of 

	
Opposed to manipulating people by interfering with their decision-making processes,  

54 
 Trouble 
Watch out for these approaches 
Dont ignore the book. Annotations are about books, not about the people profiled or the conflict covered. The first sentence for a nonfiction book should always indicate 
what the book is about (life of, discusses, covers), not what the subject did, why he or she did it, or how the author became interested. This problem is particularly prevalent with biographies. 
Whats in the book? 
More pitfalls

The authors motivation is secondary, or even unnecessary 
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became 
the Worlds Fastest Woman 
by Kathleen Krull 
Annotation: African American Wilma Rudolph weighed only four pounds when she was born in 1940, and she had nineteen older brothers and sisters. Childhood polio left her leg paralyzed, but Wilma exercised until she not only walked but became an Olympic gold medal runner. For grades 2-4. 
Problem: Needs an introductory sentence stating that the book tells how the person profiled surmounted many difficulties to become an Olympic gold medal winner. The details listed should intrigue children, but they are supportive information rather than the starting point. 
Little Girl Fly Away 
by Gene Stone 
Annotation: For four years Ruth Finley said she was stalked by a man who, on different occasions, kidnapped her, stabbed her, harassed her by phone, and wrote her evil poetry. The Poet eluded Wichita police until the chief, who had not met Ruth, read the voluminous file and solved the case by surveillance: Ruth was stalking herself. After five years of psychoanalytic therapy, Ruth was able to understand why. Strong language and some violence. 
Problem: We have a lengthy annotation about the case, its solution, and even the outcome for the perpetrator. Theres nothing anywhere about the book, which can only be presumed to present this information somehow. 
Dont concentrate just on background. This problem is another common aspect of ignoring the book. An annotation should cover the approach of the book, not explain how the author happened to write it. These facts can be included as supportive details if pertinent, but the first sentence should always indicate that there is a book. 
Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, 
and the Confidence Gap 
by Peggy Orenstein 
Annotation: When journalist Orenstein read the American Association of University Womens (AAUW) 1990 study that told of widespread low self-esteem in young girls, she wanted to learn about the people and the stories behind the statistics. With the support of AAUW, she spent a year observing this trait in eighth-grade girls from two California schools, chosen to reflect the system-wide division by race and economic class. 
Problem: Its all background. Not only is there no book, theres no substance about any findings from the study. 
Of Love and Other Demons 
by Gabriel Garca Mrquez 
First sentence: In 1949, the author was instructed by his newspaper editor to go to the old convent of Santa Clara on the Caribbean coast and see if he could come up with a story about the emptying of their burial crypts prior to building a hotel. 
Problem: More than half of the allotted fifty words have been used, and we have no information about what is in the book. The opening sentence or two should be devoted to setting, characters, and story line of a fiction book. If there is space, background information could be added briefly: This novel was inspired by a 1949 visit Readers might be intrigued to learn that a 1995 bestseller was based on an experience almost half a century earlierbut only if they first had some reason to become interested in the book. 
57 
The title says it

Dont repeat title information. Use the annotation to give new information; limited space shouldnt be used to repeat what can be learned from the title and subtitle. Repetition is dull in print, wasteful in braille, and deadly when recorded. 
Rebecca West: A Celebration 
by Rebecca West First sentence: Selections from the works of Dame Rebecca West. 
Comment: The authors name already appears twice in the bibliographic material; a third appearance in the annotation is both unnecessary and boring. 
The Misbegotten Son: A Serial Killer and His 
Victims; the True Story of Arthur J. Shawcross 
by Jack Olsen First sentence: Reconstruction of crimes committed by Arthur John Shawcross. 
Comment: All that is in the lengthy subtitle. The first sentence should be used to tell how many murders, over what period of time, how grizzly or inexplicable, how long it took for him to be discovered anything that is more than what is already stated. Is there something in his family background to explain the title? 
Many works of nonfiction are quite specific in the title and subtitle about the subject covered and the time. Obviously, then, these facts do not need to be included in the annotation. Instead, the first sentence should focus on other elements, possibly a fuller explanation of who the subject is, what he or she accomplished or is known for, the approach or credentials of the author, or how this book differs from others on the subject. 
Repetition is rarely a problem with fiction titles. 
Dont creep up on the real words 
Avoid

Avoid wordy opening phrases. Its superfluous to start with a book about; the reader knows that it is a book about something. Moreover, such an opening phrase almost insists that the writer add descriptive adjectives about the book, and these can too easily become judgmental. Instead, go directly to the content: someone doing something. 
Wordy: Warm, sympathetic story of the seven restless and ambitious children of a pre-depression Jewish immigrant family as they pursue power and wealth. 
Direct: Seven restless and ambitious children of a pre-depression Jewish family pursue power and wealth. 
Beware of such phrases as: 
	
The story of 

	
Here is a story of 

	
This is a horror story about 

	
This novel chronicles 

	
This little book is made up of 

	
Here in his own words is a story of 

	
Authors account of 

	
This novel concerns 

	
An intriguing novel in which (also a value judgment) 

	
A touching, funny novel (two value judgments) 

	
Gothic/historical/science fiction/western/contempo-rary/mystery/suspense novel that 

The annotation usually should start with the information that comes after such phrases. Spell out the genre only if it isnt obvious. The annotations tone and content are the best means for conveying the type of book. The reader can tell that its a historical novel if the time period and setting are given; that its a gothic novel if the heroine is being pursued around a spooky mansion on the edge of a cliff overlooking the moors. 
Cases where the genre can be in doubt often involve some form of humor where the action depicted is intended to illustrate a point, as in a satire. Here it is preferable to begin with a statement about what is being satirized and use the plot elements for supportive detailswhich is what they are: the authors means of making the point. 
Biting the Wall 
by J.M. Johnson 
First sentence: In this satire on academic life, Llew McQuilla is summarily removed from his job as head of computer services at Wilbur Moody College, and his loyal colleagues are determined to learn the reason behind this sudden demotion. 
Comment: Without the opening phrase, the plot information could be read straight, possibly as the introduction to a serious conspiracy. 
I Killed Hemingway 
by William McCranor Henderson 
First sentence: Satirical thriller about former Hemingway scholar Elliot McGuire, who is asked to ghostwrite the biography of elder Eric Pappy Markham. 
Comment: The opening phrase tells the reader to expect a suspense novel with comic twists. 
The Ditches of Edison County 
by Ronald Richard Roberts 
First sentence: This parody of the bestselling Bridges of Madison County (RC 35861) also features a brief affair between a traveling photographer, 
60 
Theres a point here somewhere 
No padding 
Ronald Concave, and a farmers lonely wife, 
Pancetta Jackson. 
Comment: The title, with its echoes of the original runaway bestseller and film, announces a takeoff. Identifying the book as a parody reinforces this fact, as does the plot information. The connections may not be so obvious as Bridges fades from memory. 
Avoid overcrowding. An overcrowded first sentence cannot focus attention on any one point, and readers may get totally confused or lose interest. Overcrowding is bad practice anywhere, but it can be a disaster in the opening sentence. 
The Terrible Teague Bunch 
by Gary Jennings
Annotation: (1) Comic western (2) set in Texas,

(3) at the turn of the century in which (4) four well-intentioned badmen (5) encounter (6) rough obstacles and (7) rough luck (8) en route (9) to robbing a train (10) carrying money (11) to a new bank (12) at Teague. 
Comment: Twelve separate thoughts are stuffed into one sentence. Most of the information is useful and fairly well expressed, but there is too much in one place. Run-on thoughts are a challenge even to the inveterate reader of westerns. 
Never use throwaways. These are sentences that lead into the information that should be conveyed, but contain no information of their own about the book. They create the impression that the writer didnt quite know how to get to the point, or was trying to stretch the material and fill up the space. 
Second sentence builds

The Doctors Book of Home Remedies: 
Thousands of Tips and Techniques Anyone 
Can Use to Heal Everyday Health Problems 
by Deborah Tkac 
First sentence: Have you ever wondered what a doctor does when he gets a cold, is plagued with arthritis, snores, or has a stomachache? 
Comment: The sentence is wastedwords thrown away that could have been used for imparting information. Readers should not be addressed as you, and what they may have wondered is immaterial. The book does not need a long annotation; the title is quite explicit. 
Add supportive details 
The second sentence (and others as necessary) should clarify the introductory sentence if needed, add specifics, identify the conflict, or move the plot along. The type of book and its approach will determine what is needed. 
Long Ago in France: The Years in Dijon 
by M.F.K. Fisher 
Annotation: An account of the years between 1929 and 1931, when the author is introduced to life in France. For her it is a time when practically everything is newmarriage, the French language, and culinary interests. Most exciting of all are the people in the cafes, movies, shops, and kitchens and in the pensions she and her husband share with other foreigners and graduate students in the provincial city of Dijon. 
Comment: The first sentence is short and straightforward, showing that the book contains memoirs (an account), clarifying the years encompassed by the long ago of the title, and indicating new experiences with introduced to. The details that follow reflect the emerging concerns of the well-known food writer and add color. 
 Know how to stop

Know how to stop 
The Dutchman 
by Maan Meyers 
Annotation: (1) New Amsterdam, 1664. (2) This city of Dutch settlers, Indians, and Jewish merchants is about to be attacked by the British. (3) But Schout (sheriff) Pieter Tonneman has other problems to worry about first. (4) A close friend has apparently killed himself, a Jewish familys house has been burned, a corpse disappears and reappears, and a lovely Jewish widow has a special interest in him. Strong language and some violence. 
Comment: (1) A dateline with place and time is a good way to identify a historical work; it saves space and words along with reducing the dependence on prepositional phrases. Like all devices, however, it should not be overused. (2) The first full sentence enlarges on the background and setting and also introduces one plot element. (3) The hero appears in the next sentence, along with indications of more plot complications. (4) Finally, there is an overwhelming series of personal concerns and criminal activities designed to keep a conscientious lawman occupied for quite some time. Note how well the details build. 
Know how to stop 
A good paragraph, or a good annotation, should have a beginning, a middle, and an endbut not necessarily in three sentences and not usually revealing the outcome of the book. When there is enough information to lay out the authors thesis or pique the readers interest, there is no need to add more. Particularly with annotations for escapist fiction titles, it is enough to get the protagonists into a situation or dilemma and stir concern about how they will deal with it. The annotation should not, of course, disclose the ending. It also does not need to summarize all the action leading to the conclusion. 
Dont tell all

Dont flounder

Dont disclose too much plot. Once the situation has been laid out, trying to encapsulate all of the action can lead to complex, convoluted sentences that confuse rather than enlighten. And too much information can weaken the thrust, leaving the annotation to trail off, rather than end on an interesting note. 
Seasons of the Heart RC 24280 
by Cynthia Freeman 
Annotation: Ann Coulters dreams of a happy, prosperous future with her husband, Phillip, a dashing, aristocratic lawyer she met at her best friends wedding, are shattered by World War II. His internment throughout the war in a Japanese prison camp saps his strength of character. Anns determination to improve the family finances by working as a realtor turns her into a millionaire, but the marriage fails. 
Comment: The first sentence is long and filled with details that seem to lead into a light romance. Since that is not to be the case, the allusion to her best friends wedding should be eliminated to connect dreams and shattered more directly. The middle section covers a fairly long period of time, with both people facing realitieshis very grim and hers of ambition and achievement. Then the whole thing ends abruptly and with finality, leaving very little reason for reading the book. 
Avoid weak generalizations. The concluding sentence should arouse interest in some way, not trail off into a vague nothingness. This situation can be caused by too much attention to how the author sets up the plot, leaving little space to focus on how it develops. 
Sound the Trumpet: The Liberty Bell, Book 1 
by Gilbert Morris Annotation: When British Daniel and Lyna Bradford lose their mother, going to a workhouse is 
Dont question the obvious 
their only option. Fortunately, they are hired by Lord 
Rochester to work as indentured servants for five 
years, and life is good. Then young Leo Rochester 
makes passes at Lyna, and Daniel fights with him 
and must leave. Both Daniel and Lyna will endure 
many hardships before they are reunited in America. 
Some violence. 
Problem: Most of the book is encompassed in the vague endure many hardships of the last sentence, which surely is not going to inspire much interest, especially since the tagline indicates violence. This problem occurs mainly because too much attention has been given to details of the opening situation, many of them unnecessary. Going to a workhouse is obviously not their only option, since they didnt. This annotation could easily begin with a sentence such as Orphaned siblings Daniel and Lyna are separated after being indentured to Lord Rochester, leaving more space to lay out something about the action. 
Dont pose useless questions. The annotation should not dissolve into meaningless speculation about whether the characters will achieve their purpose. Questions to which the answer is obvious add no information. 
	
Will she make the right choice? Of course she will. Its a romance novel. 

	
Can they keep the world from going up in flames? 

You bet. There will be heroics first, however. 
 Will the twins find their mother in all that jungle? 
Without doubt. 
Generally, the writer should stop with the sentence that precedes these questions. If the problem has not been set out, as it probably should have been, the situation is much better handled with a statement: 
Now select words 
 Verbs for action 
	
She has to determine the right choice for her. 

	
If they fail, the world will go up in flames. 

	
A dense jungle lies between the lost twins and their mother. 

Questions can be used to good effect, but they should be used sparingly and should not express the obvious. (See Writingthe last step, p. 84.) 
Choose appropriate language 
Language is chosen before it is written, even though the two acts may seem to be simultaneous; writers decide what word to use before they write it down. Language for annotations should be interesting, appropriate, and nonjudgmental. Words chosen should fulfill two related objectives. They should 
	
transmit specific content 

	
capture the flavor of the book. 

Every word in an annotation should be valuable. Readers dont have infinite time or patience to wait for the point to be made; length is a consideration for selection cards and bookcards; space for printing, brailling, and recording annotations is limited. 
Before selecting words, consider some aspects of language. 
Verbs 
Verbs are action words; they describe what happens. Annotations that relate something happening are much more interesting than those that generalize about background or contents. Use active voice for vigor, boldness, and brevity. Choose one tense, preferably present. 
Alive 
Dead 
 Nouns for identity 
Life after Life 
by Raymond A. Moody Jr. Annotation: A philosopher-doctor (1) synthesizes the experiences of more than fifty people who 
(2) 
have been declared clinically dead and then 

(2) 
resuscitated. Their similar accounts (3) suggest to the author existence after death. 

Comment: (1) Main verb of the sentenceactive voice and present tense. The word is well chosen for the act of putting many things together. (2) Verbs for the dependent clause show action before that of the main verb. Words have the precise meaning intended. 

(3) 
Main verb of sentenceactive voice and present tense. Gives immediacy to the theme of the book, even though the author considered and chose his topic before he began writing. 

The Romance of Atlantis 
by Taylor Caldwell
Annotation: According to the author, this novel

(1) 
was written when she was twelve and (1) based 

(2) 
on her former life in Atlantis. 

Comment: (1) Compound verb; passive voice, past tense. Creates little interest. (2) Nothing happens in this annotation, although the last phrase and the title hint that something happened in the authors life or imagination that may be reflected in the book. 
These two annotations are on similar subjects. The first one creates interest and the other kills it. The difference lies with the care taken in selection of facts and use of verbs to describe them. 
Nouns 
Nouns identify who and what. Choose nouns to incorporate as much information as possible, since brevity is a necessity and precision aids interest. Bachelor is better than unmarried man. Nouns that incorporate a description convey vitality 
Use care with

through succinctness; they also leave space for adjectives that add more force or new information. 
The Case of the Glamorous Ghost 
by Erle Stanley Gardner
Annotation: (1) Amnesia, (1) blackmail, and

(1) 
jewel-smuggling provide the (2) background for a (2) murder in which (3) Perry Mason, for once, knows less than the (3) prosecutor. 

Comment: (1) The sentence has a triple subject; the three nouns sum up the elements of the plot. 

(2) 
These two nouns continue to set the scene. 

(3) 
These two nouns identify the conflict: the protagonist by well-known name and the antagonist by function. This short annotation uses seven nouns; most of the remaining words provide connections. What more is needed for a Perry Mason mystery? 

Names. Using proper nouns, names of people and places, requires careful consideration. The foremost concern is accuracy; places and characters should be identified correctly and spellings checked. Obviously, people featured in nonfiction works need to be identified by name and often also by title or function, place, and date. Places are usually essential. 
Run, River, Run: A Naturalists Journey
down One of the Great Rivers of the West

by Ann Zwinger Annotation: Detailed descriptions of the (4) sights, 
(4)
 smells, and (4) sensations of the magnificent 

(1) 
Green River from its (2) source in Wyoming to its (2) confluence with the Colorado in Utah. 

(3) 
Zwinger covered all (2) 730 miles of the river on (5) foot and by (5) canoe, (5) raft, and (5) plane. 

Comment: (1) With that title and subtitle, the river has to be named. (2) Further definition is needed where and how long? (3) The author must be identified as the naturalist of the title; she could have been 
writing about someone else. (4) Alliterative summa
tion of sensory phenomena and immediate mood of 
the book. Note that the descriptive words on content 
come before the identification of the placedespite 
the questions raised in the title: What river? Where? 
(5) Supportive detail completes the picture. Good use of simple nouns throughout. 
Character names should not be used if they are common; readers dont gain much information from John and Mary. A descriptive phrase would have the advantage of telling something about the person that relates to development of the plot (New York detective, gun-shy cowboy, heiress to coal-barons fortune). On the other hand, familiar characters should always be identified if their names arent included in the title information; readers may need to see that this book features Sherlock Holmes or a member of Louis LAmours Sackett family. 
The Secret Box 
by Gayle Pearson 
Annotation: Five interconnected stories about Taylor Finch and her sixteen-year-old brother, Toby, and Lindsay, thirteen, and her brother, Eric, who is also sixteen. In the title story, Taylor receives a secret box for her twelfth birthday, but thinks the thirty-four steps to open it are too much troubleuntil she realizes she has some secrets she wants to hide. For grades 4-7. 
Comment: There is no reason to identify these characters by name. Only one is referred to later in the annotation, and sorting them all out, including ages, produces an awkward sentence without much interest. 
Rewritten: Five interconnected stories about two girls and their sixteen-year-old brothers. 
69 
Remember sound

Sleeping Murder 
by Agatha Christie Annotation: In this, her last case, Miss Marple warns a charming young couple 
Comment: The name is important; mystery fans will want to know which of Agatha Christies famous sleuths is featured. 
Sometimes place or character names add interest: if they suggest a nationality or an ethnic group that is being portrayed, if they are somehow related to the title, or if they simply sound as if they belong to this character or this book. 
The Lions Paw 
by D.R. Sherman 
Annotation: A young bushman in the Kalahari Desert befriends a trapped lion and is caught in a deadly conflict with nature and an obsessed white safari hunter. 
Comment: The exact place is not absolutely necessary; Africa is clearly suggested by the rest of the content. But the unusual nature of the setting and the sound of the word Kalahari add mystery and interest. Dont forget sound. Note that neither the bushman nor the hunter is named; the description is enough. 
Chancy 
by Louis LAmour Annotation: Young (3) drifter (1) Otis Chancy takes his (2) chances against (3) crooked sheriffs, 
(3) deadly gunmen, and (3) renegade Indians. 
Comment: (1) Shows that the title is the name of the hero. (2) A small play on words that should not be overdone. (3) Note the fine parallel use of descriptive adjectives. Names are unnecessary except for the title character. 
Watch antecedents

Exile of the Stars 
by Andre Norton 
Annotation: (1) Krip Vorland and (1) Maelen of the free trader ship (1) Lydis are forced to land with a priceless treasure on the (2) supposedly uninhabited planet of (1) Sekhmet. 
Comment: (1) The unusual names enhance the exotic nature of the subject. (2) Note the hint of things to come in supposedly uninhabited. 
Sometimes character names are a necessity. If the annotation would otherwise dissolve into mysterious pronouns and obscure references, use namesinteresting or not for comprehension. 
Leave a Message for Willie: 
A Sharon McCone Mystery 
By Marcia Muller 
Annotation: Willie Whelan is a vendor at the Saltflats Flea Market near Brisbane. He also works as a fenceand someone thinks he knows something about some missing Torahs. A man wearing a yarmulke has been hanging around his stall for about three weeks, and he has asked Sharon McCone to investigate. But Sharon has hardly gotten her investigation under way when the man, Jerry Levin, is murdered. 
Comment: Willies name is necessary, both to identify the title character and because at least one other man appears in the annotation. All the masculine pronouns are meant to refer to Willie, but grammatically some of them dont; the antecedent is in one case someone and in another the man wearing the yarmulke, who may or may not be the someone. Willies name will have to be used in place of the pronouns or the sentences rewritten. The mans identity wasnt known earlier and could be omitted. However, the ethnic name ties him in with the yarmulke and the missing Torahs, and so adds interest. 
 Adjectives for dimension 
To set the tone 
Be careful to use names consistently within an annotation. Assuming the full name has been given at first reference, generally last names are preferable for the next mention. This practice will not work, however, when the characters are related and two or more have the same last name. And sometimes the first names are the ones that set the tone or provide interest. In any case, dont use first names for some characters and last names for others. In particular, dont use strong-sounding surnames for men and frivolous or uninteresting ones for women, even if the book does. (See Sensitivities, p. 34). 
Adjectives 
Adjectives describe nouns and are next in importance to nouns and verbs. Their purpose is to refine definition, infuse color, and add dimension to a noun. Some nouns with carefully selected adjectives can almost tell the story: 
 
lonely, mute boy + homeless, intelligent mongrel 

 
seasoned detective + strange rituals + sinister cult 

Adjectives set or sum up the tone: 
	
Annotation: Begins with an aged and weary King Arthur (Opening phrase about The Book of Merlyn, by T.H. White, a sequel to The Once and Future King) 

	
Comment: Aged and weary presents a vivid picture; for those familiar with the youthful apprehensions that opened the earlier book, they provide a striking comparison. 

