Dear Hasafraners- Below is the response I received from Lenore Bell at LC regarding the cataloging of the book "The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela." Based on her response (as well as responses from many of you), I believe I will catalog this book as young adults fiction. I agree with LC's decision that it is fiction (even though it does of course teach a great deal about history). Since everyone seems to agree that it is not a "picture book", and we do not have an intermediate juvenile section in our library, I will go ahead and put it in the young adults section. In the end, I think I will have to guide teachers, parents, and students to this book -- its audience will not easily find it!
Thanks again to all of you who responded to my query. Liz Edelglass [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lenore Bell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Gail R Shirazi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 7:52 PM Subject: Re: [Hasafran] Benjamin of Tudela Dear Liz, Gail forwarded your message to me. I assume that you are asking aboutthe handling of the juvenile book title, The travels of Benjamin of Tudela : through three continents in the twelfth century / Uri Shulevitz. New York : Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2005. (LCCN 2004040434). Gail appears to have reported on a video title, The travels of Benjamin Tudela / Bet ha-tefutsot. Israel : Bet ha-tefutsot, [198-?] (LCCN 98501104) The juvenile work was cataloged by LC's Children's Literature Team, so my staff on the Hebraica Team did not have a chance to review this item. You are correct that LC cataloged this work as one of juvenile fiction. As your initial question suggests, it is often difficult to determine if juvenile works should be treated as fiction or non-fiction, since story lines are often used to present non-fiction topics to a juvenile audience. LC's Children's Team staff are very experienced, however, at determining the often fine line between fiction and non-fiction treatment. In the "Annotated Card" summary, it is noted specifically, "A fictionalized account of the travels..." If however, you think that fiction treatment is not accurate in this case, I will be happy to consult the Children's Team for clarification and/or a reconsideration of the cataloging, if necessary. Please let me know what you think. Best wishes, Lenore Lenore Bell Team Leader, Hebraica Team Regional and Cooperative Cataloging Division Library of Congress (202) 707-7313 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
