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COMMISSION VI DOCUMENTATION OF LITERATURE 7 
What? Why? Where? When? Who? How? Conclusions?  Recom- 
mendations? Significant illustrations or mathematical data. 
The practical value of document catalogue cards depends upon 
how much useful information they supply regarding the original 
document. Each card should therefore mention each fact dis- 
cussed in the original document that may have a reasonable 
possibility of eventually making a useful contribution to the 
advancement of the pertinent arts and sciences or their prac- 
tical application. 
In classifying the information contained in the original 
document, the abstragtor should represent each useful fact 
contained therein by the appropriate decimal code number placed 
in the right margin of the document catalogue card. The selee= 
tion of these facts in the original document that are worthy of 
being classified by decimal code numbers must be based upon a 
clear understanding of the practical value of the information 
and the character of the decimal system. The manner in which 
this selection is made depends entirely upon the personal 
knowledge of the abstractor and his attitude regarding the 
subject that is being classifidd. The manner in which these 
selected facts are classified is illustrated by the Alphabeti- 
cal Index (See Appendix B) and the Decimal Classification Ta- 
bles (See Appendix A). Even if the abstractor is familiar 
with the Decimal Classification Tables, a code number should 
not be assigned to a document catalogue card until after the 
Alphabetical Index has also been checked. This procedure 
should be used because the Alphabetical Index shows the rela- 
tionship and subordination between various fields of interest, 
and often presents a choice of points of view, This method 
makes possible a much more accurate classification of the doc- 
ument thán would result from consulting the Decimal Classifi- 
cation Tables only. In addition to the information contained 
in the abstract itself, it is desired that document catalogue 
‘cards show the following information: 
Author 
Title 
Date 
Publisher 
Price : 
Number of pages 
Military security classification 
Decimal code numbers (Use as many as necessary) 
Acquisition number (File Number) of document 
Name of the abstracting agency 
Serial number of the document catalogue card