	
Annotation: flamboyant Richard Coeur de Lion and his exquisite queen (Summing up The Passionate Brood, by Margaret Campbell, a historical novel about the Crusades and the early Plantagenet kings of England.) 

To add color 
To judge (no!) 
	Comment: Flamboyant is appropriate to Richards activities and style; exquisite denotes someone dainty and provides contrast. Note how flat the sentence would be without the adjectives. 
Adjectives add color. 
April Lady 
by Georgette Heyer 
Annotation: Light novel set in Regency England. To help such (1) deserving people as (3) her (2) dashing, debt-ridden brother and (3) her husbands 
(2) lovesick young sister, Lady Helen continually
tells little white lies. One fib too many puts her
marriage in jeopardy.

Comment: (1) Deserving people sets up an image
that is 

(2) Immediately counteracted by dashing, debt-ridden brother and lovesick young sister, presenting quite a different picture and underscoring the irony of the first adjective. (3) Simple words give definition and hint at something about the plot; one of these relatives is hers and one is his. 
Adjectives that judge. Adjectives should not be used to make explicit judgments about books. What reviewers or annotation writers find lively may be deadly to readers. Reaction to a book depends on interest in the subject, background brought to it, and often mood of the moment. These factors cannot be assessed for readers. (See Judgments, 
p. 36.) 
Avoid phrases like these: 
	
pleasant introduction to 

	
sensitive novel about 

	
colorful account 

	
powerful collection 

	
enthusiastic, lively, reverent account 

	
unique, interesting commentary 

	
a touching, funny novel 

	
perceptive insights into (redundant as well as judgmental) 

	
warm, sympathetic story 

	
engaging account 

	
charming portrait 

	
fascinating stories of 

	
moving and lucid biography 

	
engrossing tale of 

	
poignant story of 

	
riveting novel about 

 gripping account and all similar adjectives that prejudge. 
Adjectives that describe. On the other hand, descriptive adjectives can and often should be used to identify an 
To describe (yes!) 
authors approach or attitude. The key word is descriptive; the writer does not judge the success of the effort. 
	
sympathetic treatment (The author is for whatever is being discussed) 

	
revisionary history (Content runs counter to what has been the prevailing thought) 

 Small words 
Articles a, an, the 
	
controversial approach (Other books may say just the opposite) 

	
light approach (Dont expect profundities) 

	
in-depth study (Theres more meat here) 

	
critical portrait (The author is not for whoever is being discussed) 

Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer 
by Edward J. Epstein 
Annotation: An unflattering portrait of the noted American industrialist, philanthropist, and alleged agent for the Soviet Union. Drawing on official American and Soviet records, extensive interviews, and secretly taped conversations, the author describes a man given to duplicity and ambition. 
Comment: A well-rounded annotation presenting immediately the authors approach to his subject and ending with specifics that expand on his negative attitude. In between, the subject is identified succinctly, as are the sources of information. 
Small words 
Little words mean a lot! But in the struggle to get words rightinteresting nouns, active verbs, precise and colorful adjectivesarticles and words that connect or introduce phrases can get insufficient attention. 
Articles. English utilizes three articles. A and an are indefinite; the is definite. Indefinite and definite are not just grammar-book names; they point out a function. Articles are not interchangeable, and they are overused. 
A and an indicate that the subject is one of a groupany one. Often such a relationship is understood, and the article is unnecessary. 
Conjunctions and, or, but 
The presents more problems. It shows uniquenessthat particular one. It also indicates a totalityall of them. Be careful when using this simple word that you dont imply that the book covers every aspect of this situation, every historical event in the time frame, or every possibility for discussion. 
Example: describes the adjustments made by plant and animal species to perpetuate themselves in their inhospitable environment (from a nonfiction work about deserts, but it could apply to any place where plants or animals are in trouble). 
Comment: The adjustments implies that every possibility is covered, an unlikely circumstance in any scientific field. The force of the annotation is not diminished if the article is omitted; the content is suspect if it is included. 
Conjunctions. These connecting words make a relationship clear. And indicates that elements go together, or shows choice or disparity, but introduces an exception or condition. And/or has crept into use but not into the dictionary; options that are compatible at some point and divergent at others can usually be expressed differently and better. 
Or is straightforward and rarely misused; it indicates that one of two or more things happen or are involved, but not all of them. 
Sentence: By following their suggestions, a person can avoid investing in companies that manufacture weapons, test products on animals, use environmentally unsound packaging, or exploit minorities. 
Comment: The reader can identify companies
involved in any one of these four practices.

Sentence: and joining, staying in, or leaving the work force. 
Comment: Lists three options that are mutually
exclusive. 

Sentence: Was it fate or was it an act of God? 
Comment: The characters have to ponder about
this.

Sentence: Xar, lord of the Nexus and now lord of Abarrach, wants to control the Seventh Gate, which will give him the power to unite or destroy the worlds of air, fire, stone, and water. 
Comment: Theres a big difference between uniting and destroying. 
And is concerned with similarities rather than differences. Writers have to be careful about uniting two clauses with and unless they are really connected and relatively equal in importance. One event that follows, or is dependent on, another is better introduced by a phrase or clause that indicates the relationship: 
	
After the war, they (not The war ends and they) 

	
Because their sun is dying, the Klingons
(not Their sun is dying and)

	
When he learns the truth, the master spy
(not The master spy learns the truth and)

	
In spite of her terror, Monica (not Monica is terrified and) 

	
Desperate for love, the young queen (not
The young queen is desperate for love and)

	
Abandoning hope of rescue, the castaways (not The castaways abandon hope of rescue and) 

Similarly, but should be used primarily for two things that are equal. But could be substituted for and in any of the examples above, depending on the information that follows. 
77 
Prepositions
not always short

Within an annotation, sentence structure needs to vary for interest, so not all information can or should be conveyed through dependent clauses. The equality of the information is largely the determining factor for using conjunctions. 
Prepositions. These words lead to qualifying phrases. Many prepositions are visually short, only two letters (to, by), and simple in sound, having only one or two syllables (through, below). Although these small and familiar words are not interchangeable, several of them can be used in somewhat the same sense. Of, the most common preposition, has twelve major definitionswith up to four sub-meanings under these headingsin Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition (Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 1993). An annotation that used of for all, or even a large fraction, of its possible meanings would be infinitely monotonous. Strive for variety and the most precise meaning. Avoid overuse, which leads to long, rambling sentences. 
Because of the tendency to equate prepositions with short, writers tend to get edgy and wonder if theyre being pedantic when considering prepositions longer than five letters. Actually, English utilizes many prepositions, not all of them short; many longer ones are in common usage and not at all obscure in meaning. Several, called phrasal prepositions, consist of more than one word. 
A list of prepositions for selection: 
about  apart from  at  
above  apropos of  barring  
according to  around  because of  
across  as against  before  
after  as between  behind  
along  as compared with  below  
along with  as for  beneath  
alongside of  aside from  beside  
amid  as regards  besides  
among  as to  between  

beyond  in addition to  past  
by  in back of  pending  
by dint of  in behalf of  regarding  
by means of  in case of  regardless of  
by reason of  in comparison to  round  
by way of  in consideration  round about  
concerning  of  short of  
considering  in default of  since  
contrary to  in front of  through  
despite  in lieu of  throughout  
down  in place of  till  
due to  in preference to  to  
during  in regard to  toward  
ere  in spite of  under  
except  inside  underneath  
except for  instead of  until  
excepting  into  unto  
for  like  up  
from  near  up to  
from above  of  upon  
from among  off  versus  
from around  on  via  
from behind  on account of  with  
from beneath  on behalf of  within  
from between  onto  without  
from over  opposite to  with regard to  
from under  out of  with respect to  
in  outside  with reference to  
in accordance  over  with the  
with  owing to  exception of  

Its Disgustingand We Ate It! True Food Facts 
from around the Worldand throughout History 
(Note the double preposition, from around, and the 
long one, throughout.) 
Some constructions almost always use a particular preposition. Grammatically, things are always different from, not different thana very common error that uses the wrong part of speech. Words into Type (Third Edition, Completely Revised, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1974, pp. 432-446) lists several hundred words with one or more appropriate prepositions. Where more than one preposition can be used, the meaning usually differs with the one selected; for example, interfere in something, but interfere with someone. 
Note that some of the words listed as prepositions can also be other parts of speech, depending on their function in the sentence. 
Language traps 
 Language traps 
Be careful about 
	
any word that has more than one meaning. Since means both because of and from the time of; examples of its misuse are legion. Substitute another word or construction unless the meaning is unmistakable. 

	
words that can be used as more than one part of 

Take care 
speech. That description applies to many words that 
writers cannot, and should not, always avoid. 
These words have different pronunciations: 
	
read (present and past tense of the same verb) 

	
project (noun and verb) 

	
separate (adjective and verb) 

 record (noun and verb) These common words have the same pronunciation: 
	
gain (noun and verb) 

	
mandate (noun and verb) 

	
light (noun, adjective, and verb) 

	
like (verb, noun, adjective, preposition, adverb) 

Obviously, such words cannot be prohibited for annotations, but the context must make their meaning clear. 
Can You Trust Your Bank? 
by Robert Heller and Morris Willatt Annotation: A study of the worlds banks documents what went wrong 
Problem: Documents is intended as a verb (a study  documents), but the statement has to be read several times and the punctuation examined carefully before that is clear. The readers tendency is to consider documents as a collection of official-looking papers. Reading that phrase would try the most professional and dedicated narrator. 
Avoid: 
	
redundancies. Dead corpse is overdoing it. A corpse or a body found someplace is assumed to be dead; its inherent in the noun. Case histories are assumed to be actual; if they are fictionalized, that needs to be stated. 

	
clichs. Some words have been used together so often that they no longer have any meaning. All ends are not bitter, apologies can be something other than abject, and not all horses have to be dark. Such

Watch out for: 
phrases are sometimes appropriate for a formula-written book that is in itself a clich; they have no place in the description of a classic, either established or potential. 
	obscure words. The purpose is communication. Scouring the dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and other references is good practice for writers; these sources may lead to the exact word for the concept to be expressed. Using unfamiliar words in the annotation, however, is bad practice. Readers need to understand what is being communicated. 
Variety adds interest 
 Parallel 
construction keep like things like 
	literary allusions. Annotation writers cant assume that readers know other books or references; there should be some explanatory phrase. 
Vary sentence structure 
Variety makes reading and listening interesting. Short sentences should be mingled with longer ones. Sentence fragments are acceptable if the meaning is clear. Questions, exclamations, and quotations can occasionally add interest. 
Annotation: A cat is kidnapped because he is the cherished stablemate of a thoroughbred racehorse who performs well only when the cat is around. The catnap job is assigned to Bertie! 
Annotation: Will easy-riding cowboy Hewey Calloway finally settle down? He realizes that a new era is coming to Texas in the early years of the century, but he doesnt want to change with it. 
Annotation: Shakespeares best-known plays are presented in a new, humorous light, the old light having blown a fuse. 
Comment: All of these annotations present the tone and the thrust of the book in a few carefully selected words. There is no need to summarize plots, although another sentence with supportive details could be added to each one as long as the tone is maintained. Note that the first two alternate a long sentence with a short, simple one. The third example uses a short quote in the last clause for an abrupt change in direction. 
Parallel construction 
Keep parallel thoughts parallel in construction. Use a verb throughout or omit throughout. Use the same tense and approximately the same length for each thought. 
Annotation: The junior senator from New York, elected on the Conservative Party ticket, presents his political views. He analyzes the Constitution, advo
 Complex sentencescan obscure meaning

cates less centralized government, observes the loss 
of American productivity, and comments on the dan
gers of isolation. 
Comment: The second sentence, with supportive details, lists four major tenets presented, each about the same length and each introduced by an active verb that delineates the difference in approach. 
The Bronts 
by Juliet Barker 
Annotation: Barker draws on eleven years research to compile this detailed, documented reinterpretation of the nineteenth-century family of writers. Contrasting her findings with conclusions of previous biographers, Barker presents the father, Patrick, as a sympathetic patriarch; brother Branwell as a talented, though tortured, poet; and authors Charlotte, Emily, and Anne as strong, not oppressed, women. 
Comment: A fine annotation introducing both the subject and the unusual approach in the first sentence, along with the authors credentials. The second sentence spells out how the subjects are treated. Note the parallel structure of elements in the second sentence, where three individuals or groups are identified, named, and characterized. Also note that semicolons are properly used to separate the sections with interior commas. 
Complex sentences 
Avoid overlong and overcomplex sentences. They make the reader search for the meaning and can pave the way for grammatical errors. 
Unacceptable: Former Scotland Yard detective John Raven becomes involved with a Polish con man whom he knew years before to help denounce a fellow Pole whom he suspects of spying for the KGB. 
Questions can enhance meaning 
Comment: Its hard to tell how many people are
involved here, much less who did what to whom.

Questions 
Questions can effectively introduce the situation or summarize the problems. As discussed earlier (see Get to the Point, 
p. 66), they should not be used to state what is already obvious or as a way to get out. 
The Neandertal Enigma: 
Solving the Mystery of Modern Human Origins 
by James Shreeve 
Annotation: Science writer Shreeve surveys evidence and theories on the origins of modern humankind. Drawing on his travels to sites where the oldest human remains have been found, his interviews with foremost anthropologists, and a weighing of discoveries, Shreeve points to Neandertals as the central mystery of human evolution. Did our species evolve from, interbreed with, or replace Neandertals? 
Comment: The words enigma and mystery in the title make it clear that this book is dealing with a question. Most of the annotation deals with credentials and methodology, which are valuable for giving credence to evidence presented on such a large and controversial subject. The points raised are still in question, and it is appropriate for the final sentence to express them in that form. 
Mischief: A Novel of the 87th Precinct 
by Ed McBain 
Annotation: Could the man who is blowing away graffiti artists as they perform their peculiar brand of mischief be the same person who is gunning down annoying kids and inept counter help? The men in blue must also deal with their own mischief makerthe Deaf Man, last heard from in Eight Black Horses (RC 23671)who keeps calling with 

 Exclamations are meant to startle 

 Quotes offer flavor and precision 

clues to his latest scheme. Strong language, vio
lence, and explicit descriptions of sex. 
Comment: The introductory question sums up one of the problems being tackled, and with a good series of nouns and modifiers. The mischief of the title, incorporated into both sentences, seems to be considerably more than that. The final descriptive tagline reinforces that concept. 
Exclamations 
Exclamations pull the attention up abruptly and say to the reader How about that! They are a useful device, which, like all devices, should not be overused. But for fiction with sharp contrasts or unexpected twists, an exclamation can often be more effective than a description or an explanation. 
The Forty Fathom Bank: Novella 
by Les Galloway 
Annotation: The author recalls the year 1940 in San Francisco when, worried about how he would support his family, he settled on a get-rich-quick scheme involving shark fishing. But life at sea proved difficult, especially when he was called on to cope with rough waters, a silent partner, a dead engine, andmost dangerous of allan overactive imagination! 
Comment: Things were bad enough already, and oh, what imagination can do to you! The exclamation point emphasizes the possibilities. 
Quotes Sometimes a few words from the text can convey a books approach or flavor much more directly than words about the text. Selected phrases or a line or two of poetry can illustrate method and feeling. Quotes are often necessary for nonfiction works where the author identifies his approach or thesis with a particular repeated phrase. 
Note that in using quotes an ellipsis is not needed at the beginning or at the end; the reader knows that only part of the material in the book is being quoted. An ellipsis is used only when words are omitted from within the phrase being quoted. 
Example: And in the title poem, an autobiographical narrative, he speaks of learning the need in all thingsto balance out. 
Using a few words, phrases, or lines of poetry does not infringe on copyright, a problem that always lurks in the minds of librarians and conscientious writers. Quotes used for reviews or commentary are allowable under copyright law. And it would usually be difficult in a fifty-word annotation to lift enough material to usurp the writers theme, much less gain any advantage from it, especially when quotes indicate the author as source. An exception occurs in very short material, such as a poem for children, where the annotator must be careful not to use the entire piece. 
Sentence: Many are known by familiar first lines, including Will the day be bright and cloudy? (The Complete Poems by Emily Bront) 
Sentence: She explores the progression [of her fathers final illness], beginning with a visit and observing how her father sat as if waiting for his daughter. (The Father by Sharon Olds) 
Sentence: He divides his extended meditation into eighteen sections, each division a catch-your-breath moment before his argument continues. (Garbage by A.R. Ammons) 
Comment: All three of these quotes are used in annotations for poetry, which often seems to cry out for some small sound of the authors own voice. 
Quote from the book, not about it 
Be specific and concise 
Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of 
Color 
by Iyanla Vanzant 
Sentence: Daily meditative statements that Vanzant hopes will assist the children of the earth in the redevelopment of their minds, bodies, and spirits. 
Comment: The statement of such an extensive purpose is more effective in the authors words than in a writers summation. 
Quotes from introductions, book reviews, and other source materials are a different matter entirely. Without other information, the reader will assume that the words quoted are the authors. It is unnecessary to use quotes if a phrase describing the book comes naturally to the subject matter; one persons historical fiction is likely to be everyones historical fiction, and using such general descriptive phrases does not constitute appropriating someone elses work. 
Quotes from introductions by well-known people should be attributed, which has the additional benefit of indicating that the introduction exists as part of the book. Rarely, an authority in the field may be quoted; the quote should be attributed and the credentials noted briefly. Generally, however, it is better to describe the book than to tell what someone else, however prominent, thinks about it. 
Be specific and concise 
Language should create a precise image. Sentences should flow smoothly from one thought to another and should not encompass too many separate thoughts. Avoid overusing prepositional phrases, choppy sentences with too many discrete parts, and wordiness. 
Avoid imprecise language 
Annotation: Excerpts from various sources that present the authors provocative opinions and 
 Avoid fuzzy words

 Limit prepositional phrases 
insights on literature, feminism, her family, and var
ious contemporary figures. 
Comment: Two vague, various things are too many. If it is important to mention sources at all, they need more definition. The second various is unnecessary and weakens an otherwise good listing of content; readers would no more expect opinions on all contemporary figures than they would on all literature. Much of the time various can be left out with no meaning lost. 
Dont use too many prepositional phrases 
At one time, NLS stressed starting annotations with the traditional five ws (who, what, when, where, and why) and an h (how) of newspaper reporters. The result was frequently a conglomerate that bumped along in a sing-song manner from one prepositional phrase to another. These are important considerations for notes and for inclusion somewhere in the annotation (see Jot down notes, p. 44). But not all in the first sentence. 
First sentence: Novel about one year in the lives of four women in their late thirties in the glamorous city of New York 
Comment: Three ins and two ofs, one after the other. And the sentence goes on from there. In annotations, novel about is a weak opening. 
First sentence: Former Washington Post White House correspondent chronicles the papers centennial (1) from its founding (2) by Democrat Stilson Hutchins (3) from New Hampshire (4) in 1877 (5) to the exciting days (6) of the Watergate expose. 
First sentence: Novel examines the lives (1) of Beverly and her friends, two wealthy sisters (2) from a prominent family, (3) from young womanhood 
(4) in the mid-1940s (5) in California (6) through
the turbulent present.

Comment: There are six prepositional phrases in each sentence. Consider whether all this information 
 Language should flow, not bump along 
needs to be included. See if another construction can 
be used. 
Some wordiness can be avoided by substituting adjectives for prepositional phrases: 
	
Australian kangaroo species, not species of kangaroo in Australia 

	
New Orleans street, not street in New Orleans 

	
social evils, not evils of society. 

