[Prefatory note: from the summer of 1992 through the spring of 1993, the Stanford University Libraries set about the gargantuan task of barcoding their holdings. In the initial phase, barcodes were produced from the Libraries' online catalog, each title record generating a sticker with five lines of information. The first contained the call number and copy number of the piece. The second contained an often truncated title (the cutoff point being 30 characters or the point at which the subtitle began, whichever came first). The third contained the phrase "Stanford University Libraries" as an identify of the organization owning the volume. The fourth contained the actual barcode, and the fifth the barcode in numerical form.

The stickers were printed out in sheets containing multiple stickers in call number order, and turned over to library employees, who, so armed, proceeded to the stacks to seek out and afix them to the matching volumes. The second and third lines of a given sticker, when read together, occasionally produced an amusing pseudo-title, instances of which were avidly recorded by the employee barcoders. Some of these were later published in SUL News Notes, the libraries' electronic newsletter, for the edification of all. Or, as stated in the publication:]

During the Great Barcoding Project, it has became apparent that the Stanford University Library system possesses a lot more books about itself than was previously suspected, scattered throughout its vast collections. At least the labels on the barcodes say so, and barcodes wouldn't lie, would they? Here are a few of the exciting new titles we have discovered so far!

8/17 - from the section on Lutheran and Methodist church history:

     Act of faith: Stanford University Libraries

8/18 - from the section on English history, Edward III-Elizabeth I:

     Edward Stafford, third duke of Stanford University Libraries

     England under the Yorkists and the Stanford University Libraries

     Politics, censorship, and the Stanford University Libraries

     Probate records and the local Stanford University Libraries

     Richard III and the princes in Stanford University Libraries

     Thomas Howard, fourth duke of Stanford University Libraries

8/19 - from the section on the history of World War I in Europe:

     Foibles, fun, flukes, facts of Stanford University Libraries

     The German prisoners-of-war in Stanford University Libraries

     Memoirs of my service in the Stanford University Libraries

     Sergeant York, his own life at Stanford University Libraries

     A thousand deadlines: Stanford University Libraries

     Von Richthofen and the flying Stanford University Libraries

     Watchdog of loyalty: Stanford University Libraries

--submitted by Brian Kunde and Geoffrey Skinner

Originally published in SUL News Notes, Volume 1, Number 33, August 21, 1992. These titles reflect the compiler's notions of the humorous, wry, ironic or unusual, and should not be construed as reflecting any other opinion or judgment, including the editorial opinion of the original publisher.