Britannica Sources used in this answer

How does a divided catalog separate subject entries from other entries?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

British Museum: Reading Room — library Reading Room of the British Museum, designed by Sidney Smirke in collaboration with Anthony Panizzi and built in the 1850s. Illustration by Smirke, from the *Illustrated London News*, 1857.

In a divided catalog, entries are organized into separate files to distinguish between different types of information. While the catalog maintains an alphabetical sequence, it separates subject entries from other entries, such as those for authors and titles.1

This system has grown in popularity as libraries have increasingly recognized the value of providing a distinct subject approach for users, often leading them to divide their formerly unified dictionary catalogs into these separate components.1