This technique can become as monotonous as the prepositional phrases and should not be used all the time, but it does make writing more concise. A judicious mixture of prepositions and adjectives is the best solution. 
Smooth out choppy sentences 

A sentence needs to flow easily from one thought to the next with a construction that is easy to follow. If a sentence breaks too frequently, it loses focus and may become devoid of meaning. 
First sentence: In Florida, in 1941, irrepressible, red-haired, six-year-old Terrell, son of Gerald, the harried manager of a farmworkers camp, and his expectant wife, Mickey, continually plays hooky from school. 
Comment: Too many thought units broken up by too many commas. Some of the information may be unnecessary; some could be combined (Florida farmworkers camp). The subject of the sentence (Terrell) takes a while to appear and is a long way from the verb (plays hooky). Readers should not have to work to determine who and what the book is about. 
 Words should convey meaningsuccinctly 
Eliminate wordiness 
Wordiness takes many forms. The examples given for overuse of prepositional phrases and choppy sentences show types of wordiness that results from sentences with too much detail. An opposite phenomenon can also occur. 
Annotation: The authors trace one hundred years of American technology from the innovative plumbers of the 1770s to the inventions of Bell and Edison. Through the use of minibiographies, they produce a highly readable study of the early years of American technology. 
Comment: Too many words for the amount of
information they provide. The facts presented are

(1) 100 years of technology, (2) from the 1770s to Bell and Edison, (3) through the use of minibiographies. A highly readable study is opinion. The annotation is circular; it starts with American technology and ends with American technology. Space and words could be used to better advantage. Do the authors have a point to make? And who are Bell and Edison? 
The simplest and most obvious form of wordiness consists of using words and phrases that could be eliminated or made more specific without changing the meaning or the impact. 
Wordy: one of the most distinguished of the Latin fathers 
Concise: a distinguished churchman 
Wordy: shortcuts and guidelines, including specific details 
Concise: tips 
Wordy: Considered to be the most famous biography in the English language, this is an intimate  
Concise: Famous biography gives an intimate  
 Synonyms help

Be specific and concise 
Wordy: information in the area of  
Concise: information about/on 
Avoid repetition 
One of the most common problems in annotation writing is repeating the same word several times, when a different word would surely add more interest and provide more information. Sometimes a different construction is needed. 
Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor 
by Susan Haskins 
Annotation: Scriptural exegesis, history, and art serve as sources for this portrait of the renowned female saint and intimate of Jesus. Haskins demonstrates how through the ages the image (1) of Mary Magdalen has merged with other biblical figures to become that of the penitent prostitute, a portrayal 
(2) that epitomizes the subordinate role of women in the church and in society. Haskins reevaluates that concept (3). 
Comment: Good annotation on a complex subject, improved by finding two new and more explicit words. Image, (1) indicating something that exists in the mind, was originally used in all three places marked. Substituting other nouns not only avoids the monotony of repetition but enlarges on the thrust of the book. Portrayal (2) in the next clause adds the element of creation; someone or something made the image what it has become. Concept (3) refers back to the role of women and, as a last word, gives emphasis to the authors thesis. 
Dreams of Dead Womens Handbags: 
Collected Stories 
by Shena Mackay Sentence: Thirty-one short stories written since 1974 by this British fiction writer who often writes 
 Simple rules aidcomprehension 
Subjects and verbs should agree 
of bizarre circumstances in the seemingly normal 
lives of her characters. 
Comment: Written, writer, writesall forms of the same word. Obviously what a writer does is write. This kind of repetition is easily corrected by making the fiction writer an author and replacing writes with tells. With these simple changes, this fine introductory sentence refers back to the rather cryptic title with bizarre circumstances juxtaposed to seemingly normal. 
There is no need to study all the parts of speech and become conversant with such esoterica as gerundives and cognate objects. Following a few basic tenets will make the annotation easy to follow, which is what annotation writing is all about. There are many good books on grammar for further reference. Just remember that if the construction misleads, gramatically correct or not, do something else. 
Subjects and verbs. Subjects and verbs should agree: they are either singular or plural but not one of each. Lack of agreement most often occurs with collective nouns (a family does something, but its members do something) or with compound subjects separated by descriptive clauses or phrases. Lack of agreement often creeps in when the subject and verb are separated by long, parenthetical information. Keep the construction simple and the verb reasonably close to the subject. 
Sentence: Recollections of the four Carter children growing up, and their relationship with each other, provides insight into the mercurial personality of Billy. 
Problem: Recollections is plural; provides is singular. Thirteen words come between the subject and the verb and contribute to the creation of an error. 
Pronouns should have clear antecedents 
Phrases should be
properly attached

Referents should be clear. Watch those pronouns and modifiers. 
Annotation: When a stranger offers young Willie Banks a ride and asks him to deliver a package, he is unaware that he is about to become  
Problem: Which he? Willie or the stranger? Both? Separately? There are four possible readings. 
Annotation: Joining two friends for a flight from San Francisco to Death Valley, the pilot chooses the wrong pass, forcing the plane into the mountainside and killing the authors two friends. 
Problem: If all three people are friends, the sentence is correct technically; the pilot joined two friends and the authors two friends were killed. But the pilot and the author are two different people; the pilot did not survive. Thats almost impossible to determine from the information in the sentence. 
Watch out for danglers. Participles and phrases should not be grammatically on their own; they should have something to modifythe noun or pronoun that comes next. 
Annotation: Written in 1962, the former president Problem: The former president wasnt written in 1962, the book was. 
Annotation: The recipient of many awards
including the Pulitzer Prize, her poems 

Problem: The dangling modifier fails to make a subtle distinction; the poem doesnt receive the prize, the poet does. 
Annotation: As soon as Jessica arrives, someone tries to steal her suitcase, and while visiting Salisbury Cathedral, the same person attacks her 
Problem: Grammatically the reference is to the same person, who is also the someone in the previ
 Small marks group thoughts 
,,,,,

ous clause. The person meant is Jessica, and the sen
tence is easily fixed by inserting she is before visit
ing. Dangling modifiers generally appear at the 
beginning of a sentence, but obviously they can also 
be hidden within one. 
Be careful with punctuation 
Use proper and adequate punctuation. These small marks help to group thoughts that belong together and separate those that need to be isolated. Collecting and separating thought units help the person who reads the written annotation and the narrator who presents the oral one. 
Dont let words and thoughts run together; use more punctuation rather than less when there is a chance of misreading. Divide long sentences into separate thought segments with commas, semicolons, dashes, and colons and even into discrete sentences with periods. Use dashes or parentheses to isolate elements when too many commas become confusing. Ease of reading is the criterion. 
The following comments on punctuation marks cover the most common usages. The discussion is in no way complete; possibilities are seemingly endless. As with grammar, many good reference books are available for difficult punctuation situations. 
Some punctuation marks are generally understood and need little comment. The smallest of all, the period, is used to indicate a full stop. The uses of question and exclamation marks are defined by their names, and apostrophes are used to indicate possession or letters omitted in contractions. 
Some punctuation marks that have several uses or can be easily misused need clarification. 
Commas. Some punctuation is optional. The Chicago Manual of Style manual says that, aside from the few obligatory situations, use of the comma is mainly a matter of good judgment, with ease of reading as the end in view (section 5.29). That statement doesnt mean commas can be used at random; it recommends judgment. 
One of the obligatory uses is between two or more parts of a compound sentence. The discrete sections should be set apart for ease of reading, except when each part is very short. 
Another required use is for nonrestrictive clauses, which add information; unlike restrictive clauses that are needed to define. Information that is merely added is set apart; information that is needed is not set off by a comma. 
Restrictive: He is the one person who can help
you.

Comment: Information needed; no comma. This person is the only one. 
Nonrestrictive: All of these people, who come from different parts of the country, are going on the cruise together. 
Comment: Merely adds information, set off by
commas. The main idea of the sentence would be
complete without the clause.

Chicago style also uses the serial comma: all items in a series of three or more are separated by commas, including a comma before and or or preceding the last item in the series. 
Note that a comma should never separate the subject of a sentence from its verb(s). There can be commas before the verb, as in sentences with descriptive information in apposition to the subject, but the commas must not simply separate. This situation generally occurs when too much information comes between the subject and the verb, or sometimes when there are two verbs, and the construction becomes elusive. 
95 
; ; ; ; ;

The Cat Who Tailed a Thief 
by Lilian Jackson Braun 
Annotation: A rash of petty thievery, newcomers in Pickax, a wedding, and a couple of murders Down Below, keep Qwilleran, who has bought a condo for the winter, and his cats, Koko and Yum Yum, busy during the holiday season. Bestseller. 
Problem: Its that hard-to-spot comma after Below. The sentence has a compound subject in four parts, and the serial commas are used correctly between the parts, but the comma after the last one disconnects all four from their verb. 
Semicolons. One common use of the semicolon is to separate elements in a series (including a series of coordinate clauses) where some items have interior commas. Another major purpose is to separate parts of a compound sentence where the connective conjunction is not used; this usage can also be considered a joining of two related sentences whose connection would be less clear if each came to a full stop. It can also be used before connective words that emphasize a transition and a relationship such as therefore, however, moreover, also, and consequently. These words are usually followed by a comma for more emphasis. 
100 Years, 100 Stories 
by George Burns Sentence: Burns states that he cant put each of his fans in his will; he cant even thank them enough. 
Comment: The second part of the sentence completes the first, with the semicolon creating a pause but not a full stop. 
Le Cordon Bleu Classic French Cookbook 
edited by Julia Alcock 
Annotation: One hundred classic recipes to celebrate the cooking schools centenary. Includes first courses, such as vichyssoise; main courses, such as 
:::::

  

duck breasts with pistachios; and desserts, such 
as chocolate and Cointreau gateau. A section on 
techniques provides the beginner with the basics for 
becoming a successful cook. 1994. 
Comment: Semicolons separate sections of the sentence with interior commas. The sentence is also a fine example of parallel structure. 
Colons. The colon is generally used to indicate that what follows will explain or complete the preceding thought. 
Uncommon Knowledge 
by Judy Lewis 
Sentence: Growing up as Loretta Youngs adopted daughter, Judy finally learns her true identity when her fianc tells her what the rest of her world has known: she is Youngs illegitimate daughter by Clark Gable. 
Comment: Note the colon after known. This mark indicates that the rest of the sentence will tell what the generally known thing is, and so it does. 
Dashes. Be careful about dashes. Even though they are large and visible, they function as a kind of subsidiary comma, setting aside things where commas are already in use. They can also be used to indicate a longer pause than that created by a comma, for situations where the information that follows comes as somewhat of a change or surprise. A dash should not be a substitute for a colon when the information that follows explains or completes the preceding thought. 
Sentence: Meanwhile, when John Porteousa guard condemned for murderis reprieved by the queen, a mob takes justice into its own hands. 
Comment: The parenthetical description would normally be set off by commas. However, the sentence has two commas needed for other purposes, so the dashes are used to isolate the information. 
( ) ( ) ( )

Sentence: She travels to Harpers Ferry where her arrival, along with that of her grandfather, Daniel Griffin, stirs up long-suppressed memories involving murderand another murder ensues. 
Comment: After the rather involved part of the sentence that evokes the past, a pause is needed to introduce the brisk announcement of current mayhem. 
Parentheses. These paired markings are perfectly acceptable punctuation for setting aside some types of information, and there is no reason to eliminate them from your repertoire. Their purpose is to set off information not necessary to the grammatical construction of the sentence but too important to omit. 
Like dashes, which can often be used in similar constructions, parentheses should be used with care and should not appear to enclose an afterthought that should have been incorporated earlier. 
That Kind of Danger RC 39979 
by Donna Masini 
Annotation: Unlikely urban places, including construction sites and a dark basement, form the settings of these poems. But the noise (sandblast, jackhammer, the city making itself over) and violence (a leather jacket, handgun followed me up the stairs) that permeate life in the city are relieved by sweetness (I laughat nothingthe way a baby laughs at wallpaper). Some strong language. 
Comment: Parentheses bring examples of the poets words close to the nouns describing them as instant illustrations of the concept. It is seldom necessary to use parentheses in this kind of situation, but they provide one possible alternative for conveying the information. 
Style is for consistency

Parentheses are particularly useful for dates and references to other material that would take several more words to insert in the sentence as a phrase or part of a clause. NLS also uses them as its style for book numbers in referring to other works by the same author or in a series. (Note that we never give a reference without a book number; the cross reference is useless to the patron unless it provides a means of ordering the book.) 
Sentence: The complete texts of The Hard Hours (1967), which won the Pulitzer Prize; Millions of Strange Shadows (1977); and The Venetian Vespers (1979); along with selections from A Summoning of Stones (1954), Hechts first poetry collection. 
Sentence: The author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (RC 24959) and the poem read at President Clintons inauguration, On the Pulse of the Morning (RC 36169), presents four poems that celebrate women: Phenomenal Woman, Still I Rise, Weekend Glory, and Our Grandmothers. 
Adhere to style 
Style in this context means the treatment of punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and numbers that have various acceptable forms. For consistency, one form is selected and used throughout. As noted in earlier sections NLS uses The Chicago Manual of Style as the basic reference. It has also adopted some style practices of its own that have been found to be more workable for annotations. (See Style and Presentation, p. 131.) 
Other annotation writers do not, of course, have to follow these forms. But every individual or group should use some formal style reference or develop practices that are adhered to consistently. Otherwise, there is chaos. 
The style chosen will often differ from the style used in the book being annotated; publishers have, or should have, their own style practices. This problem occurs most often with capitalization: But its capitalized in the book! It doesnt matter what the book does; if you have a style, you should adhere to it. Otherwise, you are at the mercy of a different style for every publisher, or possibly for every book. 
Editing an annotation 

Editors stand in for the reader 
Think first 
Why edit? 
Editing reverses the writing process: the writer goes from the book to the annotation; the editor goes from the annotation to the book. The editor can look at the announcement as the reader wouldwithout necessarily any prior knowledge of the bookand consider what it tells. Editors are looking for exactly the same things writers should have been concerned with; they simply start in a different place. 
Editing does not automatically mean making changes; the review may show that the copy can stand as written. Or it may show quite the opposite: that a complete rewrite is needed. Most annotations will fall somewhere in between, with some changes needed. From an editing point of view, annotations come in four categories: 
	
no editing or minimal changes needed 

	
some editing needed to correct grammar or construction 

	
multiple errors that require revision 

	
serious content problems that may require rethinking and rewriting. 

Editors should have available the source material, and sometimes the book itself, so that content can be verified. 
Put down the pencil! Like writers, editors have to take time to think. All editing begins with questioning: Are these the right words for the purpose? Read the announcement as a whole: bibliographic information, description, and additional information. Then consider the following questions about the annotation: 
Six questions to deal with 
Fix errors in style 
 
Is it stylistically correct? 

 
Is it grammatical? 

 
Is it interesting? 

 
Is it judgmental? 

 
Does it describe the book? 

 
Are the facts accurate? 

These questions are arranged, not in order of importance, but according to usual editorial procedure. Errors in style and grammar hit the eye first; determining accuracy of content requires research. A simple language change can disclose other problems. All questions must be handled, but they cannot always be dealt with in the order given. 
Is the annotation stylistically correct? 
The most common mistakes will be corrected easily and, since they are common, almost automatically by the editor. For less frequent and more complicated situations, the editor should have two references readily available, The Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. If a more complete dictionary is needed to locate a word, that word is probably too obscure to present to readers, who should not have to interrupt their selection process to consult a dictionary. 
Most groups will develop their own style lists and practices. Those for NLS consist largely of frequently used but scattered sections of the basic style manual, plus some deviations from that style, and a few situations not covered. (See Part Two: Style and Presentation, p. 131.) 
Check that subjects and verb go together 
Is the annotation grammatical? 
Subject and verb agreement 
Grammatical mistakes may be simple to correct: locate the subject and the verb and bring them into agreement. Sentences may require some rearranging or rewriting if the subject and verb are too far apart and difficult to locate, even if they do agree. 
Sentence: Auntie Tiger Lil, followed by her niece Lily in a large cylindrical costume, hotly pursue the thief. 
Problem: Although two people are in this chase, the subject of the sentence, Auntie Tiger Lil, is singular; information about the niece is parenthetical. The verb should be pursues. 
Sentence: Lonsdale College of Oxford will soon be seeking a new master, and there appears to be only two main contendersStorrs and Cornford. 
Problem: In this case, the subject is not there but the people listed after the verb, and there are two of them. The verb should be appear. 
Sentence: Lively stories of the names of some of the most familiar stars, planets, and constellations include what ancient people believed about them and what scientists know today. 
Problem: All those words between the subject and the verb (which do agree), including three of phrases. 
Procedure: Divide into two sentences, give the
first its own verb, and delete the wordiness. Also
delete the judgmental adjective lively.

Edited: Stories explain the names of familiar stars, planets, and constellations. Covers 
Watch location of modifiers 
Attach dangling phrases 
Misplaced modifiers 
Misplaced modifiers are so far from the words they describe that readers cannot be sure which words are meant. The meaning must be clarified. These phrases usually have to be moved to their correct location and the sentence repunctuated, rewritten, or divided. 
Sentence: Like the saint, Margarita becomes a familiar figure in the Bay area serving the outcasts. 
Problem: Serving the outcasts should modify figure. Note that it could also modify area, but that would give a different, and unintended, meaning to the sentence. 
Procedure: Move the phrase to follow figure. 
Dangling participles 
Dangling participles are often coupled with other language or content problems. They always require rewriting to clarify. 
Example: Meeting in 1946 (1) when Ivinskaya was a beautiful young editor (2), this is an account of 
(3) 
their love for each other. (The unidentified half of their is Russian author Boris Pasternak.) 

Problems: (1) The phrase is dangling rather than misplaced because it doesnt modify any of the subsequent words. It also doesnt indicate the duration of their relationship, which has a bearing on her credentials for writing this book. (2) This description can cover a twenty-year span. She was in her mid-thirtieshardly elderly, but the meaning of beautiful, young would surely be different for a gothic novel. 

(3) 
Wordy within the annotation as well as at the
beginning.

Procedure: Could be made grammatical by replacing meeting with Ivinskaya and Pasternak met and dividing into two sentences. That correction would not solve the content problems. Needs research and rewriting. 
Pronouns should clearly show whoor what is meant 
Present like thoughts in the same way 
Rewritten: This love story covers the last fourteen years of Pasternaks life, which Ivinskaya shared, and  
Ambiguous pronouns 
Correcting other grammatical mistakes may also take research. Ambiguous pronouns require discovering which person is meant. Reviews or the book jacket may clarify the reference; some reading may be necessary. 
Example: Traces the lives of frontiersman
Matthew Howard, a follower of Jefferson and his
aristocratic wife.

Problem: Grammatically, the wife referred to must be Jeffersons, because his name is the nearest reference to the pronoun. But lives is plural and must refer to Howard and his wife, as there is no other person indicated. 
Procedure: An easy one. Insert a comma after Jefferson to make the phrase parenthetical; Mrs. Howard is the wife being discussed. Or rearrange, if the relationships still seem obscure. 
Parallel structure 
Lack of parallel structure can also obscure meaning, especially if one section contains a vague phrase. Finding more precise language may require more knowledge of the book. 
Example: Relates the story of Sir John
Ollenshaws crippled son, Philip, who grew up in
hatred and neglect, left England for America, and
what he accomplished there.

Problems: The final phrase needs a verb form parallel with grew up and left. What did he accomplish? Also, some wordiness could be eliminated and the tense made more immediate. 
Procedure: Check the sources for a specific
accomplishment.

Rewritten: Sir John Ollenshaws crippled son,
Philip, grows up in hatred and neglect, leaves
England for America, and learns to survive in the
wilderness.

No Time to Say Goodbye: 
Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One 
by Carla Fine 
Annotation: Seven years before writing this book, the author learned that her forty-four-year-old husband had killed himself. She writes of her experiences in dealing with this, and discusses the stories of the people she met in survivor groups and the comments of experts. Included are lists of related organizations, resources, and support groups. Some violence. 1997. 
Problems: The major problem in the middle sentence is lack of parallel structure; there are three elements (experiences, stories, and comments) but only two verbs (writes of and discusses), with the second verb trying to cover two of the three. In addition, there is some weak writing: the repetition of write from the first sentence, a vague this referring back to the entire first sentence, and unnecessary use of the definite article the. Also the next sentence is written in the passive voice. 
Edited: She relates her experiences in dealing with her anguish, discusses stories of people she met in survivor groups, and provides comments of experts. Includes 
Is the annotation interesting? 
A good annotation wont get people to select books on subjects they dont care about, but a dull or vague annotation might cause them to ignore books they would enjoy or find useful. Editors need to consider: 
106 
Four questions to deal with 
Consider the facts 
	
Does the annotation contain information that
achieves the purpose?

	
Does it leave something to the reader by not giving away too much of the plot? 

	
Is it concise and easy to follow? 

	
Does it use clear and descriptive language? 

