I think the question is referring back to filing rules of the card catalog. I'm not certain how closely they met the conditions of the "strong reading" because I'm not entirely certain of the original query myself.
>From the 1956 LC filing rules, p. 140 has the following statements regarding >the interaction of subject entries with other entries: I. The proper order of entries when the names of a person, place and thing are identical is: A. Person; B. Place; C. Subject [other than a specific subject that is arranged after its own author and added entries]; D. Title. Example: Stone, Samuel [author] Stone, Thomas [author] Stone, Pa. [name of place] STONE [name of an object] Stone [a title beginning with the word] II. Any author entry may have its own subject entry. When this is the case, the subject entry follows directly after its own author and added entries. [Clarifying text elided] Example (some entries elided): Stone, Thomas [author] Stone, Thomas [added entry] STONE, THOMAS [subject] Stone, Pa. [place as author] Stone, Pa. [place as added entry] Stone, Pa. Dept. of Ed. [subordinate body as author] Stone, Pa. Dept. of Ed. [subordinate body as added entry] STONE, PA. DEPT. OF ED. [subordinate body as subject] STONE, PA. [place as subject] STONE, PA. - BIOG. [place with subdivision as subject] III. [A sequence dealing strictly with subjects and their various subdivisions, qualifications, and inverted formulations - clustering by group but not yielding a strict alphabetic sequence: ART - HISTORY precedes ART - 17th CENTURY precedes ART - ALBANIA.] John F. Myers, Catalog Librarian Schaffer Library, Union College 807 Union St. Schenectady NY 12308 518-388-6623 mye...@union.edu<mailto:mye...@union.edu> Karen Coyle wrote: I don't get this at all. Maybe an example would help? Quoting Simon Spero: [snip] In a strong reading could imply that when searching a physical card catalog by a heading of a specific kind (e.g. subject) , there would be no card found that would would not be in alphabetical order for that subject. But if the catalog was interfiled, an entry on a different field might interrupt the ordering for the specific field that were searched for, a contradiction.
