Classification of Information Resources III: Research Library SchemesAKA - The "Library of Congress Classification" Lecture

LS 500 Lecture 13 Classification of Information Resources III: Research Library Schemes AKA - The "Library of Congress Classification" Lecture Steven L. MacCall, Ph.D. Associate Professor School of Library and Information Studies The University of Alabama

Classification Definitions
The act of organizing a body of knowledge into a systematic order.
In libraries: The systematic arrangement by subject of books and other materials on shelves, or of catalog and index entries, in a manner that is most useful to those who read or those who seek a definite piece of information:
Shelving device
Organization device

Characteristics of a Classification System
Inclusive as well as comprehensive.
Systematic.
Flexible and expansive.
Employ terminology that is clear and descriptive.
Indexed.

The Nature of Book Classification
Collocating objective: Bringing like things together on library shelves:
Subject criterion: What about books on multiple topics?
Author criterion: What about books by multiple authors?
Subject/author criteria: What about books by the same author, but on different topics?
Solving the need for a system of unique identification in open stack libraries through notational systems and call numbers.

Notation Types
Classmarks are notation that represent a subject class, including its relation to other classes in the scheme.
Most common types:
Pure – e.g., DDC employs Arabic numerals
Mixed – e.g., LCC employs an alpha-numeric notation
Mnemonics:
Repeating class notation patterns throughout classification
This technique is also used in the MaRC system

Shelf Arrangement and Sub-arrangement
Library classification schemes provide:
A systematic method for shelf arrangement in open stack libraries
A systematic method for sub-arrangement within each class
To accomplish this goal, catalogers synthesize (i.e., create) class numbers to represent the subject of a book.
This process remains transparent to the user, i.e., the user is more interested in the fact that books are collocated on the shelf rather than how the numbers were determined.

Cuttering
Used to create call numbers (UIs) for individual library collections.
Provides the link between the surrogate record and the actual item in the collection.
Provides for both subject and non-subject oriented sub-arrangement in open stack libraries.

Cuttering (cont.)
After the class notation is determined, then the cuttering process begins.
Use a cutter table:
There may be more than one cutter table floating around!!
Cuttering is a flexible process; only use table as a guide
Steps for cuttering:
Determine first letter of main entry (most often taken from 100 tag; but could be 245 tag)
Use number associated with second letter of main entry
Add additional numbers until call number is unique
Add date

Cuttering (cont.)
We may have 1 or 2 cutter numbers, BUT, we may never have 3.
In the LCC, cuttering instructions are given in the schedules:
Assists in topical, geographical and other non-main entry-based subarrangement
Occasionally, this involves double cuttering, thus precluding the use of main entry-based cutters

LCC – General Points
Mixed notation.
All letters are not used (reserved for expansion).
Subject specialists develop and maintain the class schedules, rather than centralized editors as is the case with the DDC.
Designed to meet the needs of the collection of the Library of Congress.

LCC General Points (cont.)
Based on literary warrant: schedules developed with reference to what has been published.
Hierarchical; however, NOT reflected in notation.
LCC Classification outline :
Divided into main classes according to academic discipline or areas of study and then into subclasses representing branches of those disciplines
Larger range of letters for History (C-G) and Social Sciences (H-L)
Numerals used range from 1-9999 with frequent gaps

LCC is Essentially Enumerative
Aspects of subjects are explicitly provided for (i.e., enumerated) in the schedules:
More “pigeonholes” created in advance to represent very specific topics and topical aspects
However, tables are also used synthesize complex class notations (not as often as with the DDC)
As an enumerative classification, the LCC schedules are more voluminous than many other schemes:
50 volumes
10,000 pages

LCC has Many Editors
LCC has been referred to as a series of special classifications (though compare with NLM ).
However individual LCC schedules are structured identically:
Preface
Broad outline
Detailed outline
The schedule, itself
Any necessary auxiliary tables
Detailed index

Consistent Structuring: Martel’s 7 Points
Initially, Charles Martel provided basis for consistent structuring across divisions:
General forms: periodicals, societies, dictionaries, etc
Theory. Philosophy
History
Treatises. General works
Law, Regulations. State relations (now relocated to K)
Study and teaching
Special subjects and their subdivision from general to specific
Classifiers now follow current practices, such as under computer science ( QA75.5 ).