If the answer to any of these questions is no, the editor will have to study the annotation to isolate its problems. Editors must consider the facts chosen for inclusion, the structure and balance of their presentation, and the language used to express them. Editors may have to separate these interwoven factors. They may have to rearrange language, add or substitute more precise and descriptive words, and eliminate wordiness. They may also have to add some facts for balance and delete some for conciseness. 
Are appropriate facts chosen? 
The annotation should cover the basic content of the book and the direction the author is taking. Focusing too much on how things begin, for either fiction or nonfiction, detracts from what is covered or where the theme is leading. 
Marina and Lee 
by Priscilla Johnson McMillan 
Annotation: (1) A former member of Sen. John F. Kennedys staff, later a Moscow-based reporter who interviewed Lee Harvey Oswald, (2) tells the intimate details of his marriage to a Russian and his personal life. (3) A sympathetic portrait (4) of this unlikely couples life together in Russia and America and (5) a discussion of Oswalds motive for assassinating Kennedy. 1977. 
Problems: (1) The book-jacket information about the author and several reviews of the book confirm 
Watch out for too much information 
her connections to Kennedy and Oswald; they proba
bly explain the authors interest in the subject. The 
reader would probably conclude that the material 
came from these sources. Actually, most of it came 
from research and from Mrs. Oswald, who is not 
mentioned as a source. Also, the background of the 
author has a more prominent position in the annota
tion than the subject of the book. (2) Wrong order; 
his personal life should come first and then his mar
riage, which was eventually a part of it. (3) This 
statement should come first to introduce what the 
book is about. Sympathetic is an acceptable modifier 
in this context; it goes to the attitude of the author. 
(4) Unlikely is a judgmental word without some defining content. (5) This statement could be more precise and intriguing; does the author have an opinion to offer? 
Rewritten: Sympathetic portrait of Lee Harvey Oswalds personal life and intimate details of his marriage. Written with his Russian-born widows cooperation, this study depicts the couples life together in Russia and America and theorizes that Oswalds motives for assassinating Kennedy were both political and personal. 
Does the annotation leave something for the reader? 
Telling too much of the plot can destroy interest. Seeming to give away the whole story is as deadly as actually doing it. 
All the Rivers Run 
by Nancy Cato 
Annotation: Orphaned in a shipwreck and cut off from her native England, twelve-year-old Delie begins a new life in the gold-mining town of Kiandra in Australia. Raised by relatives in the outback country, she becomes a lovely young woman, leaves home to study art, and marries a riverboat captain. 
Check for clarity

Comment: The first sentence sets the scene well, except for excess prepositions at the end. The second sentence gives a rather flat outline of the plot, with the implication that the heroine married and they lived happily ever after. There is little to entice the readers imagination. Actually, much of the action takes place after the marriage; there was no proverbial happy ending at that point. Some small editorial changes could remove the wrong impression and throw the focus more on the setting, where it belongs for this novel. Discovering what happens in the hero-ines life would depend on reading the bookthe readers choice. 
Rewritten: Orphaned in a shipwreck and shut off from her native England, twelve-year-old Delie begins a new life in Kiandra, an Australian gold-mining town. The saga of her life is set in the outback country where she is raised, in the cities where she studies art, and on the riverboat where she raises her own family. 
Is it concise and easy to follow? 
Facts selected need to move the reader easily from the opening premise or situation through to an ending that supports the premise or leads onward into the plot. When the sentences are overstuffed or meander through a variety of unconnected facts, the reader is put to too much work sorting things out and can easily lose interest. 
Example: With the mistakenly convicted young murderer of his wife Nina about to be executed, Steves asthmatic six-year-old son who witnessed his mothers murder is kidnappedpossibly by the real murderer. 
Comment: Some commas would help. The sentence ends well, but there is too much information preceding the final phrase. The wifes name adds little, and too many facts about the son are stuffed in. If the person was convicted erroneously, hes not 
Words, words, words 
Words used incorrectly 
a murderer; all those words include one thats wrong. 
Such mistakes are easier to make when too much 
information is being handled as a unit. 
Edited: As the young man mistakenly convicted of murdering Steves wife is about to be executed, Steves asthmatic six-year-old son is kidnapped possibly by the real murderer. 
Is the language clear and descriptive? 
Many problems are caused by choice of words: misused words, unnecessary words, too few words, words that could be better selected, words that would be better placed, words that should never be used. 
Misused words 
Sentence: Account of the authors bout with rheumatoid arthritis from the age of twenty-five, and her determination not to be thought of, and treated as, a cripple. 
Comment: Bout is generally used for a short-term, one-time conflict. Its inappropriate for the description of a lifelong struggle. Note that using cripple is appropriate here; the negative connotation is what she was trying to avoid. 
Sentence: Personalized overview of Titos swiftly changing land by a former Yugoslav. 
Comment: Personalized means made for someone, such as stationery or T-shirts. The point of view was taken by someone and was from a personal perspective. 
Sentence: Born illegitimately, Brown was adopted by relatives and raised in the south. 
Comment: Illegitimacy is not something active that can be encompassed in an adverb; it is a legal or societal concept described by an adjective. Use Born illegitimate, or rewrite. 
Words just filling space

Rewritten: Describes her illegitimate birth, adoption by relatives, and southern childhood. 
Sentence: Although the Aborigine is suppose to complete his walkabout alone Comment: To suppose is to speculate or assume. The word for being required to is supposed. 
Sentence: A most unique presentation 
Comment: Unique means singular, without equal. A one-of-a-kind thing cannot be more or less so. Unique cannot be compared; delete most. 
Annotation: The mythology of cleanliness moving up next to godliness is the prime tenet of [the authors] thesis, and he debunks it well. 
Comment: Thesis is an argument presented and a tenet can be part of that; but debunks means to expose sham pretensions. The words are contradictory and at least one is misused. The editor has to determine whether cleanliness is a tenet or a target. The presence of mythology, even though incorrectly used, suggests that the intent is to explode the myth. Note that the last clause passes judgment on the authors success with handling the subject. 
Procedure: Definitely rewrite. 
Unnecessary words. The annotation should be kept tight, for both space considerations and ease of reading. Often wordiness creeps in when the writer has difficulty getting to the pointor perhaps getting the point. 
Example: There is a final section that also discusses his conclusions. 
Procedure: Edit to The final section discusses his conclusions. Eliminate the statement entirely if there is already enough information. Better still, substitute a sentence summarizing the conclusions. To identify the conclusions is much more meaningful than to tell where they are placed in the book. 
Words needed

Examples: 
 
The adventures ofwho  

 
A collection ofthat  

Procedure: Such phrases should be eliminated and the subject approached directly. The information needed is the content indicated by the ellipses. 
Too few words. Often an annotation that is seemingly correct is also bland and fails to indicate the approach of the writer or the tone of the book. A few well-chosen descriptive words or phrases can make a big difference. 
How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays 
by Umberto Eco 
Annotation: In this collection (1) of forty-one essays (1), Eco (1) reflects (2) on the follies of modern life. His topics include telegrams, fax machines and cellular phones, private and public libraries, and sequels. One lengthy essay (3) entitled Stars and Stripes is a science fiction tale (3) of intergalactic sex and espionage. Some violence and some descriptions of sex. 
Comment: (1) Readers know from the bibliographic statements that this book is a collection of essays by Mr. Eco; the only new information in the first part of the sentence is the number of entries. (2) Reflects how? We need an adjective to indicate the approach. 
(3) In spite of the books title, a science fiction tale is not an essay. 
Edited: Forty-one pieces give the Italian authors curmudgeonly reflections on the follies of modern life. His topics include telegrams, fax machines and cellular phones, private and public libraries, and sequels. One lengthy parody entitled Stars and Stripes is a science fiction tale of intergalactic sex and espionage. Some violence and some descriptions of sex. 
Sloppy choices

Words that could be better selected. Many aspects of language could be considered under this heading. In general, the editor should see if the wording can be tightened, if synonyms are needed to avoid repetition, if additions would add definition or interest, or if substitutions are needed. 
Tightening: shows how false the common view is 
Edited: shows common misconceptions 
Adding definition: sending towns backward and forward in time Edited: sending towns backward into prehistoric settlements and forward into futuristic cities 
Adding interest: In London William Helder meets the beautiful Hazel Paget 
Edited: A rich London bachelor meets an attractive Cambridgeshire secretary (descriptions indicate more about the plot than names) 
Substituting to expand information: 
Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the 
Making of the Constitution 
by Jack N. Rakove 
Annotation: Explores the ideological and political assumptions that underlie the original meanings of the Constitution. Critiques the method of original-ism, which looks to original meaning for adapting the document in modern circumstances. Examines specific issues, such as federalism. 
Comment: Using some form of the title three more times in the annotation does not enlarge on the concept, and it kills interest. Some explanatory phrases need to be substituted and more information incorporated. 
Wrong placement 
Misleading words 
Edited: Explores the ideological and political assumptions that underlie the original meanings of the Constitution and the resulting ambiguities. Critiques the method that looks solely to the founders intent for adapting the document to modern circumstances. Examines specific issues, such as federalism and the influence of James Madison. 
Words that could be better placed. Positioning makes a difference in readability and often in thrust. 
The Book of Sand 
by Jorge Luis Borges 
Annotation: An assortment of thirteen short stories from the distinguished blind Argentinean poet that contains fable, philosophy, and autobiography. 
Comment: The poet doesnt contain these things; the clause really modifies assortment, which is two prepositional phrases back in the sentence. Even without the grammatical problem, starting with these content words provides more interest. 
Edited: Fable, philosophy, and autobiography in thirteen short stories from the distinguished blind Argentinean poet. 
Words that should not be used. Inappropriate words include those that violate sensitivities and those that appear to judge the author. Many others are hard to classify but, like a Supreme Court justices comment on pornography, you know it when you see it. Editors need to be alert. 
Example: Tells of the hopes and understanding needed for dealing with a hopelessly retarded child. 
Comment: The book explains that the parents havent given up hope. Putting hopes and hopelessly in the same sentence needlessly emphasizes the difficulty. In addition, hopelessly is judgmental about the condition. 
Sexual innuendo

Edited: severely retarded child (or, a child with severe mental retardation). 
Example: The author attempts to explain Comment: Attempts to implies a lack of success, a judgment better left to the reader. Edited: The author explains/theorizes/claims/shows/proposes  
Example: The author believes travel stories should be oriented to the actual act of traveling, rather than to the destination to which one goes. 
Comment: Theres no way to know what an author believes; we can only know what is said. 
Edited: The author argues that travel stories should be oriented to the actual act of traveling, rather than to the destination. 
Example: The narrator, a ten-year-old child,
discloses

Comment: Narrator is frequently used to identify the point of view of a novel written in the first person. However, the word has a specific meaning for NLS patrons: the person who is reading the book for the recorded version, who is also called a reader. To avoid confusion, the word should not be used in its usual sense. In this case, the annotation can simply begin with A ten-year-old child. 
Freudian traps. Also look at whether the annotation has any hidden Freudian trapssituations where the writer intended one reading and the reader may find quite another. Grammatical errors can often lead to amusing interpretations, but none get quite as much reaction as those with sexual connotations, even mild ones. The annotation should not become, unintentionally, too interesting. These statements often provoke the proverbial double-take: What did that say? 
Every Other Man 
by Mary Ann Bartusis 
Consider: Explores some of the deep-seated emotional conditions that cause men to be unfaithful and gives specific details on handling many aspects of extramarital affairs. 
Reconsider: Is the book a how-to manual for philandering husbands? The statement should be directed to its proper audience. 
Edited: and gives women techniques for coping with many aspects of their husbands extramarital affairs. 
All Things Wise and Wonderful 
by James Herriot 
Consider: Yorkshire veterinarian recalls his stint in the RAF during World War II and expresses his feelings about his new family and friends, including his first child whom his wife delivered. 
Reconsider: Veterinarian or not, its unlikely that he had the child and she did the delivery. The writer was thinking about his not being there when the baby was born, but the sentence doesnt read that way. 
Procedure: The easiest solution is to delete everything after child. Alternatively, the editor could insert the birth of before his first child. Either way, the phrase about the delivery should go, and family and friends should be reversed. 
Lust for Life: The Novel of Vincent van Gogh 
by Irving Stone 
Consider: Fictionalized account of the Dutch painter follows his tortured life of unsuccessful love affairs and endless striving for perfect techniques and accomplishment. Some explicit descriptions of sex. 
Reconsider: The writer had in mind artistic technique and accomplishment, which is only one part of 
116 
The Library of Congress has no opinion 
the book. The title and the placement of the phrase 
might easily indicate that the subject is still sex, 
especially when followed by the tagline about explic
it descriptions. 
Procedure: Divide into two sentences and make sure that his love life and his artistic endeavors are clearly delineated. 
Is the annotation judgmental? 
Most judgments occur in adjectives describing the book: exciting, poignant, easily read and interesting. Some judgments are even more overt: a joyful collection, a useful and entertaining work, a highly readable book, an essay of wide-ranging importance. Editors must eliminate words and phrases that tell readers what they will think about a book. These judgments almost leap to the eye, and editors will eliminate them easily. 
Other judgments are more subtle and require consideration of the impact of words that judge the action described rather than the approach of the book. 
Example: At fifty-one, the author finally comes to terms with his homosexuality. 
Comment: That finally implies that he should have done it sooner. Unless a long struggle is identified earlier in the annotation, the word is judgmental and should be eliminated. The age listed conveys duration, and the more succinct sentence has more impact. 
Endorsement of books or authors 
More serious are characterizations of authors or style of writing that state directly or imply that the Library of Congress endorses some books or authors. 
The Library does not promote authors 
A Fine and Pleasant Misery 
by Patrick F. McManus Annotation: Twenty-seven (1) mirth-provoking, 
(2) cautionary camping reminiscences that originally appeared in Field and Stream. Considered by critics as (3) one of the funniest contemporary humorists, McManuss (4) droll style is a (5) side-splitting experience. 
Problems: (1) Judgmental; assumes the readers reaction. (2) Possibly misleading; the cautions are intended to be funny, not to give directions. (3) Is there a consensus and a ranking? The phrase adds nothing about the book, and its accuracy is hard to determine; one or two favorable reviews do not justify such a sweeping statement. (4) Droll is a descriptive adjective meaning that the author wanted to provoke laughter. Its useful to know the authors intentions; no problem here. (5) The writer liked the book, but that doesnt count. Its judgmental to say the author succeeded in his intention to be funny; thats up to the reader to decide. 
Comment: Overall, the annotation says a lot about what other people think. The only information on content is that the book is about camping reminiscences. There should be more feeling for the content, not merely commentary on it. The language can show that the book is funny without saying so. Note that the editor will have to go back to the source material to obtain content examples. 
Edited/rewritten: Twenty-seven droll sketches that originally appeared in Field and Stream. Dealing primarily with camping reminiscences, they poke fun at the authors experiences with an inept hunting dog, intruding cows, neer-do-well companions, and a national park. 
The Library does not take sides 
Controversial subjects 
More dangerous is taking a position on controversial subjects. Proponents of opposing positions could rightfully expect equal space and support. 
Origins 
by Richard E. Leakey and Roger Lewin 
Annotation: (1) This book has been described as the best work on mans origins and development. The authors explain the emergence of man out of Africa and into modern life. (2) Some new approaches 
(3) 
to controversial topics are discussed, such as the growth of intelligence, the nature of man, and the names of species. 

Problems: (1) The statement, which could reflect a single reviewers opinion, seems to be a strong endorsement of the book and the positions taken. 

(2) 
What new approaches? The premise and conclusion are missing. Also, approaches remain new only until the next book on the subject is written: avoid words about timeliness. (3) Sources indicate that the controversy is about cooperation as opposed to aggression; the areas listed are details of that. A statement is needed about the authors stand on this subject. 

Comment: The NLS collection contains books by prominent anthropologists who take different or opposing positions. If the subject is controversial, the Library of Congress cant appear to promote one point of view. 
Rewritten: Explains the emergence of man out of Africa and into modern life. Some controversial topics are discussed, such as the growth of intelligence, the nature of man, and the names of species. The authors consider cooperation and social organization more significant in human development than aggression. (Note that the purist might prefer humans, humankind, or human beings to the use of man. Any 
Opinions should be
those of the author

of these words are appropriate, but less forceful in 
this context. Its a judgment call.) 
The authors opinion 
Most dangerous of all is expressing the authors opinion as that of the Library of Congress. Be sure the annotation explains that the thesis is the authors. 
The Zapping of America 
by Paul Brodeur 
Annotation: (1) The dangers of microwave radiation have been covered up by numerous government agencies. (2) The author exposes the inherent dangers of microwaves. His examples range from the 
(3) 
seemingly benign microwave oven to the (4) well-publicized (5) intentional irradiation of embassy officials in Moscow. 

Problems: (1) Thats a rather sweeping statement for a government agency to make about other government agencies! (2) Wrong placement in the annotation; should come first as the main emphasis. 

(3) 
Questionable modifier; benign means harmless only in medical parlance. Its more common definitions include of gentle disposition, gracious, and kindlyterms more appropriate to people than objects. (4) Modifier that time may erase. The publicity occurred before the book was written and long before the book was published. By the time the book is recorded, distributed to network libraries, and available to readers, the publicity may be long forgotten. (5) Modifier that must be considered for accuracy; the intention is unproved at the time of writing. However, the assumption is the authors and listed as his example. To remove it would not reflect the content of the book. 

Edited: Exposes the inherent dangers of microwaves. The author claims that the hazards posed by microwave radiation have been covered up by numerous government agencies. His examples 
Can the reader tell what he is ordering? 
range from the household microwave oven to the 
intentional irradiation of embassy officials in 
Moscow. 
Does the annotation describe the book? 
Read the annotation and consider the content the annotation describes. What can readers expect the book to be like? 
Now go to the background materialreviews, the book cover, and the table of contents. Flip through the book and scan for tone and approach. Is this the same book? If not, editing is not sufficient; rewriting is needed. 
The Ecstasy of Owen Muir 
by Ring Lardner Jr. 
Annotation: Ironic novel of a young American and seeker of truth who is sent to prison for pacifism. Later he joins the army, is wounded, and [is] discharged. He then launches himself in a business career, marries his secretary, and converts to her religion of Catholicism. Eventually they part and he joins a monastic order. Some strong language. 
Problem: The annotation covers plotexhaustive-ly. The background material indicates that what happens isnt of primary importance; the point is what the author thinks about situations described. Because the author is one of the creators of M*A*S*H, the background material is very likely to be correct. Ironic novel is useful, but it isnt strong enough or long enough to balance all that plot. More research is needed. 
Rewritten: Satiric novel about a young American truth-seeker who is sent to prison for pacifism. Later episodes with the army, in a business career, and in a monastic order provide vehicles for slashing commentary on war, racism, big business, and organized religion. Some strong language. 
Three questions 
Right amount of information 
Emma Watson: The Watsons Completed 
by Joan Aiken 
Annotation: Aiken completes this story of the Watsons begun by Jane Austen in 1804. After living with an aunt for fourteen years, Emma, the youngest of a large family, returns home. It falls to Emma and her favorite sister, Elizabeth, to deal with the foibles of their siblings, including an elopement, a fatal accident, and the revelation of an old scandal. 
Comment: The editors attention should be caught immediately by foibles (oddities of personality) followed by three plot elements that seem much more than peccadillos. Checking the source material shows that the main pointthe dreary prospect for two dowerless womenhas been omitted. The sisters do, however, deal with foibles, as well as events, and assigning these to people catches the spirit of the book. 
Rewritten: Aiken continues a novel begun by Jane Austen in 1804. After living with an aunt for fourteen years, Emma, the youngest of a large family, returns home to face a spinsterhood of genteel poverty with her favorite sister, Elizabeth. It falls to them to deal with the foibles and misadventures of their siblings, assorted relatives, and eccentric neighbors. 
Editors should also ask: 
 
Is there enough information? 

 
Is the emphasis correct? 

 
Does the information lead to the proper conclusion? 

