Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A Workbook of Examples
Second Edition
ISBN: 978–1–61069–569–5
EISBN: 978–1–61069–570–1
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This workbook is dedicated:
To the faculty and staff of the School of Library and Information
Science at the University of Southern Mississippi who have been
such a support for me for the past 15 years.
—E. Haynes
Introduction..................................................................................................................................ix
Notes on RDA Cataloging .................................................................................................... x
Information for the Instructor..............................................................................................xi
Acknowledgments...............................................................................................................xii
Objectives of Cataloging ....................................................................................................xii
Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science.................................................................... xv
Keys You Need to Get Started: Bibliography of Cataloging Tools and Aids...................xvi
About MARC...................................................................................................................xviii
Exercises....................................................................................................................................... 1
vii
Introduction
In your hands you have a compilation of 100 examples of books and other materials found in
today’s libraries. These have been carefully chosen to illustrate some of the interesting elements that
are reflected in library catalogs—details that have come to seem so commonplace that many people
believe they can be magically found simply by searching on “key words,” which are loosely defined as
any form of a name or title or subject.
It takes only a few minutes for a cataloger, or in fact any person who wishes to describe an item or a
work, to realize that the task is far more complex and challenging than a searcher at the other end of the
process might imagine! A person’s name may be spelled various ways or may have changed. A title may
appear in different forms in different places, languages, and lists. Subjects can be so variously described
that whole careers have been built on trying to pin down and establish predictable forms—an objective as
elusive as the proverbial “herding cats”—regardless of the complexity of the subject matter.
The first edition of the workbook contained many more books than other types of materials, and this
was a reflection of most libraries’ collections at that time. The current edition changes that proportion,
and adds records for graphic “novels” and manga as well as more exercises focusing on other types of
materials: sound recordings, videos, and computer-based selections. All the graphics reflect real-world
exemplars. Where there were details necessary for cataloging, but not easily reproduced directly, these
have been provided as “additional information” for the student, instructor, or practicing cataloger.
We have provided a Student Resources page that shows the graphics for all the materials in color
and in enlargeable formats at http://www.abc-clio.com/LibrariesUnlimited/product.aspx?pc=A4251P.
This, and all other links, were current as of the publication of this workbook.
In addition, the book includes “answer” records for many of the examples; the rest are available for
classroom and individual practice, and instructors have access to the answer records for those. Students
and catalogers alike who are seeking further practice or guidance should study these carefully, as details
that seem unimportant to the eye are often crucial to the searcher using the sophisticated software used
by libraries for their catalogs.
Instructors are able to receive special additional materials that contain all the answer records.
Comments from all users of the workbook and its related sites will be most welcome!
Answer records are provided in two styles. The first record is an updated record similar to those
provided in the first edition and is based on what will likely be the last version of AACR2R (the revised
Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules), which in turn replaced earlier standards in various countries.
The second record for each example follows the most recent style suggested by the RDA (Resource
Description and Access) code (see further notes below).
Both records are presented in a standard display of a simulated MARC (MAchine-Readable
Cataloging) record. Note that the fields used are not identical in the two records, due to the differences
between the two standards.
However, all English-language entries in both types of records—names, series and uniform titles,
and subject entries—have been taken from the Library of Congress Authorities Web site, http://
authorities.loc.gov/, which includes terms used in the records that include the “lcgft” source code.
These also include the “LC Genre/Form Thesaurus” terms and “LC Subject Headings and Annotated
Card Program” headings, which are used in catalogs especially designed for use by juvenile and youth
in all types of libraries.
ix
x \ Introduction
The Spanish-language entries have been taken from the bilingual edition of Subject Headings for
School and Public Libraries and include the source code “shsples,” with the rare exception of a few that
were provided for the current workbook, and are coded as such.
Your instructor or your library’s policies will provide guidance for the level of detail and other con-
ventions needed in your work—whether a student or on the job. Nevertheless, the amount and type of
information provided in each record in this workbook should satisfy the three objectives of the catalog—
to find a known item, to find out what else is available, and to select from what is available. To meet these
objectives, the cataloger must know the actual or probable name or title of an item, the name of each respon-
sible person or entity that is likely to be sought, and any descriptive terms that a searcher might consider to
be the subject or form of the work. The answer records provided include a variety of possibilities; it is the
cataloger who must judge which authorized terms should be used in a particular situation. Other catalogers
may add to or replace any terms or details found in records generated by others.
