mr. dewey in scotland or how a general schema is forced to organize the national museums...
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Mr. Dewey in Scotland or how a general schema is forced to organize the National
Museums Scotland’s new Research Library
Reclassification Project1.0
EDUG 2012 Symposium Ines Castellano
26 April 2012 Assistant Librarian
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A library in the National Museums Scotland?
• Working at the heart of an institution comprising six museums spreading east and west on the Scottish Central Belt … mostly.
• The Library initially provided a service for Museum staff only.
• Now open to all for reference.• Three public Library service points, two “departmental
Libraries”. • Over 300,000 items in the collection• Around 160,000 monographs
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Two museums, two Libraries and the birth of the National Museums Scotland
• Royal Museum Library:
Heavily modified UDC schema ca. 1970s.
• National Museum of Antiquities Library:
Modified LC schema ca. 1970s.
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Schemas in use• Modified UDC schema ca.
1970s• Modified LC schema ca.
1970s.• Edinburgh City Libraries
LC index, 1949 ed.• Standard UDC 1961
abridged ed. • Standard unabridged UDC
1993 edition. • Ministry of Defence
schema for our Scottish Regimental histories.
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Why reclassify?
• Simplification of procedures : training new staff, too many variations on the schemas used.
• Standardization of schemas for collaboration and updating:LC Scheme & UDC Scheme last updated 1970s!
• Copy cataloguing/classification options now available
• Free staff time to further the services offered by the Library on reopening.
• Opportunity: the Library is closed to the public : 3 years window
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LC vs UDC vs DDC
Consultation process:• Users: simpler notation … in a special library?
LC NB 466 UDC 731(41:18) (069)DDC 730.94109033074
• Neighbouring libraries: LC, by size, Home made, DDC • Other professionals’ suggestions: DDC, LC, UDC,
Bisal, home made…• Library staff: DDC, UDC, LC• Most OCLC records have DDC nos, can we use them?• No knowledge of DDC within the Library staff
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DDC is
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The target• Reclassify to Dewey all the material to be housed in the
new National Museums Scotland Research Library due to open in the summer 2011. Minus the journals.
• Approximately 48,000 titles on:• Reference• Scottish history• Museology• Exploration• Ethnography• Decorative arts• European Archaeology (north of the Alps)
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The Library is partially closed Summer 2008
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The Library 2008-2011 … mostly
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Lets start
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Challenges arrive, finding out how DDC works is not the only problem
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Librarians don’t give up easily
• LC subject assignation is dropped
• We reduce some of the library’s services
• Revisit library procedures to “produce” time
• Reassign reclassification tasks
• Conversion tables are compiled to minimize book moves, speed up classification and improve consistency between classifiers…
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Translation tableIron age Scotland
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What is coming to us?Can we cope with Dewey?
• Collection to be split for the first time in 150 years … or more:– Ethnography
39(7):7 North American Indian art39(94):8 Traditional Aboriginal stories
– Archaeology, south of the Alps• 7(3:32):3 Egypt, social life
– Archaeology, north of the AlpsCC 941 Iron age, dwelling sitesCC 942 Iron age, burialsCC 945 Iron age, art and objects
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How is DDC collocating our topics?Any mayor problems?
• What on our collection on ceramic? – 771(41).8 Wed. Pottery factories 738.0941 WED– 771(41).9 Hor Potters 738.0941092 HOR
• Art metalwork?– 782 Gold and silver 739.22 & 739.23– Bracelets, necklaces, earrings all to 739.278
• Scottish history– DA 750 Scottish diaspora to 304.809411
• Ethnography?– 39(708)Nav.:76 Navajo textiles 746.0899726 – 39(68): Marriage in Africa 392.5004968 – 39(669)Yor. The Yoruba 966.900496333 YOR
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The challenge that is DDC’s 930s
• Prehistoric forts, brochs (roundhouses), prehistoric metallurgy, prehistoric tools, prehistoric art … they cannot be kept in the archaeology section
• How do we class sites? 936.1132 is Orkney! … 936.1132 SKA for Skara Brae (plus author’s initial)
• 936.1101 Scottish prehistory : we have 240 titles• 936.201 English prehistory to : 432 titles• 936.301 Germanic Regions prehistory : 344 titles• 936.301 Scandinavian prehistory : 372 titles
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Good bye to standard Dewey
• 012 palaeolithic• 013 mesolithic• 014 neolithic• 015 bronze age• 016 iron age
• 936.85 Sweden• 936.81 Norway• 936.897 Finland
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EDUG 930 Working Group• Post Roman and Medieval archaeology have to be sent
to the historical section. 942.64901 : A report of the Sutton Hoo excavation
942.64901 : The early history of Suffolk
• Should we dare to use the proposed -073 subdivision?• Iron age brooches 739.278093073 vs 739.2780901• Metallurgy : 669.093 / 669.0901 / 669.073• Mining 622.093 / 622.0901 / 622.073• Metalwork 739.093 / 739.0901 / 739.073• Prehistoric tools 621.9009012 /
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The value of collaboration EDUG 930 Working Group (2)
• DDC 23rd ed. implemented a year before publication• DDC 24th ed. implemented, hopefully, a few years in
advance• Museum’s Archaeology Department supplied up to date
time periods to be applied to Scottish and British archaeology for submission to the Working Group.
• Library staff provided places of prime archaeological importance to be included in table 2 of the schema.
• Some were accepted and included in the 23rd ed.: Hadrian’s Wall, Britannia (Roman Province), Antonine Wall and Skara Brae.
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This is phase 1!
• Over 30,000 titles reclassified to DDC– Reference– Ethnography– Scottish history– Exploration– Museology except conservation– Decorative arts: tribal art, ceramics and metalwork– European archaeology (north of the Alps)
• 90% of our new acquisitions are now classify to Dewey.
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Done!!
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Reclassification Project 2.0
• Convert all remaining LC material to DDC• Approximately 10,000 titles:
– Scottish approach on the social sciences, Numismatics, agriculture.
• Small coverage of subjects• Will we be able to do copy classification, outsource
classification? • Slower process• We are now fully open and busy• Internal users’ survey of the new Research Library
due by end of May