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Cataloging & Classification QuarterlyPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wccq20

A Review of “Magic Search: Gettingthe Best Results from Your Catalog andBeyond”Matt Hartman aa University of British Columbia, Librarian Emeritus HartmanCataloguing, Editing, Indexing Services , Vancouver, BC, CanadaPublished online: 18 May 2010.

To cite this article: Matt Hartman (2010) A Review of “Magic Search: Getting the Best Resultsfrom Your Catalog and Beyond”, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 48:5, 488-489, DOI:10.1080/01639371003784263

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01639371003784263

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Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 48:488–489, 2010Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 0163-9374 print / 1544-4554 onlineDOI: 10.1080/01639371003784263

Kornegay, Rebecca S. MAGIC SEARCH: GETTING THE BEST RESULTS FROMYOUR CATALOG AND BEYOND, by Rebecca S. Kornegay, Heidi E. Buchanan,and Hildegard B. Morgan. Chicago: ALA, 2009. xii, 143 p. ISBN 978-0-8389-0990-4. $45.00.

Magic Search had its beginning, the authors say, in a 2005 Library Journalarticle titled “Amazing magic searches!: Subdivisions combine the precision ofthe cataloger with the freewheeling style of a Googler.” The article claimedthat Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) subdivisions could andshould be used within a controlled, Boolean search as well as in keywordsearching. In the four years since that article, more and more library users,as well as administrators, have all but relegated the controlled search to asecondary position, preferring, instead, the more immediate and, some mightsay, intuitive methods of keywords.

The authors make their case again here for including Library of Congress(LC) subject heading keywords in searches, especially since the recent cre-ation of Google’s Book Search, in which Google uses records from OCLCOnline Computer Library Center, Inc. WorldCat to enrich its searching ca-pability. Subdivisions, say the authors, are based on “scholarship, carefulthought, and years of fine work at the Library of Congress . . . [and] are thefoundation of the high-performance catalogs libraries are so proud of, yetreference librarians are unlikely to have the opportunity to learn them well”(p. vii). But, the authors say, it does not matter, because “In this book, wewill tell you when rules are important and when you can ignore them.” Theygo on to enthuse that “in WorldCat and in most library catalogs, subdivisionsperform beautifully in keyword searches, whether the searcher knows therules or not. Keyword searches pull from all the subject headings assignedto a title.”

The meat of the book consists of an annotated list (repeated in theIndex) “where all 3,500-plus subdivisions are listed and defined.” They aregrouped into the most basic subject areas in which they are applicable:People, Places, Humanities, Social Sciences, Historical research, Business,Education, Science, Medicine, and Technology. There are also chapterswhich detail how LC subdivisions can be used to find primary sources,pictorial images, and “Creative treatments” of a subject such as stories andmemoirs. Throughout the book, titles are given that are the results of thesearches. Searches that include Boolean logic (and, or, not) are called “Magicsearches,” since they are designed to uncover many resources in a singlesearch.

Kornegay, Buchanan, and Morgan are enthusiastic in their suggestions.Exclamation marks abound, and the “gee whiz” tone throughout the book

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is a bit off-putting. Most of the citations in the book are from LC’s Sub-ject Cataloging Manual. The final chapter is called “Recommendations,” andconsists of pleas to library stakeholders—Reference librarians (“Know yourstuff—inside out!”), Catalogers (“Read the LCSH rules carefully and assignsubdivisions accurately”), Administrators (“Be aware of the full effect of effi-ciency measures”), Vendors and publishers (“Use this magnificent Library ofCongress subject headings system in your products”), Catalog and databasedesigners (“Make subject headings prominent in results displays”), Informa-tion and library science educators (“Teach, really teach, the organizationof information”), the Library of Congress (“Streamline the subject headingsystem”), and the “Gentle” reader (“Subdivide and conquer”).

If these pleas are taken to heart and followed, say the authors, subjectsearching would be magical indeed.

Reviewed by Matt HartmanUniversity of British Columbia, Librarian EmeritusHartman Cataloguing, Editing, Indexing Services

Vancouver, BC, Canada

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