Even when all the factual material in an annotation is correct, the reader can still be misled about the books content. 
Is there enough information? The whole plot does not need to be there, and should not be there. Too much information leaves nothing to the readers imagination and can 
Authors point clear

be misleading. But there does have to be enough information for separate parts to make sense together. 
Lion at Sea 
by Max Hennessy 
Annotation: The startlingly courageous adventures of Midshipman Kelly Maguire of the Royal Navy at the outbreak of World War I. Assigned to patrol duty on an obsolete battle cruiser in the North Sea, he is captured by the Turks but escapes with the help of a sexy Arab princess. 
Problem: The question is not hard to find: How did the Turks and the sexy Arab princess get to the North Sea? Either something is missing or more explanation is needed. Research shows that quite a lot is missing; the book covers most of the major naval battles of the war. Startlingly courageous adventures sets the tone well, but the rest of the annotation needs help. 
Rewritten: The startlingly courageous adventures of Midshipman Kelly Maguire of the Royal Navy during World War I. At first assigned to patrol duty on an obsolete battle cruiser in the North Sea, he is later captured by the Turks after Gallipoli, helped to escape by a sexy Arab princess, and involved in the Battle of Jutland. 
Is the emphasis correct? The annotation must highlight the point of the book. Just listing facts is not sufficient. 
Education in the United States: 
An Interpretive History 
by Robert L. Church and Michael W. Sedlak 
Annotation: A chronological social history of American educational ideas and institutions, from the Revolutionary War (1) to the present. A number of topics are discussed including the role of schools in American society, (2) equality in education, and the (2) drive to preserve the status quo in social inequality. 
Problems: (1) Phrase indicating currentness of the book. (2) The last two phrases seem contradictory. They do reflect the books content, but tying them together in that form does not show how the authors approached the subjects. The contradiction needs to be emphasized, not ignored. 
Edited: Chronological social history of American educational ideas and institutions, from the Revolution to the 1970s. Discussions cover the role of schools in American society. The authors contrast the goal of equality in education with the tendency to preserve social inequality. 
The Least of These My Brethren: A Doctors Story of Hope and Miracles on an Inner-City AIDS Ward 
by Daniel J. Baxter, M.D. 
Annotation: A physicians account of life and death amid the squalor of New York Citys largest designated AIDS center. Relates (1) the stories of drug addicts, prostitutes, and other social outcasts 
(2) who are facing death with AIDS. (3) In spite of it all, the author affirms his belief in the value of human life. Strong language. 1997. 
Problem: This one falls apart in the middle with weak and vague words that do not develop the point being made about the ward itself and almost impossible conditions. (1) Stories of generally implies background information about individuals, while the point here is their attitudes in the ward. (2) We already know they are facing death; this space can be better used. (3) In spite of it all is a clich; it all needs clarification. For proper emphasis, the annotation has to build from squalor, a well-chosen word, through frustration to affirmation. 
Rewritten: A physicians account of life and death amid the squalor of New York Citys largest AIDS 
Nature and scope of the book 
center. Relates the difficulties of providing care for 
uncooperative drug addicts, prostitutes, and other 
social outcasts. Despite all the hardships and frustra
tions, the author affirms his belief in the value of 
every human life. Strong language. 
Note the subtle difference made by inserting every before human life, changing the focus from a generality to the individuals, even the least of these, of the title. The title also identifies the author as a doctor, making the M.D. after his name and physicians in the first sentence unnecessary. 
Is the reader led to the proper conclusion? The proper conclusion is what the book is all about, not about how it begins or how it ends. It also includes the tone of the book: serious, humorous, folksy, or frightening. 
Waxwork 
by Peter Lovesey 
Annotation: In the 1880s, Detective Sgt. Cribb of Scotland Yard methodically investigates the case of a proper Victorian lady who confesses to poisoning her photographer husbands assistant because she was being blackmailed. Upon close examination of her statement, an impossible detail reveals her confession to be false. 
Problem: The background material says that the impossible detail is what got the detective interested and later mentions a surprise ending. Research shows that the detail was carefully contrived to negate the confession. She did it! The ending cant be revealed to readers, and they cant be given the impression that the false confession was the end of the matter. There are also some style, tense, and wordiness problems. 
Rewritten: In the 1880s, Detective Sergeant Cribb of Scotland Yard methodically investigates the case of a proper Victorian lady who has admitted to poisoning her photographer husbands assistant. Shes 
Take one more look at details 
about to be hangedand her confession may be 
false! 
Comment: Note that the rewritten version is not only more succinct and suspenseful but leads the reader into the book instead of implying an ending. 
Usually you can correct problems in the same way that you add interest: by rearranging language or elements, inserting more precise and descriptive words, eliminating wordiness, adding or deleting facts to achieve conciseness and balance. 
If the annotation is too far off the mark, it will have to be rewritten. There is no way to edit annotations that are all judgment and no content. 
Annotation: This is one of the best stories that has been written by an American about a ballerina. 
Problem: Yes, but what is the book about? What does it say? Some content has to be discovered and inserted. 
When the general content is interesting, describes the book, and is correct grammatically and stylistically, the editor can move on to the final step. 
Are the facts accurate? 
Take one last look at names, dates, and places. Too much work has gone into all this to leave a silly mistake. Some annotations present reasons to check. 
Annotation: World War II intrudes on the already troubled life of Eleanor, handicapped by a reading disability that makes college seem impossible. Ironically, the war frees Karen to accept herself and pursue her own life. 
Problem: What have Eleanors problems to do with Karen? Checking shows that there is only one character; a mistake has been made with the name. 
Leave nothing to chance 
Annotation: A continuous narrative of the Bible from Genesis to Exodus, told in 168 stories in simple language. 
Comment: Its possible; a great deal of story material appears in the first two books of the Bible, but thats not very far into Judaeo-Christian lore. Checking is justified, and shows that the phrase should read from Genesis through Revelation, encompassing the whole span of the Christian Bible. 
Annotation: Historical tale of love, courtly splendor, rebellion, and royal tragedy. Portrays the reign of Richard III, his fragile and tender relationship with Queen Anne, and the fiery battle at 
Armageddon. 
Comment: Richard met his Armageddon at Bosworth Field. Dont leave the biblical allusion; substitute the correct place. 
Even without something that catches the attention, verify the facts with the background material and, if necessary, with the book. 
George Burns and the Hundred-Year Dash 
by Martin Gottfried 
Annotation: Life of the beloved star of stage and screen who died in 1996 at the age of one hundred. Discusses his show business beginnings in vaudeville, where he later achieved considerable fame teamed with his wife, Gracie Allen, as Burns and Allen. Also examines Burnss career resurgence in 1976 with his Oscar-winning performance in Oh God! Some strong language. 
Comment: Except to a dedicated Burns fan or movie buff, this statement would not arouse editorial instincts. However, the reviews attribute the Oscar (as supporting actor) to an earlier film. Checking with the book is warranted and reveals that casting Burns as God followed and was because of the previous role. The book jacket obscures this point, but all 
Check again

the other sources, including the book itself, are clear. 
The statement should read in 1975 with his Oscar-
winning performance in The Sunshine Boys. 
Back to basics 
Before leaving the entry, take a last look to be sure that all the material is consistent: names should correspond to the source information and be spelled the same throughout, including in the title and author lines and the one-liner (See One-line annotation, p. 165); places should be spelled correctly and consistently at each reference. Look again at subject and verb agreement and parallel structure. Check again that words other than names are spelled correctly; the eye often sees what it expects to be there, especially when its attention has been caught by other problems. 
Part Two:
Style and Presentation

Background

Considerations and procedures listed in this section are for NLS annotations. As stated in earlier sections on adhering to style and editing for style: 
Style in this context means the treatment of punctua
tion, capitalization, spelling, and numbers that have 
various acceptable forms. For consistency, one form 
is selected and used throughout. NLS uses The 
Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Websters 
Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition as basic refer
ences. It has also adopted some style practices of its 
own that have been found to be more workable for 
annotations. 
Other annotation writers do not, of course, have to follow these forms. But every individual or group should use some formal style reference or develop practices that are adhered to consistently. Otherwise, there is chaos. 
The style chosen will often differ from the style used in the book being annotated; publishers have, or should have, their own style practices. This problem occurs most often with capitalization: But its capitalized in the book! It doesnt matter what the book does; if you have a style, you should adhere to it. Otherwise, you are at the mercy of a different style for every publisher, or possibly for every book. 
Topics in this section are presented in the order in which they occur in book announcements, from title entries through handling of dates. Some of the topics discussed are treatmentshow certain situations are handledwhich are then subject to formal style considerations. 
Also covered are two items that are prepared at the same time as the standard book announcement, making use of the print book before it goes out for brailling or recording. The one-line annotation is created as a separate entity, and a suggested catalog category is determined. These items will later be used to provide information to patrons. 
Titles

The title page is the authority for words and spelling; the Chicago Manual of Style is the authority for style (presentation). In some cases, treatments are NLS practice. 
The purpose is a consistent lookas far as possiblefor publications and information to patrons. Cataloging rules are different. 
Capitalsinitial letters only 
	
First and last words, regardless of part of speech 

	
All major parts of speechnouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives 

Initial caps 
Note: Length is not a criterion; some verbs are very short. Watch especially for is, are, was, and were. 
Lower case 
	
Coordinate conjunctionsand, or, nor, and but 

	
Articlesa, an, and the 

	
To as part of infinitive 

	
As regardless of part of speech 

	
Prepositions regardless of length 

Lower case 
Note: The preposition is sometimes part of verb form and is treated as a verb. 
	
Run Down Cluesdown is part of the verb. 

	
Run down the Hilldown is a preposition. 

Living Through Mourning: Finding Hope 
and Comfort When a Loved One Has Died 
through is part of the verb; note the change of 
meaning when it is treated as a preposition. 
Punctuation and ampersands 
Punctuation follows Chicago style; change the form of the title-page where needed. 
	Add commas for sense and in series of words, including before and. (Note: brackets indicate addition to original.) 
If Blindness Strikes[,] Dont Strike Out 
Sea to Shining Sea: People[,] Travels[,] Places 
Spring Jaunts: Some Walks, Excursions[,] 
and Personal Explorations of Town, Country[,] 
and Seashore 
	
Retain dashes, question marks, and exclamation points. 

	
Use quotation marks when they appear on title page to denote a spoken phrase, a familiar saying, a nickname, or a popular name. 

Punctuation 
Grizille, Save the Children! 
and other strange marks 
Best of E.E. Doc Smith 
Be Expert with Map and Compass: 
The Complete Orienting Handbook 
Should You Shut Your Eyes When You Kiss; 
or, How to Survive The Best Years of Your 
Life 
	Retain an ellipsis when it is used to indicate something missing; substitute a dash or other appropriate punctuation when dots are simply a design element. 
And Ladies of the Club Arent You the One Who? 
	
But change dots to a dash in Come before Winter and Share My Hope (in this case, the ellipsis indicates a pause, not an omission) 

	
Add hyphens sparingly to adjective forms when needed to make meaning clear or when usually used by NLS; otherwise, retain title-page punctuation for simplicity. 

Zoo Vet: Adventures of a Wild[-]Animal Doctor 
(Add a hyphen between wild and animal to make 
clear that the animal is wild, not the doctor.) 
	Eliminate colons; substitute a comma, semicolon, or dash as appropriate. A colon is used only to separate title from subtitle. 
Title page: A. E. Housman 
Poetry & Prose: A Selection 
NLS style: A.E. Housman: Poetry and Prosea Selection (A comma or semicolon could be used instead of the dash. Note that a is lowercase after the new punctuation because it is not a first word. (See section on subtitles, 
p. 139.)
	Always write out ampersands unless they are part of a corporate logo. 
Numbers 
Use Chicago style: write out numbers through one hundred; write out all numbers if first word of text. Figures are 
Numbers 
retained for numbers that are part of proper names, such as names of ships or projects. (See the section on text style, 
p. 150, for other usages.) 
Dates 
Years are always expressed in figures. 
1939: In the Shadow of the War 
The Great Depression: An Inquiry into the 
Causes, Course, and Consequences of the 
Years 
Worldwide Depression of the 1930s, as Seen 
by Contemporaries and in the Light of History 
(not Nineteen Thirties) 
	Set apart with commas dates not grammatically related to the title. 
Advice and Support: The Early Years, 
19411960 
	Use Chicago style for other dates. (See section on text style, p. 150.) 
Titles within titles 
	NLS practice for annotations is to treat all titles within titles in the same way for a consistent look. In text, some titles use quotes and some use italics. (See section on text style, p. 149.) 
Italicize (or underscore) short stories as part of a book title as well as radio and TV programs, two or more books in 
Titles as part of titles 
one volume, and groups of stories. Italicize all words including initial articles. Do not use commas to separate unless there are three or more titles. 
Wind and Birds and Human Voices and Other Stories 
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey 
Postscript to The Name of the Rose 
The Communist Manifesto [by] Karl Marx 
and Friedrich Engels, with Selections from 
the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte 
and Capital by Karl Marx 
Just People and Other Poems for Young Readers and Paper/Pen/Poem: A Young Writers Way to Begin (This complex title contains two titles that have to be italicized to indicate that they are separate items. In addition, the first title contains a title within a title, which is presented in roman text to distinguish it from the remainder of the title.) 
	Italics are used to distinguish titles from other parts of the book title. They are not needed when the title of a short story or other material is also the title of the book or if descriptive information is in a subtitle separated from the title by a colon. 
I Love You, I Hate You, Get Lost (title story and title of book) 
Angel Maker: The Short Stories of Sara Maitland (Angel Maker is both the title story and title of book; colon provides separation from subtitle) 
	Italicize periodical names but treat an initial article as part of the book title rather than the periodical title; lowercase the initial article except when it is the first word of the title. 
Great Esquire Fiction: The Finest Stories from the First Fifty Years 
The New York Times Book of Annuals and
Perennials

Best Sports Stories from the Saturday Evening Post 
Farm Journals Country-Style Microwave Cookbook (The possessive is not part of the periodical title; do not italicize.) 
137 
Exceptions

Exceptions 
Occasionally rules for capitalization and punctuation should be violated if the original usage is an integral part of the title. 
M*A*S*H 
H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N 
Re: ThinkingHow to Succeed by Learning 
How to Think (The colon is part of the title 
punctuation; therefore, dashes indicate the subti
tle, which has an initial capital.) 
Subtitles

A second title 
The mighty colon introduces a subtitle 
Consider the subtitle as another title; the same rules for capitalization and punctuation apply as for titles. 
Use 
	
Subtitles are considered part of the title information and are always used, regardless of length. Do not abbreviate or omit words. Terms such as stories, poems, or a biography are retained as subtitles. 

	
The one exception to the use of subtitles is A Novel. This subtitle is omitted because it is understood for fiction and adds no new information. It is, however, used when there are added words as in A Novel of Suspense. It is also used if needed for clarification. 

Glory Enough for All: The Battle of the 
Crater; a Novel of the Civil War (Note that the 
article following the semicolon is lowercase; see 
the next section) 
Walter Winchell: A Novel (retained because the 
book could easily be mistaken for a biography 
without the subtitle) 
Punctuation between title and subtitle A colon is used to separate title and subtitle in most cases. Place the colon directly after the title; leave one space before the subtitle. 
Because the colon indicates the beginning of a subtitle, colons should not be used elsewhere in the title or subtitle. If a colon appears elsewhere on the title page, change the punctuation to a comma or semicolon as appropriate. Do not uppercase articles or prepositions that follow; capitals for initial words are used only to indicate a title or subtitle. 
Other punctuation 
Subtitle after or 
Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge; a Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution (Note that the a after the semicolon is lowercase.) 
	A question mark or exclamation point is sufficient for separation. Do not also use a colon. 
Arnt I a Woman? Female Slaves in the
Plantation South

Crisis Time! Love, Marriage, and the Male
at Mid-Life

	A quotation mark is not sufficient for separation, because it would not end a sentence in text. Use a colon after the quotation mark to indicate the beginning of a subtitle. Do not use the colon if the quotation ends in an exclamation point or question mark. 
The Rest of Us: The Rise of Americas
Eastern European Jews

Surely Youre Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Adventures of a Curious Character

	Second title after or. Use a semicolon after the title, lowercase or, follow or with a comma. Do not use a semicolon after a question mark or exclamation point. 
One Fell Soup; or, Im Just a Bug on the
Windshield of Life

Whats to Become of the Boy? or,
Something to Do with Books

Use italics 
Subtitle identifies series 
Titles within subtitles 
NLS practice is essentially the same as for titles within titles: treat the subtitle as a second title and italicize or underscore all titles regardless of whether they would take 
italics or quotes in text. For subtitles, all short story or novella titles are italicized, because they cannot also be the title of the book. 
Stories of the Early West: The Luck of Roaring 
Camp and Sixteen Other Exciting Tales of 
Mining and Frontier Days 
Eda LeShan on Living Your Life: Based on the 
CBS Radio Network Series Getting Along 
The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult; 
a Meditation on Life, Spirit, Art, and the 
Making of the Film The Color Purple Ten Years 
Later 
Victorian Villainies: The Great Tontine, The Rome Express, In the Fog, The Beetle 
Three Tales of My Fathers Dragon: My 
Fathers Dragon; Elmer and the Dragon; The 
Dragons of Blueland (For the last two examples, 
the listed stories explain the title. The need for 
italics would be obvious if the and that is under
stood between the last two titles were actually 
present.) 
Series name as subtitle 
For our readers, it is useful to list series names as subtitles, because they then appear in author and title indexes for easy identification. Handling style practices for these books is difficult, since publishers indicate series differently and not always in the same way for titles in the same series. Practices listed are designed to give patrons useful information in a consistent format and where it can be easily located. 
If a book is known to be part of a series, such information should appear as a subtitle even if the information does not appear on the title page; generally it will appear on the book jacket, on the verso title page, or in a list of other books by the author. This practice includes both series presented sequentially and those that feature a particular character or group but can be read in any order. It does not include a publishers series such as Great Books of the World. 
Doom of the Darksword: The Darksword Trilogy, Volume 2 
Donovans Daughter: The Californians, Book 4 
Darkness and Light: Dragonlance Saga; 
Preludes, Volume 1 
Prisoners Base: A Nero Wolf Mystery 
Mischief: An 87th Precinct Mystery 
	
Use roman type. Do not underline or put quotes around a series name. 

	
If volumes are listed, put a comma after the series title and place the volume number at the end; capitalize and write out volume; and use arabic numerals. Use a semicolon to separate if the series title follows the subtitle or if volume and dates precede the subtitle. If only a numeral is listed, use volume rather than book. 

Thomas Jefferson: The Formative Years, 17431775; Founding Fathers Series, Volume 6 
Montana! Wagons West, Volume 10 (Note that 
the exclamation point is sufficient for separation, 
and the colon is not used.) 
142 
Except... 
Establish a form 
Series name as title 
In some cases, the series name is used as the title for all volumes and information about the particular volume becomes the subtitle. 
The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume 1, 
19021941; I, Too, Sing America 
Consistency 
Frequently, series information is inconsistent for individual volumes. Some volumes, usually the first one or two in the series, may not have a series title; others may have a variety of forms. 
For consistency, a form (or variation on that form) should be established. Often several books in a series will have been produced and cataloged before the need for a consistent form becomes apparent. 
Subtitles determined for use in book announcements after some volumes have been produced should be added to the database for use in subsequent publications. 
The Summer of the Danes: The Eighteenth 
Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, of the 
Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint 
Paul, at Shrewsbury (subtitle from the book jack
et). The title page does not list a series title; the 
also by page identifies these books as the Brother 
Cadfael Chronicles, and further confuses by list
ing them in random order. 
This popular series is troublesome. The most common form is 
Show placement in series 
Book number needed 
(title): The (number) Chronicle of Brother 
Cadfael but the first few titles werent numbered, 
and some volumes later in the series also dont 
list numbers. The common form should be used 
when the number is listed or can be determined 
by placement in the series. Otherwise an alternate 
form resembling that would be 
(title): A Chronicle of Brother Cadfael 
The additional information on the book jacket should not be used. It is not consistent with other titles, adds little information, and takes up space better used for the annotation. 
Series titles in text 
Occasionally a series title is used in the annotation text rather than as a subtitle. This generally occurs when the first one or two volumes have appeared without a series identification and this one purports to be the last. For series titles in text, lowercase any initial article and use roman type. 
Sequences 
For series that should be read sequentially, NLS practice is to indicate in the annotation text the title the current book follows: In this sequel to A Boys War (RC 43286)or This sequel to Daughters of Albion (RC 35723) opens in the mid-1960s. The current volume could also precede a previous title and be listed as Prequel to Becoming a Man (RC 41664), if written after the previous title, or Followed by Becoming a Man (RC 41664), if simply produced later by NLS to fill in a gap. In these cases the series subtitle should not be included in the text. 
Note that the book number is always listed so that patrons know what to order. Only books in the collection and produced in the same format as the current title are mentioned as cross references. 
Authors

Keep names simple and recognizable. 
Note. This section describes how the information will appear in print. In some cases the NLS database requires specific practices or placements to achieve these results, especially in dealing with suffixes and coauthors. For these treatments, consult the appropriate computer instructions. 
Forms of names 
	Popular usage. Use the form of the authors name generally known to the public, not the bibliographic form. Generally, this version will be what is listed on the title page. 
A.A. Milne, not Alan Alexander 
One author 
e.e. cummings (lower case) 
Louisa May Alcott (known with middle name) 
Lloyd C. Douglas (used middle initial) 
Parts of a name 
	
Initials. Keep tight, no space between letters (NLS practice). See the examples above. 

	
Suffixes. Jr., Sr., and Esq. are abbreviated. There is no punctuation before either these or numerals. 