Similarly, classification numbers and letters provided here may be supplemented by local codes. We
do not recommend removing fields or data found in existing records, as there may be uses for that infor-
mation in the future. System programming should serve as the mechanism used for selecting fields and
subfields for display, to save time and unnecessary effort.
Please be aware that this is not a textbook. To successfully identify the content of any cataloging
record, you will need access to a printed or electronic copy of the various publications noted in the sec-
tion below titled “Keys You Need to Get Started,” and Internet access to the sites listed there.
Note that while the examples are of real items, any workbook of this type is, out of necessity, an
artificial source for cataloging information. In the “real world,” you would have access to the item itself,
and you could examine the contents carefully to determine subject headings, classification, etc.
We have provided some very general forms (templates) on the Student Resources site, http://
www.abc-clio.com/LibrariesUnlimited/product.aspx?pc=A4251P, for use in drafting cataloging records
for all types of materials. Although you will usually need to add to them when a field or subfield is
missing or is to be repeated, at least one line is provided for most fields that are likely to be needed.
You will also need to add or verify the indicators in each case, since these vary from one field and
item to another. These e-forms may be easily printed out for drafts and editing.
Ultimately, it is the cataloger’s responsibility to strive to meet the goals of the “Five Laws of
Library Science” in creating and editing records for staff and public use—and it is our privilege to con-
tribute to those efforts!
Unlock our Student Resources Web site! http://www.abc-clio.com/LibrariesUnlimited/product
.aspx?pc=A4251P.
• MARC field 336 (RDA content) for still images was used only when a named illustrator was
involved
• The order of MARC field 500 notes from Appendix D; the order of notes is not prescribed in RDA
• No terminal punctuation was used
• Use of MARC field 380 (from among all the 38Xs), because it could be applied consistently, and
definitely looks like a useful field to display and index
Because there are two cataloging answers possible for each exercise, and because some of the data
are not exactly the same in both RDA and AACR2, the cataloger or student will be able to compare the
results of the two approaches when applied to the same items.
In the Notes area (5XXs), there are occasional differences between the AACR2 and RDA records;
these may be in terms of in format, order, or content.
In the notes for some of the RDA cataloging answers, we have pointed out RDA elements that
might be new (or different) for experienced AACR2 catalogers. If there is more than one example of a
change in multiple RDA records, these comments have not been repeated throughout; such comments
appear only in the earliest listed example.
Although recording of relationships among persons, families, and corporate bodies is not required
(RDA 29.3), doing so provides for “relationship designators” (‡e at the end of access points). This is one
of the strengths of RDA: recognizing and documenting these relationships when they are useful. RDA also
allows the cataloger to record relationships for resources that exist, but that the cataloging agency may or
may not own. For example, in Exercise 93 (The Hobbit, an Unexpected Journey [Blu-ray]), one could have
added access points for the DVD, the streaming version, the movie soundtrack, and the board game. RDA
seems to allow this, whether or not a given library actually owns these resources. In this case, access to other
versions is already accomplished by existing access points—such as title or preferred title—in the associated
bibliographic records. Also, it is our view that providing a link to a resource that is not present in that par-
ticular library may prove to be frustrating for its patrons during the discovery process.
Learning the differences and similarities among the various versions of the Anglo-American cata-
loging rules and the more recent Resource Description and Access codes can certainly be challenging.
For catalogers who embrace RDA, though, what better way to learn to catalog than to study the results
of each approach and then apply those by cataloging a variety of materials that one may actually find
in a functioning library?
In the workbook itself we have included MARC records for approximately one-third of the exer-
cises; however, you will find records for all the examples in the Instructor’s section of the Web site.
These examples include some filler characters in place of real Leader information; ideally, students will
learn to catalog using an electronic work form that will provide that data accurately and automatically.
