Amendment 1991-08
Adoption of the Silhouette Test
To: The editorial record
From: The Senior Cataloguer
Re: The adoption of § II.2, the Silhouette Test, to the editorial Style Guide
Background
On the morning of 4 March, 1991, a submission was received concerning a piece of small-appliance kitchen equipment. The submission identified the subject as a Toaster-Oven. The Senior Cataloguer reviewed the submission and entered it for consideration. A protracted internal dispute followed.
The dispute centred on whether the Toaster-Oven was, in fact, distinct from a Toaster. The Senior Cataloguer maintained that the Toaster-Oven was a larger, more capable, and therefore more eligible subject. A junior cataloguer (no longer at the publication) maintained that the Toaster-Oven was a Toaster of unusual proportion, and that a Toaster of unusual proportion had not yet been catalogued, and that therefore the Toaster should be entered first.
The dispute lasted eleven months.
Resolution
The dispute was resolved on 14 November, 1991, by the adoption of the following test, to be incorporated into the Style Guide as § II.2:
The subject's silhouette, isolated from background, communicates the quality of girth to a stranger with no prior context. A subject that requires context fails this test.
Under the new test, the Toaster-Oven was found eligible. The Toaster (the smaller appliance) was found ineligible. The junior cataloguer resigned the following week.
On the Record
The Senior Cataloguer wishes the record to reflect that the resignation was not requested.