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Acolyte, v. 4, issue 1, whole no. 13, Winter 1946
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The answer is 45.2/32.1 A story of Atlantis beginning in the old days but principally transpiring in the present with the arrival of a muscular American would be classed 31.8 (54.). The reason for the slash-mark in one and the parentheses in the other is that in the latter case either of the classifications is a possible one; but in the former case 32.1 alone would be misleading, for the spacemen's adventure does not take place in the present, as 3-.- implies. The slash-mark means that the 40 number preceding it overrides the 30 number that follows, in this regard. The words after each number in the tabulation do not by themselves fully define the number. We hope that, as in the case of other decimal systems, the numbers will eventually accumulate meanings of their own more exact and subtle than the sometimes clumsy phrases used to identify them. Each number is to be considered in connection with its context. Looking at "Super-surgery" alone you might think that a story of brain transplantation should be given that number, 34.6. But in the same group occurs 34.2, a much more specific heading, so 34.6 must be considered to exclude brain transplantation. Note especially that the shorter numbers 30. and 34. help define these more finely divided headings. 34.6 Super-surgery means only super-surgery applied to humans (34.), taking place in the present or historical past (30.) and by scientific means (not supernatural). It has already been indicated how these implications of the larger categories can be removed by crossing with a number from another group and a slash-mark. Note that 30. and 34. are not alternative classifications; they should not be used when the detailed number, 34.6, is suitable. But it appears necessary to advise you not to be afraid of using these shorter numbers. If you have a story of putting old brains in new artificial bodies, don't fret about whether to call it 34.2, 34.5, 34.6, or 34.8; use the general heading 34. Likewise, the critic who wishes to indicate that a story he is mentioning, "Invaders from Flub" concerns space-war rather than microcosmic or trans-dimensional buccaneers, but doesn't remember whether they came from inside or outside the solar system, can indicate enough with "Invaders from Flub, 45.-K" and leave it to the compilers of indexes to decide whether it's 45.6-K or 45.7K. These auxiliary symbols are joined after a hyphen. The idea of them is that you can have humor, or a science article, or fight a war, etc., almost anywhere in the science-fiction field. Weird treatment too, is often extended beyond the bounds of so-called weird material---the Frankenstein family, for example (and so-called weird-fiction material can be given a completely unweird treatment). "In Caverns Below" might be classified 31.7-HU. The "not truly fantasy" division is added to save fruitless quests after a classification for "The Geometrics of Johnny Day" and some scarey stories, and to enable bibliographers to warn collectors away from Those Gay Deceivers. It can be crossed with the type of fantasy it pretends to bed, as 92./16.4-H. Use common sense, and avoid classifying every little thing in the tale. If Satan appears only in order to barter for a soul, use 11.101 and let 11.839 go. Since almost any adventures on other planets must involve contacts with alien life-forms, don't call in a 35. classification unless it's a yarn like "Symbiotica" in which the biological interest is outstanding. Give it a whirl! Auxiliary symbols: A: Non-fiction. H: Humor. J: Juvenile. K: War Waged. -- 9 --
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The answer is 45.2/32.1 A story of Atlantis beginning in the old days but principally transpiring in the present with the arrival of a muscular American would be classed 31.8 (54.). The reason for the slash-mark in one and the parentheses in the other is that in the latter case either of the classifications is a possible one; but in the former case 32.1 alone would be misleading, for the spacemen's adventure does not take place in the present, as 3-.- implies. The slash-mark means that the 40 number preceding it overrides the 30 number that follows, in this regard. The words after each number in the tabulation do not by themselves fully define the number. We hope that, as in the case of other decimal systems, the numbers will eventually accumulate meanings of their own more exact and subtle than the sometimes clumsy phrases used to identify them. Each number is to be considered in connection with its context. Looking at "Super-surgery" alone you might think that a story of brain transplantation should be given that number, 34.6. But in the same group occurs 34.2, a much more specific heading, so 34.6 must be considered to exclude brain transplantation. Note especially that the shorter numbers 30. and 34. help define these more finely divided headings. 34.6 Super-surgery means only super-surgery applied to humans (34.), taking place in the present or historical past (30.) and by scientific means (not supernatural). It has already been indicated how these implications of the larger categories can be removed by crossing with a number from another group and a slash-mark. Note that 30. and 34. are not alternative classifications; they should not be used when the detailed number, 34.6, is suitable. But it appears necessary to advise you not to be afraid of using these shorter numbers. If you have a story of putting old brains in new artificial bodies, don't fret about whether to call it 34.2, 34.5, 34.6, or 34.8; use the general heading 34. Likewise, the critic who wishes to indicate that a story he is mentioning, "Invaders from Flub" concerns space-war rather than microcosmic or trans-dimensional buccaneers, but doesn't remember whether they came from inside or outside the solar system, can indicate enough with "Invaders from Flub, 45.-K" and leave it to the compilers of indexes to decide whether it's 45.6-K or 45.7K. These auxiliary symbols are joined after a hyphen. The idea of them is that you can have humor, or a science article, or fight a war, etc., almost anywhere in the science-fiction field. Weird treatment too, is often extended beyond the bounds of so-called weird material---the Frankenstein family, for example (and so-called weird-fiction material can be given a completely unweird treatment). "In Caverns Below" might be classified 31.7-HU. The "not truly fantasy" division is added to save fruitless quests after a classification for "The Geometrics of Johnny Day" and some scarey stories, and to enable bibliographers to warn collectors away from Those Gay Deceivers. It can be crossed with the type of fantasy it pretends to bed, as 92./16.4-H. Use common sense, and avoid classifying every little thing in the tale. If Satan appears only in order to barter for a soul, use 11.101 and let 11.839 go. Since almost any adventures on other planets must involve contacts with alien life-forms, don't call in a 35. classification unless it's a yarn like "Symbiotica" in which the biological interest is outstanding. Give it a whirl! Auxiliary symbols: A: Non-fiction. H: Humor. J: Juvenile. K: War Waged. -- 9 --
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