The answer records also include Library of Congress classifications and full call numbers, as well
as suggested Dewey classifications—but not whole call numbers. Subject entries as well as genre terms
have also been provided, but cannot be considered exhaustive for a given library’s needs.
We have listed some popular genre and form terms in the first Appendix. These should be supple-
mented and occasionally rechecked in the authority file, as this type of term is particularly subject to
change due to ongoing changes in the Library of Congress authority files.
It will be most helpful in using this book if the user has access to a combination of print and elec-
tronic resources, including access to the Internet via the World Wide Web. At the end of this introduction
you will find a basic list of resources, to which you will want to add to as you discover others that help
you in your learning, practice, and teaching.
If you find mistakes or have suggestions for changes or improvements, please contact one of the
authors via Libraries Unlimited. Comments are welcome.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following graduate assistants in the School of
Library and Information Science, University of Southern Mississippi: Linda Ginn, Suzanne Hays
Mangrum, Sharon Davis, Patty Condon, and Heather Weeden. These students checked rules, located
materials, helped with scanning, and spent many hours proofreading the first edition, which was the basis
for this second one. Stacey Chambers, in Texas, did a lot of the initial scanning as well as some editing,
and we appreciate her help in this lengthy process. We also thank Rita Rozen, in New York, for her help
in proofreading the lengthy RDA exercise answers.
The materials included were borrowed from several libraries—the Georgetown Public Library
(Texas), the Hattiesburg Public Library (Mississippi), the University of Southern Mississippi, and the
Nassau Library System (New York)—if they were not owned by one of the authors. We also borrowed
two personally owned items from other individuals: the doll from Rosemary Chance and the geode from
Josh Chance, who also provided the detailed description; we benefited from their generosity.
Objectives of Cataloging
Objects, Means, and Reasons for Choice in a Dictionary Catalog
Charles A. Cutter*
Objects
1. To enable a person to find a book of which either
(A) the author
(B) the title
(C) the subject is known.
2. To show what the library has
(D) by a given author
(E) on a given subject
(F) in a given kind of literature
Introduction / xiii
Means
1. Author-entry with the necessary references (for A and D).
5. Giving edition and imprint, with notes when necessary (for G).
2. That is consistent with other entries, so that one principle can cover all;
3. That will mass entries in places where it is difficult to arrange them so that they can be readily
found, as under names of nations and cities.
This applies very slightly to entries under first words, because it is easy and efficient to arrange
them by the alphabet.
*Cutter, Charles A., Rules for a Dictionary Catalog. 4th ed., rewritten. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office,
1904. “General Remarks,” 11–12.
xiv \ Introduction
find—i.e., to find resources that correspond to the user’s stated search criteria
identify—i.e., to confirm that the resource described corresponds to the resource sought, or to distinguish
between two or more resources with similar characteristics
The data created using RDA to describe an entity associated with a resource (a person, family, corporate
body, concept, etc.) are designed to assist users performing the following tasks:2
find—i.e., to find information on that entity and on resources associated with the entity
identify—i.e., to confirm that the entity described corresponds to the entity sought, or to distinguish
between two or more entities with similar names, etc.
clarify—i.e., to clarify the relationship between two or more such entities, or to clarify the relationship
between the entity described and a name by which that entity is known
understand—i.e., to understand why a particular name or title, or form of name or title, has been chosen
as the preferred name or title for the entity.
RDA provides a comprehensive set of guidelines and instructions covering all types of content and
media.
“S. R. Ranganathan invented the term library science. He believed that all human activities were suscep-
tible to analysis by using the scientific method and that such a careful examination of the phenomena of
library work could lead to the formulation of empirical ‘laws.’ His are clearly not laws in the sense that,
say, the Second Law of Thermodynamics is a law. However, they are more than mere generalities
because they are founded on observation and analysis by a trained mind. (Dr. Ranganathan was origi-
nally a mathematician.) He, like that other genius of librarianship, Melvil Dewey, used high intelligence,
the scientific approach, and considerable experience in his rethinking of our profession.”*
*Gorman, Michael. Our Singular Strengths: Meditations for Librarians. Chicago: American Library Association, 1998.
“Ranganathan’s Five Laws,” 55.
xvi \ Introduction
Aids
Gorman, Michael. The Concise AACR2. 4th ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 2004. ISBN:
978-0838935483.