Arthur Schlesinger Jr. 
John Smith Esq. 
John D. Rockefeller III 

Two of them 
Many 
Editors and others 
Coauthors 
Follow the form for a single author; connect with and rather than ampersand. 
Multiple authors 
List the first author followed by and others without punctuation. No more than two names are ever listed. 
Alfred H. Kelly, Winfred A. Harbison, and Herman 
Belzdelete all but the first author and substitute 
and others: Alfred H. Kelly and others 
Editors, selectors, compilers, and the like 
Use the same rules as for authors; the form is edited by John E. Lewis, not John E. Lewis, ed. 
Translators 
List a translator only if the information is significant; that is, the translator is well known or the version is important. 
The Iliad 
by Homer, translated by Edward Fitzgerald 
Illustrators 
Dont list illustrators, even for PRINT/BRAILLE books; the focus is not on pictorial material. 
Honorifics 
For simplicity and conciseness, titles and degrees are rarely used. If the authors authority in the field is important, this information should be incorporated into the annotation. 
	Titles before authors name. Almost never used. Eliminate Dr., Professor, Sister, Rev., and the like. An exception is for British practice; do use titles for nobility and knighthoods if they are the familiar form. 
Sir Walter Scott 
Alfred, Lord Tennyson 
Lord Peter Wimsey 
	Degrees after authors name. Almost never used. Eliminate Ph.D., Order of, etc. 
An exception is M.D. (initials tight) when the topic is related to medicine and the authors credentials are not in the annotation; dont use the degree if the annotation covers the writers authority. It is preferable to provide this information in the annotation. 
Text style

The main reason for following a particular style manual is consistency. NLS practices for capitalization, type styles, word forms, punctuation, and other text treatments are based on the Chicago Manual of Style. Some aspects of Chicago style have been interpolated from the general approach when the particulars are not spelled out; in a few cases the style has been altered to fit NLS needs. 
Annotation writers cannot depend on presentations in the book or in reviews (which often differ from each other) to be correct for NLS annotations. The authors and editors of these documents may have been using a different style manual or none at all. 
The following lists cover situations encountered frequently. For items not listed, consult the manual. 
Type styletitles in text (See Chicago, 7.129-7.148) Italics (sometimes shown by an underscore) 
	
books titles and book numbers 

	
musical compositions (long) 

	
movies 

	
radio and TV series 

Use italics 
	
periodicals (but initial article is lower case and not italicized) 

	
plays 

	
poems (long) 

	
works of art 

Quotes 
	
articles from periodicals 

	
chapter titles

Use quotes 
	
musical compositions (short) 

	
poems (short) 

	
radio and TV programsepisodes 

	
short stories 

Roman type 
	
musical compositions (name of form plus key) 

	
series (treat initial article as for periodicals) 

Use roman 
	parts of a bookpreface, foreword, introduction (all lowercase) 
Dates and times (See Chicago, 8.33-8.48) 
Centuries 
Write out; hyphenate as adjective. 
	
set in the twelfth century; 

	
twelfth-century castle 

Decades 
Write out, use full date, or use apostrophe for century. 
	
sixties and seventies 

	
1960s (no apostrophe before s)

The calendar... 
	60s and 70s 
Years 
Use figures in most cases. Can abbreviate in familiar phrases. 
	
written between 1975 and 1977 

	
spirit of 76 

	
class of 97 

Month and year 
Write out month; no punctuation between month and year. 
	For the United States, World War II began in December 1941. 
Day, month, and year 
Treat the year as an appositive; surround with commas. 
	The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led to the declaration of war against Japan. 
Month and day 
Write out month; use cardinal number. 
 December 7 (Not Dec. 7th) 
Dateline 
The brief phrases sometimes used to lead quickly into historical novels show two different things: date and place. Therefore separation is needed. A comma is sufficient when there is no other punctuation. When either the date or the place contains one or more commas, the dividing punctuation is a semicolon. 
	
India, 1886. 

	
Dallas, Texas; 1963 

	
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; July 1776 

... and the clock 
Times of day 
Generally use words; use figures if specific time is important. 
	
four oclock 

	
around midnight 

	
bedtime at eight 

But 
	
the 6:20 train 

	
armistice signed at 11:02 

Seasons 
Use lower case (spring, summer, fall, winter); no punctuation if followed by year. 
Historical and cultural periods and events (See Chicago,
7.60-7.67)
In general, use lowercase for eras, cultural periods, and
events of some duration.

 
the depression 

 
early to mid-eighteenth century 

 
colonial period 

 
ancient Rome 

 
westward movement 

 
nuclear age

Eras 
 the twenties 
Use capitals when these are derived from proper names, are recognized archaeological periods, or are specific single events. Some names are capitalized by tradition or to avoid ambiguity. 
 
Great Depression 

 
Victorian Age 

 
Roaring Twenties 

 
Middle Ages 

 
Stone Age 

 
Boston Tea Party 

For simplicity, prefer lowercase when the meaning is clear. When in doubt, check Chicago, which is sometimes also in doubt and allows some latitude. 
Genres 
All genre designations should be lowercased, even if a period (Gothic) or place/direction (West) gave name to the genre. Note that Regency romances and Victorian novels 
Genres 
refer to a particular setting in time and place and retain the capital letters; these are not yet genres. 
NLS usage is to capitalize Romantic for writers and works of that cultural period to distinguish them from the romance genre. 
Titles and offices (See Chicago, 7.15-7.24) In general, capitalize civil, military, religious, and professional titles and titles of nobility when they immediately precede a personal name. Lowercase titles following a personal name or used alone in place of a name. 
	
President Washington 

	
George Washington, president of the United States 

	
the United States president George Washington (president is descriptive, not a title) 

	
when George Washington was president and Martha his first lady 

Be careful about using Reverend as a title. 
	the Reverend John Smith or the Reverend Mr. Smith never (properly) Rev. Smith or Reverend Smith 
The correct form is awkward; rewrite to avoid the problem
when possible.

Religious terms (See Chicago, 7.74-7.92)
In general, capitalize what are clearly proper nouns, espe
cially names for God (as supreme being), deities (in reli
gions with several), revered persons, sacred writings,
events, concepts, and specific services.

	God, Jehovah, Allah, Pan, Thor, Shiva, Isis, Virgin Mary, the Prophet (Islam), Bible, Scriptures, Koran, Crucifixion, Redemption, Holy Communion 
Lowercase adjectives derived from sacred books (generally), general references to services, and objects of religious significance. 
	biblical, scriptural, talmudic, gospels, mass, service, seder, confirmation, bar mitzvah, baptism, holy water, rosary, shofar, phylacteries, sanctuary 
Additions to text

Content that could be disturbing 
Several types of information can be added to the end of the annotation text as appropriate for the particular book. These pieces always appear in the same order for consistency. 
Taglinesdescriptive phrases Strong language: to indicate that profanity is used fairly freely. 
Some strong language: to indicate that profanity is present but is mild or infrequent. 
Violence: to indicate that brutal acts are described in detail. 
Some violence: to indicate that brutality is present but is not frequent. 
Explicit descriptions of sex: to indicate a number of detailed sexual passages. 
Some explicit descriptions of sex: to indicate no more than two or three detailed sexual passages. 
Descriptions of sex: to indicate a number of erotic but not detailed sexual passages, such as one indicating a passionate kiss and caress of the breasts with an indication that the couple proceeds from there but without detailed description of what follows. 
Some descriptions of sex: to indicate two or three erotic but not detailed sexual passages. 
Note that some is used in every case to indicate that the occurrences are slight and relatively inoffensive. The decision to use some, as well as the decision to use a tagline at all, is often subjective. What is distasteful to some readers 
Put some last

is not distasteful to all. The best guideline is to consider the age distribution of NLS patrons, more than half of whom are sixty-five years old or older. Times and mores change. Rhett Butlers famous Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn! would not cause even a blink today. But this large group of readers originally formed their tastes about what is fit to print in an earlier and gentler era. It is best to be somewhat conservative. Those readers not easily disturbed can ignore these descriptive phrases, or even choose books because of them. 
We use only one tagline. If more than one element is present, the two descriptive phrases are joined by and, rather than appearing separately. If all three are present, they are separated by commas with and before the last element. 
	Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex not, Strong language. Violence. Descriptions of sex. 
There is no particular order in which these phrases must appear, although language is generally listed first and sex last if there is no context reason to do otherwise, primarily because it is more euphonious for the longer phrase to appear last. However, when one of the phrases is modified by some, that phrase should appear last so that the reader will not assume that the some also modifies others in the series. To ensure correct interpretation, some is repeated each time it is needed: Violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. Note that in this case the word without the modifier moves to the first position in the tagline. 
The phrases about sex cannot be shortened by leaving out descriptions ofwhich is a temptation when space is limited. Leaving out these words alters the meaning; there are only words about acts and, obviously, not acts themselves. 
PRINT/BRAILLE 
These books are for blind and sighted readers to share. They consist of the original print book with clear plastic overlays containing the braille text. Most of them are picture books for very young readers, but some texts are suit-
A special format 
able for those reading up to seventh grade level. 
Because letter prefixes to book numbers for this medium are the same as for standard braille books, the difference must be noted in the annotation. 
Grade levels 
The annotator determines information about reading levels for juvenile titles according to the content of the book and placements in reviews and reading lists. The same phrases are always used. They are 
 
For preschool-grade 2. 

 
For grades K-3. 

 
For grades 2-4. 

 
For grades 3-6. 

 
For grades 4-7. 

 
For grades 5-8. 

Age group targeted 
 
For grades 6-9. 

 
For junior high readers. 

 
For senior high readers. 

 
For junior and senior high readers. 

 
For junior and senior high and older readers. 

 
For senior high and older readers. 

For older readers. Note that in the two places where for older readers is part of the phrase, it means that the book is also suitable for adults, not that it can be read by children older than the designated level; any book can be read by people outside the target group, depending on the interests of the reader. 
The for older readers tagline can also be added for some books designated as for children, even young children, to indicate that they are worthwhile for adults, especially older adults who prefer information in short and concise forms. These books typically include biographies, nature materials, poetry, fables and folktales, and some historical selectionsincluding both fiction and nonfiction. In these cases the addition of and older readers indicates not only that adults can enjoy them, but that advisors and others selecting books can consider these titles for seniors with short attention spans. 
Prizes 
Listing prizes won helps the reader evaluate the worth of the book selected. Caldecott and Newbery winners are always in demand. Adult book awards indicate serious literary value. 
Note that the listing consists of prizes for the particular book, not the writer. A Pulitzer Prize-winning author could be indicated in the annotation text. 
Bestsellers 
Some readers are interested in keeping up with the latest popular books. Therefore bestsellers are noted in the annotation. Designation of a bestseller depends on the titles appearance on nationwide bestseller lists for several weeks. 
For books in English, Bestseller is the last item listed in the annotation before the date. 
Foreign language 
For books in languages other than English, the particular language must be indicated. In these cases, the last item before the date is a two-word phrase such as Spanish language. For the occasional bilingual book, the phrase is In English and Spanish or Bilingual book in English and Spanish. 
158 
Dates and time

Generally show when the book was written 
Earliest for fiction, most recent for nonfiction 
Dates at the end of annotations 
Dates associated with an annotation inform readers about when the book was written. As with other information intended primarily for readers, these dates do not mirror cataloging practices; the purpose is convey to readers specific information where possible and give a general indication otherwise. 
Usual practice 
For most books, the date at the end of the annotation, usually a copyright date, suffices; for others, further information about the time frame must be incorporated in the text of the annotation. 
For nonfiction, the date is important to indicate how current the information is. For fiction, knowledge of the century or decade the book was created can give a clue to the writing style and prevailing attitudes of the period. 
The usual practice for determining the date at the end of the annotation is to refer first to the copyright date. Dates for current works present no problem; the copyright date, also generally the year of publication, will be used. 
Copyright dates are also used for older works as far as possible. For fiction, the date will usually be the oldest copyright date, which indicates the time of the creative effort in producing the book. For nonfiction, the date will usually be the most recent copyright date, because that indicates when the latest information was incorporated. These dates are chosen for the end of the annotation because they are the most accurate source of information; the copyright symbol is not used. 
Sometimes put time
information in text

Exceptions 
The following situations do not follow the usual practice. 
Public domain. Some books (usually works in the public domain) do not show copyright dates, and other means of conveying the information must be found. If the year the work was written is known, that date can appear at the end of the annotation. Alternatively, the time of creation can appear in the body of the text, with phrases such as nine-teenth-century novel, classic work written in 1776, or first published in 1895. For these titles, it is appropriate to use the publication date to follow the annotation as an indication of when the particular book was available in print. 
Older works with new matter. Some confusion arises when a book is reissued with a new foreword, introduction, notes, or other type of commentary. This material often leads to a new copyright date, which need not be used at the end of the annotation, since it applies only to the new piece and not to the body of the book. It can be also ignored in the text of the annotation if the addition is short and adds little to the original content. 
However, if the person who developed the new section is well known or a current authority in the field, his or her contribution should be handled in the body of the annotation, and the same sentence can indicate that the book is a recent edition. A sentence such as This 1992 edition contains a foreword by will cover most situations, while the date at the end of the annotation will, as usual, show the original date of the book. Alternatively, the sentence could read This edition of the late-nineteenth-century classic contains a critical commentary by, with the publication date following the annotation. Either form is appropriate, as long as information on both time periods is provided for the reader. 
Older works with copyright renewals. Some works, when renewed, remain under copyright for a very long time, and using the renewal copyright date will not convey the time of creation. In these cases, the original copyright or publication date should be used, along with the current publication date as appropriate. 
Phrases to indicate the age of the material are similar to those for works in the public domain. 
Translations. Similar information is needed for translations of works that appeared earlier in another country and sometimes under another name. A sentence should appear in the annotation listing the country and date of the original publication and also the original name, if different. The date at the end will then be that of the English edition being used. 
Collections. Dates for collections that contain pieces written at different times also have to be handled within the annotation, as in essays written between 1945 and 1960, or culled from his writings over the three decades from the 1960s through the 1980s. If the pieces are associated with a particular publication, the phrase could read stories originally appearing in the New Yorker during the 1980s. In these cases the most recent copyright date is used at the end of the annotation; this may be the date of the compilation. 
Occasionally fiction pieces that appeared separately in one or more periodicals are reworked into a novel. In these cases there can be copyright dates for each section, but only the final one denoting the complete work is used. If the pieces are widely separated, a note might be added to the text. 
Time-sensitive phrases 
No annotation should contain phases like to the present time, current research, or recent upheavals in the Soviet 
Now doesnt last

Really old and
sounding old

Union, even if the book does. Annotations remain in the database as long as the book is available, and what is present, current, or recent when the annotation is written will not be so for very long. The language of the annotation should always be specific: to the early 1990s, information released in 1997, the 1991 upheavals in the Soviet Union. 
Eras 
Adjectives referring to a time period should not be used in the same way for books written in that time and books written about that time. Consider the annotation for The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, which begins A Victorian melodrama concerning and the one for Mysteries of Winterthurn by Joyce Carol Oates, which begins A nineteenth-century Victorian-gothic extravaganza of The Collins book is truly Victorian, an early mystery classic, but the date at the end could be the publication date, because the annotation describes the time of writing. The Oates book was written in 1985, and to clarify that, the language should say something on the order of set in the nineteenth century or written in the Victorian-gothic style of the nineteenth century. The date at the end is not definitive. 
Regency romances, which would seem to be similar, do not present the same problem, since the genre did not exist before the middle of the twentieth century, when it was popularized, or possibly invented, by Georgette Heyer. 
Eras also present difficulties when the same word has another meaning, as for Romantic period and romantic novel. To differentiate, NLS uses an initial capital letter for the era, even though this practice deviates from Chicago style. 
Dates and the database 
These practices about dates have not been in effect throughout the history of the NLS program. At times, the publication date of the particular edition used for recording 
or brailling was listed without any indication of the real  
date or era in the annotation. Therefore, the database con 
tains anomalies such as dates in the 1960s or 1970s for  
Once things were different  works that were written several decades earlier and twenti-eth-century dates for classic authors who have long been dead. People doing subject bibliographies should be aware  
of this situation and plan to correct dates, rewrite a piece of  
the annotation, or both when assembling lists of retrospec 
tive titles.  

One-line annotations

NLS has long used one-line annotations (generally referred to as one-liners) as supplementary information about recorded books in the braille edition of Braille Book Review (BBR). Full annotations are given for braille books as in the print edition; in addition, the braille edition contains one-liners for the recorded books in the companion issue of TBT, as a short-form memory aid. For full annotations, braille readers can receive either the print or the cassette edition of TBT or refer to the on-line version. Some network libraries use the one-liner rather than the full annotation in their database. 
For many years one-liners also appeared on the order forms for the disc edition of TBT, which is no longer produced. 
One-liners have a defined amount of space in publications and on the computer screen; the term means one short line, not a one-sentence summary of indefinite length. Therefore, the writer must be succinct and inclusive. 
Grade levels 
For juvenile and young adult books, the most important information is the age group addressed. Therefore the one-liner for these books is always the grade level, which should also be in the full annotation. See list, p. 187. 
Some juvenile or young adult books are also part of a series. In that case the grade level takes precedence. If the accompanying title is short enough to fit, the sequel note should follow. 
Prequels and sequels 
Because readers have indicated a strong interest in books in series, the most important information about such books is that they are part of a series and where they fall within that 
Identify old friends

series. Therefore, if there is a sequel note, it becomes the one-liner. This information is, of course, also in the full annotation. In general, the first book in a series is listed as followed by and all others are listed as sequel to the preceding title. Some books are added to popular series as prequels, and it is possible to have more than one title listed as a prequel if the first title has already been produced. 
Note that for this purpose, books in series are considered to be only those where the action continues sequentially from one title to the next. Titles featuring the same character or group of characters do not list prequels and sequels if the books can be read in any order. Many detective novels, such as those featuring Perry Mason or Nero Wolfe, fall into this category. 
Familiar characters 
Since NLS adopted the practice of using the series title as a subtitle if it appears on the title page of any of the books in a series (see the section on subtitles, p. 139), many well-known characters or series are identified as part of the title lines. This practice makes indexes more useful and valuable information available almost immediately in book listings. Therefore, one-liners do not need to repeat this information, leaving space for other content. 
For familiar characters or favorite series, it is essential that this information be conveyed quickly. If it is not in the title information, it should be included in the one-liner: Jane Marple investigates; Sam Sackett trails . Even where the series is identified in the subtitle, the character focused on can be useful: Detective Steve Carella (for an 87th Precinct mystery). 
Dont repeat bibliographic information 
Text is new to patrons 
Content 
Because space is extremely limited, the content of the one-liner should not repeat information already given in the title or author fields. Many nonfiction books convey a great deal about their subject matter in the title and subtitle, so the one-liner should cover other elements such as approach, dates, people involved, or whatever is most pertinent to the particular book. Others only hint at their subject, and the one-liner must lay the content out clearly. 
For fiction titles, the genre is important. One-liners for historical fiction should indicate the time and place, either directly or in connection with a historical event. One-liners for mysteries should lay out the problem to be solved. One-liners for science fiction or fantasy should refer to outer space, a mythical kingdom, starships and space travel, or whatever devices the author has chosen for this exercise in imagination. 
Books that do not fall easily into a particular genre need a brief summary of the conflict or plot elements. In general, items that would be useful in the first sentence of a full annotation would also be useful in a one-liner. 
Repetition of annotation text 
The one-liner and the full annotation are maintained in the same computer record and on the accompanying hard copy and are written and then edited at the same time. Patrons, however, never see both together. The one-liner can use some of the same language as the full annotation, and often makes a good first sentence for the full annotation. All information in the one-liner should be in the full annotation, although not necessarily in the same words; if something is important enough for the limited space, it must be important enough for the larger one. 
Catalog subject categories

Books have been announced; only the arrangement is new 
About NLS catalogs 
NLS publishes three basic catalogs listing books produced during the years indicated in the title. Cassette Books, which lists adult and young adult books on cassette, is published annually, because by far the largest number of NLS titles are produced on cassette. Braille Books, which lists adult and young adult books in braille, is published biennially. For Younger Readers, which lists juvenile books produced in both media, is also published biennially. For Younger Readers also contains selected young adult books suitable for middle school and junior high readers. 
In addition, a cumulative catalog of foreign-language books is produced irregularly, usually about every four years. 
All of these catalogs contain information already made available to patrons in the bimonthly magazines Braille Book Review and Talking Book Topics, which list books produced for both adults and children since the previous issue. The catalogs enhance this material by giving access through subject categories, which can call attention to books that might have been overlooked in the bimonthly magazines. 
Catalogs are available to patrons in several ways. They are published in large print and also in one or more special media. All of these publications can be ordered by patrons and retained for reference. The three basic catalogs are entered into the book collection and produced for loan in the medium most appropriate: on cassette (usually voice indexed) for Cassette Books and For Younger Readers and in braille for Braille Books. In addition, catalogs are posted on the Internet. 
The basic catalogs list books under nonfiction and fiction headings further subdivided into subject categories. These 
Best placement needed

categories are for the general reader and can differ from usual library practice; the intent is to list books under the subject heading where a reader is most likely to look for a particular type of material. Subject categories also break out material of specific interest, such as books relating to blindness and physical handicaps. 
Subject categories for catalogs 
The list on pp. 177 to 191 is used to assign subject categories and reflects those that have been found most useful over the years. The four-letter code in the first column simplifies inputting information into the computer; it usually consists of the first four letters of the category. Some of the codes assigned to foreign-language books or print/braille are designed deliberately to make this material fall (via alphabetical computer sorts) at the end of the other lists, where it will appear in the catalogs. 
Assigning subject categories 
These NLS catalogs are not the same as library card catalogs, or the current automated equivalent, in which multiple subject listings may give the reader several points of access to information. Special-format material can be difficult for readers to access because of the sheer length and bulk of a large-print volume, the shelf space required by many braille volumes, or the tedium of listening to large numbers of recorded entries. Librarians assigning categories should exercise restraint and search for the one best placementor two at most, if the book definitely and throughout (not just here and there) is representative of those categories. 
Although subject categories are reviewed several times before catalogs are published, the best time to make such a determination is at the beginning, when the annotator has the book in hand. Later determinations have to be made from the annotation, which we surely hope is accurate. It is, however, a secondary source and necessarily short, and 
Where would
a reader look?

