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Graphic Novels

This article discusses the categorization of graphic novels in the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system. It proposes the inclusion of two categories: one for graphic works with longer narratives and one for works with no or extremely short narratives. The article also includes sample responses and the DDC editors' leaning towards treating all kinds of graphic works alike.

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Graphic Novels

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  1. Graphic Novels Julianne Beall Assistant Editor, DDC Library of Congress Saturday, June 25, 2005 ALA Annual Chicago

  2. http://www.oclc.org/dewey/discussion/ • Graphic Novels in DDC: Discussion Paper • Supplement to Graphic Novels in DDC • Draft schedule 741.5 Cartoons, caricatures, comics, graphic novels, fotonovelas available for testing • Supplement to Draft schedule 741.5 • New (coming….): Graphic Novels - an Update

  3. Original Tentative Decision: All Kinds Together • Everything from single-frame caricatures to three-frame newspaper comic strips to comic books to graphic novels • No good places to break the continuum so as to separate the material usefully into different categories

  4. Response to Original Paper: All Kinds Together vs. Separate Categories • For all kinds together: 6 • “Impossible to make workable distinctions” • For separate categories: 5 • No response: 9

  5. Supplement Proposed Two Categories • (A) graphic works with narratives longer than jokes or anecdotes • (B) graphic works with no narrative or extremely short narratives

  6. Category A: Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Fotonovelas • Astérix (by Uderzo and Goscinny) • Astro Boy (by Osamu Tezuka) • Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories (by Will Eisner) • Dick Tracy • Nikopol Trilogy (by Enki Bilal) • Prince Valiant • Spider-Man • Tintin (by Hergé)

  7. Category A: Some Comic Strips • Comic strips that have an anecdotal quality and yet have continuing narratives longer than anecdotes • Doonesbury (by G. B. Trudeau) • For Better or for Worse (by Lynn Franks Johnston)

  8. Category B: Caricatures and Single-Panel Cartoons • Caricatures by Max Beerbohm, Al Hirschfeld, and David Levine • New Yorker and Punch cartoons • Far Side (by Gary Larson)

  9. Category B: Some Cartoons and Comic Strips • Cartoons and comic strips that have continuing characters and situations but lack narrative lines that continue for longer than anecdotes • Cartoons by Charles Addams • Family Circus (by Bil Keane) • Garfield (by Jim Davis) • Peanuts (by Charles M. Schulz)

  10. Responses to Supplement • For two categories: 7 • Against two categories: 10 • Mixed responses: 2

  11. Sample Responses (1) • "Most generally, those in search of a complete and developed story (whether fiction or nonfiction) are not looking for the same material as those seeking single-idea representations. Therefore, dividing the sequential art universe at least into A and B is the beginning of getting it better than lumping any image-driven text in with all image-driven texts!"

  12. Sample Responses (2) • "I do not find the split of comic strips . . . to be practical. This distinction may be useful in a few settings, but I believe more library users look at all the comics published in a local newspaper's comics section to be the same type of material. Thus books which republish collections of comic strips should receive the same classification. They should all be together in 'category A'."

  13. Sample Responses (3) • "I think the distinction is useful and generally would be practical. • "I also think that the suggested 'if in doubt' recommendation for category A points catalogers in the right direction and should adequately cover the grey area that catalogers will likely find with comic strips that are anecdotal most of the time but occasionally have continuing stories for a week or two . . . ."

  14. Sample Responses (4) • "To expect that even trained catalogers could consistently decide whether material in a given format such as comic strips contained a continuous narrative or was merely anecdotal seems to me obviously a recipe for trouble."

  15. Sample Responses (5) • "The most popular approach sorts works according to their hero or the name given to the series. All other works that do not fit in this category are organized separately by artist. So, Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes is filed at Calvin as a series, the Spider-Man books are together under this hero's name and Maus by Art Spiegelman is filed by the artist's name."

  16. DDC Editors Leaning . . . But Still Open to Comments and Suggestions • Leaning toward original tentative decision to treat all kinds alike

  17. 741.59 Subarrangement by Country: Original Manual Note • Use notation for country where first published for individual works where multiple hands (e.g., writers, pencilers, inkers, colorists, letterers) have contributed to the final work • Use notation for country of the artist or writer for collections that feature the work of a particular artist or writer

  18. 741.59 Subarrangement by Country: Original Manual Note (continued) • If in doubt, try to determine which country's cultural tradition the work was originally aimed at, and use the notation for that country • If still in doubt, prefer notation for the country that comes later in Table 2

  19. Concerns about Subarrangement by Country • "In particular, the area of concern arose when the authors were clearly of a particular country of origin, but the first known place of publication differed. There was some comment as to the cultural bias in the material that might not be reflected in the use of place of publication."

  20. More on Subarrangement by Country (1) • "This approach might facilitate things for works from the USA (comics) and Japan (manga), but things get much more complicated in the francophone market. Although one could try to distinguish works from Belgium, France or Switzerland, these distinctions tend to be hard to make and rather theoretical for the patrons of the library."

  21. More on Subarrangement by Country (2) • "Jacques Martin, auteur français d’Alix, qui a fait la quasi-totalité de sa carrière chez un éditeur belge doit-il être considéré comme un auteur belge? • “Rosinski, polonais d’origine, mais travaillant en Belgique depuis trente ans, doit-il être considéré comme auteur polonais ou belge?

  22. Subarrangement by Country: Tentative Plan for Revision of Manual Note • Start by trying to determine the cultural tradition at which the work was originally aimed: use the notation for that country • Then, if in doubt, consider . . . .

  23. Next Steps • Discussion paper: Graphic Novels - an Update • Comments and suggestions by August 19, 2005 • Proposed schedule to be mailed to Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) September 6, 2005 • EPC meeting October 2005

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