Maxwell, Robert L. Maxwell’s Handbook for AACR2R: Explaining and Illustrating the Anglo-American
Cataloguing Rules Through the 2003 Update. Chicago: American Library Association, 2004.
ISBN: 978-0838908754.
Maxwell, Robert L. Maxwell’s Handbook for RDA: Explaining and Illustrating RDA; Resource
Description and Access Using MARC 21. Chicago: American Library Association, 2014. ISBN:
978-0838911723.
Olson, Nancy B., et al. Cataloging of Audiovisual Materials and Other Special Materials: A Manual
Based on AACR2 and MARC 21. 5th ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. ISBN: 978-
1591586357.
RDA: Resource Description and Access Training Materials: http://www.loc.gov/catworkshop/RDA%
20training%20materials/index.html.
Introduction / xvii
Aids
Furrie, Betty. Understanding MARC Bibliographic: Machine-Readable Cataloguing. 8th ed. Available
online at http://www.loc.gov/marc/umb/.
Piepenburg, Scott. Easy MARC: A Simplified Guide to Creating Catalog Records for Library
Automation Systems. 5th ed. Hi Willow Research and Publishing; distributed by LMC Source.
2007. ISBN: 978-1933170312.
For Classification
Basic
Abridged Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index. 15th ed. Dublin, OH: OCLC Online
Computer Library Center, 2012. ISBN: 978-0910608817.
Classification Web. Online, subscription product for LC classification. Error! Hyperlink reference not
valid. https://classificationweb.net/.
Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index. 23rd ed. Dublin, OH: OCLC Online Computer
Library Center, 2011. ISBN: 978-1910608814.
WebDewey. Online, subscription product. http://www.oclc.org/dewey/features.en.html#webdewey.
Aids
OCLC Classify. Free, experimental online service. http://classify.oclc.org/classify2/.
Aids
Fountain, Joanna F. Subject Headings for School and Public Libraries. Bilingual 4th ed. English and
Spanish ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2012. ISBN: 978-1591586388.
Guidelines on Subject Access to Fiction, Drama, Etc. 3rd ed. Chicago: American Library Association,
2000. ISBN: 978-0838935033.
Scott, Mona L. Conversion Tables, Volume 3: Subject Headings—LC and Dewey. 3rd ed. Englewood,
CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2005. ISBN: 978-1591583479.
xviii \ Introduction
About MARC
This book is not the place to learn all about MARC—the protocols devised for coding and tagging
the various elements in a Machine-Readable Cataloging record. If you are a beginning cataloger, we rec-
ommend that you download your own copy of Understanding MARC Bibliographic from the Library of
Congress site, as noted in the preceding section, “Keys You Need to Get Started.”
The MARC standards were developed by the Library of Congress as a means of encoding biblio-
graphic records so that they could be read, displayed, and shared by computers. MARC records are port-
able and can be imported and exported easily, regardless of the computer’s platform. Other countries
have developed modifications of MARC, and usually have consisted of relatively minor elements such
as holdings fields and other local information; these are not used or considered in this workbook. Most
libraries in the United States use “USMARC” or “MARC 21.” The full set of standards is posted and
available for public use online at http://www.loc.gov/marc/marcdocz.html.
A version of MARC 21 that is used by many vendors of library materials is called MicroLIF, which
stands for “Microcomputer Library Information Format.” The MicroLIF format is designed to be easier
for a person to read than other styles of MARC, although data in this format is generally interchangeable
with that in other MARC records. One exception, however, are the records produced in the “OCLC” on-
line union cataloging system, which has its own separate version, called OCLC-MARC. Other varieties
may emerge in the future, as systems workers wrestle with the various changes being sought and brought
about in relation to RDA bibliographic coding.
At this writing, the MARC standards for bibliographic formats, as well as for some other formats
that do not relate directly to the material in this workbook, are under review and are subject to change
in the future. The project involving these changes is known as the “Bibliographic Framework
Initiative,” or “BIBFRAME.” To learn about the various changes being considered and to follow their
progress, please visit their Web site at http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/faqs/.
Exercises
1
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.