therefore using the annotation for this purpose is much less reliable than working from the book. 
Things to consider 
Some titles naturally overlap two or more subject categories. Most books of historical fiction are also either romances or adventure stories, and many contain elements of both. The person assigning the subject category must decide which of the possible placementshistorical fiction, romance, or adventureis the most descriptive of the book. Cooking, diet and nutrition, and medicine and health overlap, but the subject generally leans toward one of these categories, and one placement is sufficient for a reader to find the information. 
More difficult are categories that are similar to each other but have a slightly different emphasis. Government and politics and U.S. history are obviously related. People interested in this material would be likely to look for books under both headings and would not be well served by finding many of the same books in both places. The annotator must determine whether the material is more related to governing and its political aspects or has substantial impact on history. 
Some subject categories are more precise subdivisions of a larger subject category, such as animals and wildlife, astronomy, and computers, all of which could also fall under science and technology. Books placed in specific subject categories should not also be listed under the more general one. 
NLS practice is to place most biographies in the subject category for which the person is known, because readers interested in a sports figure are most likely to look in the subject category of sports, reader interested in a musician are most likely to look under the music heading, and readers interested in movie stars are most likely to try stage and screen. General memoirs and biographical writings about people not identified with a particular field are listed under biography, and a note precedes this category explaining that other biographies can be found in the appropriate subject category. 
Some books must have more than one category for various placements in the catalogs. These books usually appear in the main-entry section and also again under headings for different age groups or types of material. Both adult catalogs have lists for young adults following the main section and an index to bestsellers. For Younger Readers has separate lists of print/braille books and books for very young readers (generally preschool through grade 2), as well as the selected list for young adults mentioned above. These placements are indicated by assigning the heading as an additional subject category. 
The general category in both the nonfiction and fiction sections is for books that do not fall into any of the designated subject categories. Therefore, books placed there should not have a second listing except for placement. Books can be general and bestsellers; they can be general and for young adults; they cannot be general and also belong to social sciences. 
The short stories category is an exception to the rule about single placements as far as possible. Many NLS patrons prefer short material, almost regardless of the subject, probably because more than half of them are sixty-five years old or older and some are subject to the decreasing memory span that can be part of aging. Short stories, therefore, are always listed in their own category and also in another subject category if appropriate. Science fiction collections, for example, would always be listed in both places. 
Dealing with different types of category records 
Subject categories are entered into the production record when the book is annotated, along with a copy-allotment category for use by professionals in libraries for selecting the number of copies they will need. Assigning catalog 
Formal cataloging rules are different 
Combination of titles actually produced may require restructuring categories 
subject categories is a separate function from assigning copy-allotment categories and each has a different audience and purpose. Copy-allotment categories generally follow Dewey Decimal rules and can be different from the one or more NLS categories assigned for catalogs. The NLS Bibliographic Control Section may add more categories or use different ones for the official cataloging record retained in the International Union Catalog database. 
Up to three categories can be used for catalogs, not because three are expected but for the rare occasions in which three are needed. An example would be a collection of occult short stories that becomes a bestseller. Juvenile fiction can fall under family, friends, and very young readers. Generally, however, one subject category is best and two will suffice for nearly all exceptions. 
Reviewing catalog categories 
Categories are reviewed when the book is annotated and again when the book has been produced and initial records for catalogs are compiled. These initial records are done in conjunction with the preparation of the bimonthly editions of Braille Book Review and Talking Book Topics, which do not list books by subject. However, the computer record for each book, which is derived from the production record, does contain this information. Review at this point is mainly concerned with correcting errors and removing extra entries. The more significant review takes place when all issues of Braille Book Review and Talking Book Topics have been prepared for the calendar year or years covered by each catalog. At that point records for each issue are combined and sorted by catalog and category for a preliminary review of books actually produced and where they are placed. Catalogs that contain recorded books (either entirely or combined with braille books) generally list between 1,200 and 1,700 entries and can run to upwards of 500 print pages, making access by subject essential. 
Categories may change

The reviewer has to use judgment to make sure that readers have subject categories that will provide the best access to information about books included in each particular catalog. When categories were assigned, the annotator was dealing with best placement for an individual book without knowledge of what other books would be produced in a particular time period (production times vary for different types of material) and therefore appear in the same catalog. Only now do we deal with these books collectively. The basic categories are a starting point and are not immutable. 
Most of the books will be listed under the subject categories initially assigned; mysteries, romances, and westerns do not tend to change genres, and there will surely be enough of them to fill several pages in each print catalog. Some of the nonfiction categories, such as sports and stage and screen are also quite static. 
We try not to raise reader expectations by listing on the contents pages subject categories that contain only two or three books. Some categories, therefore, should be combined if there are only small numbers of books in one or both of them. Gardening books, for instance, can be included under either home management or hobbies. Inspirational books can be combined with religion. Gothics can be placed with suspense books, if there are not enough titles in that category in this particular catalog. Single entries that do not fit with any other category should be designated general. 
More exciting is trying to discover categories that can be broken out from the basic category lists according to the actual entries for each catalog. The collective categories such as government and politics are prime candidates for separation. We have at times had enough books to list politics as a separate category, which means that readers more interested in the political aspects of government do not have to deal with the more legalistic aspects unless they choose to do so. We are now using family as a basic category due to a renewed interest in this subject and therefore more books available for selection, but these books were for many years listed under marriage, family, and sex. And there have been times when the combined listing of marriage and family made more sense, with sex listed separately. 
The general category should always be examined for books that fall into a subject not considered earlier. One year we discovered several books on amateur radio, an important interest and activity for some blind patrons. And sometimes scanning the entire list reveals a new and significant category. Nature and the environment, now on the basic list, emerged by combining several biographies, some titles listed under animals and wildlife, others listed under science, and some from social sciences. 
The basic category list, which itself changes from time to time, represents what is realistic and probable when dealing with an individual book, and should reflect the annotators best judgment for that book. But the preliminary list for each catalog is not static. Much review and judgment go into determining the best patron access to each particular group of entries. 
Catalog subject headings

Adult catalogs 

Nonfiction  
ADVE  Adventure  True accounts of hazardous or  
exciting events, often in exotic settings  
ANIM  Animals and Wildlife  Books on natural history, zoology, pet care, birding, and other wildlife activities  
ARTS  Arts, The  Works on painting and artists, plus other works on the fine arts not included in specific subjects  
ASTR  Astronomy  Works about space and the universe  
BEST  Bestsellers  Books that appear on a major list of bestselling nonfiction for at least four weeks. Now  
used to compile a list, rather than as a separate category. Full entries appear in another subject category as appropriate.  
BIOG  Biography  Biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, and accounts of specific events in an persons life. Use for individuals who do  
not fit into a specific subject.  

BLIN  Blindness and  
Physical  
Handicaps  
BUSI  Business and  
Economics  
CARE  Career and  
Job Training  
CLAS  Classics  
COMP  Computers  
CONS  Consumerism  
COOK  Cooking  
CRIM  Crime  

Personal accounts, handbooks and guidebooks, and legislation affecting blind or handicapped individuals; includes NLS catalogs 
Books on business principles, successful business people or firms, and analyses of economic practices and trends 
Books with general career advice and information on specific fields 
Classical works of nonfiction; includes landmark books in various disciplines 
Books on the history of computer technology and basic principles of computer operation 
Information for the informed buyer; includes money handling, insurance, estate planning, legal advice, and classes of products such as beauty aids or wholesome foods 
Cookbooks and books describing food for particular occasions or from various ethnic cultures 
Accounts of the planning and execution of a crime; the consequences of that crime to the perpetrator, victim, or community; workings of the judicial system HOME 
DIET  Diet and Nutrition  Books on food consumption and its relationship to health, including types of regimens for specific purposes and conditions  
DRAM  Drama and Screen  Plays, lives of playwrights, and critical commentaries; reviews, interviews, history, and biographies of stars go under Stage and Screen  
EDUC  Education  Guides for parents, personal accounts, and discussions of theory  
FAMI  Family  Family concerns, child development, parenting, and elder care  
FOLK  Folktales  Folktales, fairy tales, tall tales, and legends (will be printed in fiction section)  
GARD  Gardening  Garden handbooks and guides  
GENE  General  Books that do not readily fit elsewhere  
GOVE  Government and Politics  Discussions and analyses of political policies and practices and government events; includes biographies of political figures, accounts of election campaigns, and effects of foreign policies  
GRAD  Grade 1 braille  Books in uncontracted braille  
for adult learners  
HOBB  Hobbies and Crafts  How-to books and personal accounts  
179  

HUMO INSP 
JOUR LANG LEGA 
LITE 
MARR MEDI 
MUSI Home Management Humor Inspiration 
Journalism and the Media 
Language and Linguistics 
Legal Issues 
Literature 
Marriage and Sex 
Medicine and Health 
Music 
180

Housekeeping hints and maintenance guides 
Essays in a light vein 
Meditations and prayers; commentaries on spiritual life; personal accounts of spiritual growth and dealing with crises 
Career guides, reminiscences, and appraisals 
Usage manuals; histories of language development 
Court cases, functions of the court system and the Supreme Court, and legal aspects of legislation 
Literary works including speeches and letters; biographical works about authors; critical appraisals 
Books on love and relationships 
General guides to well-being; health care for parts of the body such as hair and skin; books on specific conditions and diseases; biographies of medical practitioners 
Books about music and musicians, both popular and classical NATU Nature and the Environment 
OCCU	Occult and Astrology 
PHIL	Philosophy 
POET	Poetry 
PSYC	Psychology and Self-Help 
RELI	Religion 
SCIE	Science and Technology Books on natural sciences, ecology, conservation, and lives of people identified with natural history 
Accounts of events beyond the known range of natural or physical science; includes astrology and UFO phenomena 
Introductions to philosophers and their thoughts; historical surveys; modern commentaries 
Poetry collections and lives of poets 
Discussions of behavior and its development, problem solving, and self-fulfillment 
Religions of the world, historical developments, commentaries, and personal accounts 
Biological and physical sciences; technological developments; lives of scientists.  Do not use for books with a more precise category such as Nature or Astronomy. 
SOCI Social Sciences Anthropology; social behavior 

SPOR	Sports and Recreation 
181 and customs; social problems; etiquette 
Books on specific sports, people in sports, and sportswriters; recreational activities primarily concerned with the outdoors 
STAG  Stage and  Collections of reviews and  
Screen  interviews; history of develop 
ments and trends; lives of  
stars. People primarily noted  
for stage or screen musicals  
are listed here; rock stars and  
opera singers go under music.  
TRAV  Travel  Accounts of journeys, usually  
adventurous or leading to  
insights about people and  
places; travel guides and tips,  
including guides for disabled  
travelers  
USHI  U.S. History  Accounts and analyses of  
events, eras, and cultures in  
the American past; lives of  
historical figures  
WARS  War  Military histories, personal  
memoirs, and analyses of  
causes, leaders, and develop 
ments  
WEST  West, the  Histories and true stories of  
the American West from  
frontier days to the present,  
including accounts of both  
settlers and Native Americans.  
Accounts of settling land east  
of the Mississippi go under  
U.S. History  
WOME  Womens  Books on womens issues and  
Concerns  women who have been stan 
dard bearers. Does not include  
all books featuring a woman,  
or even all books about a  
woman who has achieved a  
first in some field.  
182  

Adult fiction

WORL 
YOUN 
y fren y germ y ital y span 
Fiction 
ADVE 
ANIM 
BEST 
CLAS

World History	Accounts and analyses of events, eras, and cultures outside the U.S.; lives of historical figures 
Young Adults For junior high or older 
Nonfiction  readers; must have grade-level  
tagline in the body of the  
annotation  
French titles  
German titles  
Italian titles  
Spanish titles  

Adventure	Stories about suspenseful, hazardous, exciting, or unusual events that generally happen outdooors and often include journeys; includes survival stories 
Animals	Stories with animals as protagonists or largely about animals 
Bestsellers	Books that appear on a major list of bestselling fiction for at least four weeks. Now used to compile a list, rather than as a separate category. Full entries appear in another subject category as appropriate. 
Classics	Classical works of a fictional nature 
CONT  Contemporary  Works of an experimental  
nature or trendy content.  
Can contain general works  
characterized by much strong  
language, violence, or explicit  
descriptions of sex.  
FAMI  Family  Fictional works that trace the  
history or development of  
families; can cover more than  
one generation or focus on  
current relationships  
FANT  Fantasy  Whimsical stories involving  
imaginary or improbable  
situations or events, usually  
taking place on Earth or in an  
imaginary land rather than in  
outer space  
GENE  General  Fictional works that cannot  
be readily classed elsewhere.  
Also used for works of more  
literary merit than genre  
fiction.  
GOTH  Gothics  Stories of mystery and  
romance, usually in an eerie  
setting  
GRAD  Grade 1 braille  Books in uncontracted braille  
for adult learners  
GROW  Growing Up  Coming-of-age stories usually  
involving relationships  
HIST  Historical  Fictional treatment of events  
or persons in history, or stories  
set in a particular era  
184  

HOLI  Holidays  Stories centering around a holiday theme  
HUMA  Human Relationships  Works about dysfunctional families, non-traditional choices, and other bondings  
HUMO  Humor  Fictional works of a humorous  
nature, generally light in tone  
LEGA  Legal Themes  Stories about lawyers, law firms, and court cases  
LITE  Literature  Books of lasting value or literary worth, but not considered classics; can include recent prize winners  
MEDI  Medical  Stories about doctors and  
Themes  nurses, hospitals, and illnesses  
MYST  Mystery and Detective  Works about police, private investigators, or civilians who redress offenses against the law or cleverly solve baffling puzzles; includes crime stories  
OCCU  Occult and Horror  Fictional works on supernatural phenomena, the occult, ghosts, and extrasensory perception; includes horror tales  
POLI  Political Themes  Works that deal with politicians, cians, the workings of political parties, or the affairs of government  
PSYC  Psychological Themes  Stories where much of the action takes place within the mind of the character, often distinguished by internal dialogue and a distortion of reality  
185  

RELI 
ROMA 
SCIE 
SHOR SPOR 
SPIE 
SUSP 
WARS 
WEST YOUN 
Religious Themes 
Romance 
Science Fiction 
Short Stories Sports 
Spies and Espionage 
Suspense 
War Stories 
Westerns 
Young Adults Fiction 
186 Stories of a religious or inspirational nature; includes Bible stories 
Uncomplicated, sentimental, or emotional aspects of romantic love presented in  a simple plot and usually ending happily; generally light, but may include descriptions of sex 
Stories about life in the future or in outer space 
Short fiction of all kinds 
Fictional accounts of sports, sporting events, or people involved in sports 
Fiction involving plots against political figures, governments, or large organizations 
Fiction usually involving some type of rescue or resolution of Fiction involving plots against a dangerous situation 
Fictional accounts of the exploits of soldiers or events of wartime 
Stories set in the American West 
For junior high or older readers; must have grade-level tagline in the body of the annotation 
y fren French titles y germ German titles y ital Italian titles y poli Polish titles y port Portuguese titles y span Spanish titles 
Childrens catalogs 
Note: Juvenile categories are similar to those for adults. Explanations are given only when a category is not used for adult titles or when the contents differ. 
Nonfiction 
ADVE Adventure Works about adventurous people, present and past ANIM Animals ASTR Astronomy Space, the sky, and the stars BIOG Biography Lives of famous people 
BLIN	Blindness and Physical Handicaps 
CARE Careers CLAS Classics Use only for books that have endured; do not use for
Childrens nonfiction 
retellings of familiar stories COMP Computers COOK Cooking FOLK Folk and Will be placed in fiction when 
Fairy Tales printed because children 
GENE GEOG 
GOVE 
HIST HOBB HOLI 
JOKE LANG MEDI MUSI 
NATU 
POET 
RELI SCIE 
General Geography 
Government and the Law 
History Hobbies and Crafts 
Holidays 
Jokes, Riddles, and Rhymes 
Language 
Medicine and Health Music Nature 
Poetry, Drama, and Literature would look there for stories about things that are not real 
Books on places in the world and the people who live in them 
Books about fun things to do 
Books on the meaning and origin of holidays worldwide and how they are celebrated 
Collections that use language to evoke fun and laughter 
Books about grammar, usage, and fun aspects of words 
Books on natural history and wonders of the world around us; can include environmental issues 
Religion and Ethics Science 
188 SPOR Sports and Recreation 
VERP Nonfiction books, usually for young children, (PRINT/ that combine the original print and clear braille BRAILLE) overlays; used to create a separate catalog 
section for these books Stories focusing on an experience that promotes understanding and growth 
VERY  Very Young Readers  Books for preschool through grade 2; does not include PRINT/BRAILLE  
YOUA  You and  Your Body  Explanations of how the body works, health care, and problems of addictions and substance abuse  
y span  Spanish titles  
Fiction ADVE  Adventure  
ANIM  Animals  
CLAS  Classics  Use only for books that have endured; do not use for retellings of familiar stories  
FAMI  Family  Stories about relationships with siblings and adult family members  
FANT  Fantasy  Tales of other lands and worlds, strange beings, magic, and wishes-come-true; includes tales of witches and ghost stories  
FRIE  Friendship  Stories of forming and maintaining bondswith schoolmates, neighbors of all ages, pets, and even favorite toys  
189  

GENE  General  
GROW  Growing-up  
HIST  Historical  
Fiction  
HOLI  Holidays  
HUMO  Humor  
MYST  Mystery  
RELI  Religious  
Themes  
SCAR  Scary Stories  
SCIE  Science Fiction  
SCHO  School  
SHOR  Short Stories  
SPOR  Sports  
TALL  Tall Tales  

Stories about celebratrations of all kinds, from birthdays to major religious or ethnic festivals 
Books that revolve around biblical stories or religious practices 
Works designed to provide  a mild thrill, often with a fantasy theme 
Stories that take place primarily in the classroom  or revolve around school activities 
Stories of legendary heroes and extraordinary feats or events 
VERP Fiction books, usually for young children, that PRINT/ combine the original print and clear braille BRAILLE overlays; used to create a separate catalog 
section for these books 
VERY  Very Young  Books for preschool  
Readers  through grade 2, not including  
PRINT/BRAILLE  
WEST  Westerns  
y span  Spanish titles  

Index

A 
Additions to text
bestseller designation, 158
foreign language information, 158
grade level information, 157158
PRINT/BRAILLE, 157
prizes, 158
taglines, 155156
Adjectives
adding color, 73
annotation examples, 10, 73, 75
contemporary settings and, 30
descriptive, 7475
gender issues, 35
humorous books and, 21
judgmental, 21, 7374
purpose of, 72
setting or summing up the tone, 7273
Adult catalogs, 172, 177187
African American
use of the term, 32
Age considerations
taglines, 156, 157158
Ambiguous pronouns, 105
Ampersands
in titles, 135
Annotation examples
authors intent, 4849
childrens books, 2224
collections, 1822
editing annotations, 103128
fiction, 610, 1114, 2829, 47
for long titles, 46
mood of the book, 48

nonfiction, 56, 1011, 1418, 26, 46,
47, 5152, 56, 57, 58, 6263, 67,
6869, 75, 9697
sex in books, 78, 9, 10, 21, 22, 28,
46, 52
strong language in books, 910, 20,
21, 28, 52, 56
violence in books, 7, 910, 20, 28, 46,
48, 52, 56
Annotations
abstracts and, 4
functions of, 34, 45
misleading, 43
one-line, 128, 132, 165167
as part of recorded books, 1
purpose of, 12, 34, 36
reviews and, 4
Announcements
elements of, 23
as sources for information, 40
uses of, 12
Apostrophes
uses of, 94
Articles
uses of, 7576
Authors
announcement element, 2
attitudes toward sensitive situations, 31
coauthors, 146
editors as, 146
endorsement of, 117118
forms of names, 145
honorifics, 146147
intent of, 4849
minor works by authors of classics, 13

multiple, 146
parts of a name, 145
translators, 146

Authors authority
biographies, 15
psychology and self-help books, 17

Authors opinions, 120121 
Awards to authors or books
as additional information, 158
as part of the announcement, 3

B Background of the book 
Book digests
as sources for information, 41
Book jackets

as sources for information, 4142
Book List, 40
Book numbers

for ordering, 2

parentheses for, 99
Book Review Digest, 41
Braille Book Review, 12, 169, 173
Braille books

number of volumes, 2
Braille Books catalog

annotation examples, 10, 57
BBR. See Braille Book Review
Bestsellers. See also Fiction books;

Nonfiction books
as additional information, 158
annotating approaches, 1314
annotation examples, 67, 9, 21,