Notes in LCC Schedules
Scope notes (QD181).
Explanatory see notes (SB119).
Confer notes (SB112.5).
See notes (TK6683).
Including notes (RM138).

General Steps for LCC Use
Because of disciplinary aspects of LCC, first check for appropriate schedule to match subject of item in hand and then determine the best class number within the selected schedule.
Class item in hand with similar works:
Consult existing records
Consult class numbers mapped from assigned LCSH
Consult LCC outlines
After call number is complete, check shelflist:
Will item in hand reside amongst other like works?
Is call number unique?

Topics and Subdivisions of Topics
Constitute the bulk of the expansion of classes and subclasses.
Example: Political rights and participation in France ( JN2916 )
Note geographical subdivision of “Elections. Electoral Systems. Voting” – in this case, cutter by location under topic
Can also cutter by topic under place, rather than by place under topic (usually in History or Law schedules)

General Works
Under most numbers with subdivisions, a number is designated for “general works.”
RJ Pediatrics:
Nursing of children. Pediatric Nursing  General Works (RJ245)
RJ245 .W47 2003 – Wong’s nursing care of infants and children; Main entry: title
PN Drama:
Motion Pictures  General Works (PN1994)
PN1994 .R5684 2004 – Essential cinema: on the necessity of film canons; Main entry: author (Rosenbaum)

Works on Single Topics
Always use the most specific class number that is co-extensive with the subject matter of the work.
If no co-extensive number exists, then the next appropriate broader number should be used.
Educational Psychology  General Works (LB1051)
Educational psychology: a classroom perspective
Main entry: author (Goetz)
LB1051 .G574 1992

Works on Single Topics by Time Period
For works treating a topic with regard to a particular time period. For those works spanning two periods, use earliest.
DC History of France:
DC725 Earliest to 1515
DC727 16th century
DC729 17th-18th centuries
DC731 1789-1815
DC733 1815-1870
DC735 1871-1914
DC736 1914-1921
DC737 1922-
DC731 .S42 – Visit to Paris in 1814; being a review of the moral, political, intellectual, and social condition of the French capital, by John Scott

Multi-Faceted Single Topic Works
Works covering multiple facets of a single topic.
If available, use a class number representing all facets:
Idea of the English landscape painter: genius as Alibi in the early nineteenth century, by Kay Dian Kriz
ND1354.5 .K75 1997
If number covering all facets is not available, go with the emphasized or more prominent facet:
Elizabethan miniatures, by Carl Winter
ND1337.G7 .W5 1955

Works on Multiple Topics
A work on two or three topics treated equally:
Use number for the topic treated first
QD412.A7 C53 1994 – Chemistry of organic arsenic, antimony, and bismuth compounds
A work on four or more topics:
Use a general number that encompasses all numbers chosen
RA566.3 .C48 1992 – Changing U.S. health care: a study of four metropolitan areas

Phase Relations
A work covering the relationship between two topics is classed in the most specific number covering the relationship:
QK46.5.H85 P66 2001 – Botany of desire: a plant's-eye view of the world
QK46.5.H85 – Botany  Human-plant relationships
A work covering the influence of one topic on another is classed with the topic being influenced:
LA2317.T8 M3 1899x – Henry Tutwiler and the influence of the University of Virginia on education in Alabama
LA2317.T8 – History of U.S. education  Individual biography

Cuttering Geographical Aspects
Geographical cuttering option is often available in parts of the schedules:
Use either general or specialized cutter table
Visual Arts Education:
N353.A-W – General works in Visual Arts in U.S.
N354.A-Z – General works in Visual Arts in a state
N355.A-Z – General works in Visual Arts in a city

Cuttering Sub-topics – “Reserve Cutters”
Cuttering by topical aspect is also sometimes available – this is termed “reserve cuttering.”
Style. Composition. Rhetoric:
P301 – General Works
P301.3.A-Z – General Works by region or country
P 301.5.A-Z – Special Aspects A-Z
P301.5.I34 – Idioms
P301.5.P73 – Propaganda

Procedures for Revision and Expansion
Proposals for changes originate with LC catalogers:
Anomalies
New topics
Some methods for expansion:
Using unused letters (I, O, W, X, and Y)
Adding third letter (or sometimes a fourth)
Extending existing numbers decimally
Expanding use of cuttering

Classification of Information Resources III: Research Library SchemesAKA - The "Library of Congress Classification" Lecture

by Steven MacCall on Jan 12, 2007

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