4748
status of as part of the announcement,

3
Bibliographic Control Section, 173
Bilingual books, 158
Biographies. See also Nonfiction books

annotating approaches, 1416, 26
annotation examples, 15, 24, 26,

5556, 62, 67
avoiding superlatives, 15
fictionalized, 1415
first sentences, 55
keeping the annotation balanced, 15
subject categories for, 171172

Black
use of the term, 32
Book announcements. See
Announcements

description of contents, 169

C 
Capitalization. See also Text style
adhering to style and, 100, 131
in titles, 133

Cassette Books catalog
description of contents, 169

Cassettes. See also Recorded books
annotations as part of, 1
number of, 2

Catalogs
adult catalogs, 172, 177187
assigning subject categories, 170173
childrens books, 187191
combining categories, 174
copy-allotment category, 172173
family as a basic category, 174175
fiction books, 183187, 189191
International Union Catalog, 2, 173
media presented in, 169
more than one category for some

books, 172
nonfiction books, 177183, 187189
ordering, 169

reviewing categories, 170171, 
173175
subject categories, 169175
subject headings, 177191
Wilson catalogs, 41

Centuries style for, 150 Character names, 6871, 166 
The Chicago Manual of Style 
comma usage, 94, 95 as NLS basic reference, 99, 102, 131, 133, 149 
Childrens books annotating approaches, 2224 annotation examples, 9, 2324, 56, 69 brief annotations for, 47 catalog categories, 187191 character names and, 22 older childrens books, 2324, 26, 
157158 
vocabulary for, 22 Choppy sentences, 89 Classics. See also Fiction books 
annotating approaches, 13 annotation examples, 13, 46 minor works by authors of, 13 time and place references, 2930 
Clichs, 81 Coauthors, 146 Coined phrases 
psychology and self-help books, 16 
Collections annotating approaches, 1822 annotation examples, 56, 1920, 58, 
9192 dates for, 161 fragmentation of material and, 18 time reference style, 161 unifying themes, 1819 
Colons
in subtitles, 139140
in titles, 135
uses of, 97

Commas compound sentences and, 95 nonrestrictive clauses and, 95 serial, 95, 96 in titles, 134 uses of, 9496 
Common elements planning annotations and, 4243 
Compilers
announcement element, 2
style for, 146

Complex sentences, 8384
Compound sentences, 95, 96
Conciseness, 109110
Conjunctions

uses of, 7678
Contemporary settings, 30
Contemporary works

time references, 27, 30 Content considerations annotation examples and comments, 
511 different types of books, 1124 editing annotations and, 121126 ethnic and racial designations, 3234 gender, 3435 judgments, 3637 lifestyles, 3536 one-line annotations, 167 people with disabilities, 3132 planning annotations, 4344 sensitivities, 3136 skimming books for content, 42 taglines, 37 time and place references, 2531 
195 
type of book, 4344 Controversial subjects, 119120 Copy-allotment category for catalogs, 
172173 Copyright dates, 159 Copyright law 
quotes and, 86 Copyright renewals, 161 Credibility 
judgments and, 36 Critical reviews as sources for information, 4041 Cultural periods text style for, 152 
D 
Dangling participles and phrases, 9394, 104105 
Dashes in titles, 134 uses of, 9798 
Database content, 162163 Datelines, 151 Dates. See also Time references 
annotation example and, 9 collections, 161 copyright dates, 159 copyright renewals, 161 at the end of annotations, 159 eras and, 25, 152 historical fiction and, 29 NLS database and, 162163 older works with new matter, 160 parentheses and, 99 public domain information, 160 style for, 150151, 159163 in titles, 135136 translations, 161 verifying correctness of, 126128 
Days style for, 151 Decades 
style for, 150 Definite articles, 7576 Derogatory terms, 34 Detective novels. See Mystery stories Dewey Decimal rules 
for copy-allotment category for cata
logs, 173 Digests. See Book digests Digital format books, 2 Disabilities 
accepted terminology for, 3132 Discs number of, 2 
E 
Editing annotations authors opinion and, 120121 categories of annotations, 101 choosing appropriate facts, 107108 conciseness, 109110 content considerations, 121126 controversial subjects, 119120 correct emphasis and, 123125 disclosing too much of the plot and, 
108109 endorsement of books or authors, 
117118 giving enough information, 122123 grammar correction, 103106 inappropriate words, 114115 keeping the annotation interesting, 
106107 nature and scope of the book and, 125126 positioning of words, 114 
questions to consider, 101102, 
106107 reasons to edit, 101 reviewing editing work, 128 sexual innuendo, 115117 style errors, 102 tightening wording, 113114 using clear and descriptive language, 
110117 
verifying facts, 101, 126128 Editions of books, 160 Editors 
announcement element, 2
style for, 146

Ellipses quotes and, 86 in titles, 134 
Endings for annotations, 6366 Endorsement of books or authors, 117118 
Eras adding dates for, 25 differentiating contemporary works set 
in a previous era, 30 time reference style, 162 Escapist fiction. See also specific types, i.e., Science fiction books 
annotating approaches, 1113 annotation examples, 6, 64 disclosing the ending in the annota
tion, 63
one-line annotation content, 167

Essay collections annotating approaches, 19 annotation examples, 20 humorous, 20 
Ethnic designations accepted terminology for, 3234 Examples. See Annotation examples 
Exclamation points in subtitles, 140 in titles, 134 uses of, 94 
Exclamations uses of, 85 
F 
Facts choosing appropriate facts, 107108 verifying, 101, 126128 
Family as a basic category for catalogs, 174175 Fantasy books one-line annotation content, 167 
Fiction books. See also Childrens books; specific types of fiction, i.e., Escapist fiction 
annotating approaches, 1114 
annotation examples, 610, 1114, 2829, 47, 52, 5354, 57, 6061, 6465, 67, 68, 6972, 8485, 9192 
catalog categories, 169170, 172, 
183187, 189191 dates and, 159 fictionalized biographies, 1415 first sentences, 5253 humorous, 20, 21 one-line annotation content, 167 place references, 2831 time references, 2831 
Fifty-word precept for annotation length, 4546, 48 Final sentences annotation examples, 7, 8, 11 
First sentences
annotation examples, 5, 79, 11, 24,

5152, 5354, 56, 57, 58, 6061, 62
background and, 5657
biographies, 15, 16
describing the point of the book,

5152, 5557 errors to avoid, 5562 examples of good first sentences, 
5354
fiction, 5253
genre and, 5960
humorous books and, 6061
nonfiction, 52, 5455
one-line annotations and, 167
overcrowding and, 61
psychology and self-help books, 17
repeating title information, 58
setting the tone of the book, 5253
throwaways and, 6162
wordiness, 5961

For Younger Readers catalog
description of contents, 169
subject categories for, 172

Foreign-language books
catalogs of, 169
language as additional information,

158
Formulas
escapist fiction and, 12
Fragmentation of material
collections and, 18
Freudian traps, 115117

G 
Gender issues
gender-specific words encompassing
both sexes, 34

gender-specific words for occupations,
34
terms relegating women to a second

ary position, 35
Generalizations, 6465
Genres. See also specific genres, i.e.,

Victorian novels 
first sentences and, 5960
text style for, 152

Grade level information
one-line annotations and, 165
as part of the announcement, 3, 9
phrases used, 157

Grammar. See also Language
ambiguous pronouns, 105
dangling participles and phrases,

9394, 104105
editing annotations and, 103106
misplaced modifiers, 93, 104
parallel construction, 7, 8283, 97,

105106, 128
subject/verb agreement, 92, 103, 128
using clear referents, 93

Guidebooks. See Practical guides 
H 
Hispanics
use of the term, 34
Historical fiction
annotation examples, 2829, 53,

6365
older books, 2930
one-line annotation content, 167
time and place references, 2830

Historical periods
text style for, 152
Holding agencies, 2

Honorifics Judgments style for, 146147 avoiding, 3637 
How-to books. See also Nonfiction books editing annotations and, 117121 annotating approaches, 1718 taglines and, 37 annotation examples, 18 Juvenilia. See Childrens books brief annotations for, 47 
Humorous books 
K
annotating approaches, 2021 Kirkus Review, 40
annotation examples, 21, 6061
types of humor, 21

Hyphens L ethnic designations and, 33 Language. See also Grammar in titles, 135 adjectives, 7275 
articles, 7576 clichs, 81 conjunctions, 7678Imprecise language, 8788, 109110 errors to avoid, 8082 Inappropriate words, 114115 imprecise, 8788Indefinite articles, 75 inappropriate words, 114115 
Indexes 
literary allusions, 82 
how-to books and practical guides, 17 making annotations interesting and, Indians 106107
use of the term, 33 
misused words, 110111 
Information selection, 4345, 121126 nouns, 6772
Information sources, 3943 objectives of word choices, 66 
Instruction books. See How-to books 
obscure words, 81 International Union Catalog, 2, 173 prepositions, 7880Internet 
redundancies, 81
catalog ordering and, 169 unnecessary words, 111112

Introductory sentences. See First sen-using clear and descriptive language, tences 110117
Italics 
using too few words, 112 
in titles, 136137 
verbs, 6667 
for titles in text, 149 
words that can be used as more than 
one part of speech, 80 J words with different pronunciations, 80 Jackets. See Book jackets words with more than one meaning, 80 Jewish words with the same pronunciation, 80 
use of the term, 33 Large print for catalogs, 169 
Latinos
use of the term, 34
Length determination

fifty-word precept, 4546, 48
Library Journal, 40
Lifestyle issues, 3536
Literary allusions, 82
Long titles, 46
Los Angeles Times, 40

M 
Memoirs. See also Nonfiction books
annotating approaches, 1416
annotation examples, 1011, 16, 62
subject categories for, 171172
time references, 27

Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition 
as NLS basic reference, 78, 102, 131
Misplaced modifiers, 93, 104
Misused words, 110111
Models for annotations, 511. See also

Annotation examples
Modifiers, misplaced, 93, 104
Months

style for, 150151
Mood of the book, 48
Mystery stories

annotation examples, 8, 910, 68, 70,
7172, 8485
one-line annotations and, 166, 167

N 
Names. See also Authors; Nouns
verifying correctness of, 126128
Nation
use of the term, 33
National Library Service

Bibliographic Control Section, 173
catalog subject categories, 169175
computer system to track titles, 4546
database content, 162163
International Union Catalog, 2, 173

Native Americans 
use of the term, 33
New York Times Book Review, 40, 41
Nonfiction books. See also Childrens

books; specific types of nonfiction, i.e., Memoirs 
annotating approaches, 1418 
annotation examples, 56, 1011,
1418, 26, 46, 47, 5152, 56, 57,
58, 6263, 67, 6869, 75, 9697

avoiding the use of the story of, 14
catalog categories, 169170, 172,

177183, 187189
dates and, 159
first sentences, 52, 5557
humorous, 20, 21
one-line annotation content, 167
place references, 2526
table of contents, introductions, and

postscripts as sources of informa
tion, 42

time references, 2526
Nontraditional family arrangements, 35
Notes

numbering, 45
questions to cover, 44

Nouns
consistent use within an annotation, 72
definition of, 67
place or character names, 6871, 166

Numbers. See also Book numbers; Time
references
in titles, 135136
volume numbers of series, 142

O 
Obscure words, 81
Offices
text style for, 153

One-line annotations
content of, 167
definition of the term, 165
familiar characters and, 166
grade level information, 165
prequels and sequels and, 165166
repetition of annotation text, 167
reviewing after edit, 128
as a separate entry, 132

Overcrowding
first sentences and, 61

P 
Paperback books teasers on the backs of as sources for 
information, 42
Paragraph structure, 63
Parallel construction

annotation example, 7, 97
editing annotations and, 105106, 128
writing annotations and, 8283

Parentheses 
uses of, 9899 Participles, dangling, 9394, 104105 People with disabilities 
accepted terminology for, 3132 
phrases to avoid, 32
Periodical names, 137
Periods

uses of, 94

Place references
annotation examples, 10
fiction books, 2831
historical fiction, 2830

nonfiction books, 2526
phrases that work, 27
using proper nouns, 6871
using the books language for, 3031
verifying correctness of, 126128
words to avoid, 27

Planning annotations choosing a writing style, 4849 content selection, 4344 determining length, 4548 finding common elements, 4243 jotting down notes about the book, 
4445, 88
questions notes should cover, 4445
selecting what to include, 4345
sources for information, 3942
steps, 3949
structured notes, 45, 51

Plots
annotation examples, 6, 8
disclosing too much, 64, 108109
escapist fiction and, 1213

Poetry collections
annotating approaches, 1819
annotation examples, 19, 22, 98
quotes from the text, 86

Popular genres. See Genres
Positioning of words, 114
Practical guides

annotating approaches, 1718
annotation examples, 47, 62

Prepositions
common errors, 7980
list of, 7879
lower case in titles, 133
prepositional phrases, 78, 8889
short versus long prepositions, 78

Prepublication announcements. See Announcements 
Prequels
one-line annotations and, 165166
as part of the announcement, 3

PRINT/BRAILLE designation, 157
Prizes. See Awards to authors or books
Pronouns

ambiguous, 105
gender issues, 3435
misplaced modifiers, 93, 104
using clear referents, 93

Proper nouns. See also Authors; Names uses of, 6871 
Psychology books. See also Nonfiction
books
annotating approaches, 1617
coined phrases, 16

Public domain information, 160
Publishers Weekly, 40
Punctuation

ampersands, 135
apostrophes, 94
capitalization, 100, 131
colons, 97, 134, 139140
commas, 9496, 134
dashes, 9798, 134
dividing long sentences, 94
ellipses, 86, 134
exclamation points, 94, 134, 140
hyphens, 33, 135
parentheses, 9899
periods, 94
question marks, 94, 134, 140
quotation marks, 134, 140
semicolons, 9697
in subtitles, 139140
in titles, 134135
using more rather than less, 94

Purposes of annotations, 12, 34, 36

Q 
Question marks
in subtitles, 140
in titles, 134
uses of, 94

Questions annotation examples, 8485 questions to which the answer is obvi
ous, 6566, 84

Quotation marks
in subtitles, 140
in titles, 134

Quotes
ellipses and, 86
from introductions by well-known peo

ple, 87
from source materials, 87
from the text, 8587
titles in text, 149150

R 
Racial designations 
accepted terminology for, 3234
Reader names, 2
Recorded books. See also Cassettes

annotations as part of, 1
book jacket information, 4142
catalog categories, 173
reader names, 2

Redundancies, 81
Reference books. See also specific refer
ence publications

brief annotations for, 47

Regency romances
annotation example, 73
text style for, 152
time references and, 30, 162

Reissue or rerecord information, 3

Reissued books, 160
Religious terms
style for, 153

Repetition annotation examples, 9192 of annotation text in one-line annota
tions, 167
avoiding, 91
repeating title information in first sen

tences, 58

Reviews
of catalog categories, 173175
of editing work, 128
of one-line annotations, 128
as sources for information, 4041
of subject categories, 170171

Roman type
for series names, 142
titles in text, 150

Romantic period novels
time reference style, 162
Run-on sentences
annotation example, 9

S 
Sampling, 3
Satire. See Humorous books
Science fiction books

one-line annotation content, 167
subject categories for, 172
Seasons
style for, 151

Second sentences adding supportive details, 6263 annotation examples, 7, 8, 11, 5152, 
6263 Self-help books annotating approaches, 1617 
annotation examples, 1617
coined phrases, 16
Semicolons
uses of, 9697

Sensitivity issues ethnic and racial designations, 3234 gender, 3435 lifestyles, 3536 people with disabilities, 3132 
Sentence structure
complex sentences, 8384
exclamations, 85
parallel construction, 7, 8283, 97,

105106, 128
questions, 65, 66, 8485
quotes from the text, 8587
varying, 8287

Sentences. See also Final sentences; First
sentences; Second sentences; Third
sentences
choppy, 89
complex, 8384
compound, 95, 96
single run-on, 9
throwaways, 6162

Sequels
one-line annotations and, 165166
as part of the announcement, 3

Serial commas, 95, 96

Series
consistency of form, 143
familiar characters in annotations, 166
identified in subtitles, 141142, 166
name as title, 143
one-line annotations and, 165166
as part of the announcement, 3
roman type for, 142
sequences, 144
volume numbers, 142

Settings
contemporary, 30
historical fiction and, 29
time references, 10, 2530
using the books language for place

references, 3031 
Sex in books
annotating approaches, 22
annotation examples, 78, 9, 10, 21,

22, 28, 46, 52
as part of the announcement, 3
taglines for, 37, 155156

Sexual innuendo, 115117 Sexual orientation issues, 3536 Short story collections 
annotating approaches, 19
annotation examples, 20, 9192, 96
subject categories for, 172

Skimming books for content, 42
Sources for information, 3942
Special-interest sources for information, 41
Special sections

how-to books and practical guides, 17
Sports books. See also Nonfiction books
annotation example, 56

Strong language in books
annotating approaches, 22
annotation examples, 910, 20, 21, 28,

52, 56
as part of the announcement, 3
taglines for, 37, 155156

Style
additions to text, 155158
authors, 145147
catalog subject categories, 169175
catalog subject headings, 177191
dates and time, 159163
definition of, 131
errors, 102

one-line annotations, 165167
punctuation rules, 9499
subtitles, 139144
text, 149153
titles, 133138

Style choice
errors in style, 102
punctuation rules, 9499
writing annotations and, 4849,

99100
Subject categories for catalogs, 169175
Subject headings for catalogs, 177191
Subject/verb agreement, 92, 103, 128
Subtitles

announcement element, 2
first sentences and, 58
long subtitles, 58
punctuation rules, 139140
second title after or, 140
series names, 141144
time and place references in, 25
titles within, 141
uses of, 139

Summaries
on book jackets, 41
how-to books and practical guides, 17

Supportive details
annotation examples, 8, 5152, 60,
6263

T 
Taglines
content of, 37, 155156
for older readers, 157158
order of phrases, 156

Talking Book Topics, 12, 169, 173
TBT. See Talking Book Topics
Text additions. See Additions to text

Text style
centuries, 150
dateline, 151
dates and times, 150151
days, 151
decades, 150
eras, 152
genres, 152
historical and cultural periods and

events, 152
italics, 149
months, 150151
offices, 153
quotes, 149150
religious terms, 153
roman type, 150
seasons, 151
times of day, 151
titles of individuals, 153
years, 150151

Third sentences 
annotation example, 8
Throwaway sentences, 6162
Time references. See also Dates

annotation examples, 10, 26, 2829, 31
collections, 161
copyright renewals, 161
dates at the end of annotations, 159
eras, 25, 30, 162
fiction books, 2831
historical fiction, 2830
NLS database content, 162163
nonfiction books, 2526
phrases that work, 27
public domain information, 160
reissued books, 160
style for, 150151, 159163
time-sensitive phrases, 161162
translations, 161

using the books language for, 3031
words to avoid, 27
Times of day
style for, 151

Titles
ampersands in, 135
annotation examples, 6, 58
announcement element, 2
capitalization, 133
exceptions to the rules, 138
italics in, 136137
long titles, 46
NLS computer system for tracking,

4546 numbers in, 135136 punctuation, 134135 punctuation between the title and sub
title, 139140 repeating title information in first sen
tences, 58
series name as, 143
style for, 133138
within subtitles, 141
time and place references in, 25
titles within titles, 136137
type style, 149150

Titles of individuals 
style for, 153
Too few words, 112
Translations, 161
Translators

announcement element, 2
style for, 146
Trials
annotating approaches, 14

Type style
italics, 136137, 149
roman, 142, 150
titles in text, 149150

205

U choosing a writing style, 4849, Unifying themes 99100 collections and, 1819 choosing appropriate language, 6682 
Unnecessary words, 111112	choppy sentences, 89 consistency and, 99 disclosing too much of the plot, 64 endings, 6366Verbs 
final sentences, 6465 
active voice preference, 11, 52, 66, 67 first sentences, 5162
definition of, 66

grammar, 9294 
present tense preference, 11 imprecise language, 8788
subject/verb agreement, 92, 103, 128 language errors to avoid, 8082

usage of, 6667	prepositional phrases and, 8889 Verifying facts, 101, 126128 punctuation, 9499Victorian novels questions to which the answer is obvi
text style for, 152 
ous, 6566
time references and, 30, 162 repetition, 58, 91Violence in books second sentences, 6263
annotating approaches, 22 sentence structure, 8287
annotation examples, 7, 910, 20, 28, style choice, 4849, 99100

46, 48, 52, 56	weak generalizations, 6465 
as part of the announcement, 3 
wordiness, 59, 9091 
taglines for, 37, 155156 
Y
W 
Years Washington Post Book World, 40 style for, 150151 Weak generalizations, 6465 in titles, 136
Wilson catalogs as sources for information, 41 Word choice. See Grammar; Judgments; Language; Sensitivity issues 
Wordiness. See also Language annotation examples, 6061, 90 avoiding, 59, 9091 first sentences and, 5960 
Words into Type (Third Edition, Completely Revised), 80 Writing annotations