Reclassifying the 200s at Simmons University

Guest post by Ken Mathis, Simmons University Library

No library has a perfect system of organization and occasional checks of the stacks are necessary. It's important to check on how the collection has grown and understand when it needs to be worked on.

Beatley Library uses a combination of the Dewey Decimal Classification and Library of Congress Classification. The bulk of the collection falls under the LCC system while the juvenile section for non-fiction and special topics are under Dewey. This collection is primarily used by the Children's Lit faculty and graduate students in the program. 

In order to create a more accurate and welcoming religion section in Juvenile Literature, classified in Dewey, we decided that the optional arrangement provided in the print version of DDC 23 in 2011 (and developed in greater detail by Rebecca Green in 2019) would be a great alteration to the juvenile collection. The project was completed by Ken Mathis, a Collections & Systems Library Assistant, who joined the Simmons University Library team last July. The project took approximately 2 months, from November-December 2019 and changed a total number of 360 physical items.

While the project involved time and effort, it did offer better arrangement of material by offering a more chronological view of religion and more room for subjects that had been previously squished into the 290s in the original 200s arrangement in order to be more inclusive of non-Christian religions. There were a few logistical issues that needed to be addressed in order to be successful. How would the books themselves be processed in a way that's efficient and time appropriate? How would this change be communicated to the students and patrons of the Beatley Library? What would the reaction to this change be?

Signs were created in order to explain the decision to switch over to the optional arrangement and display how to navigate the new order of the section. All the items in the religion section were taken off the shelves at one time and Research & Instruction librarians emailed faculty in order to avoid any items being checked out and all could be accounted for.

Communication was necessary between the Collections & Systems department and User Services in order to make sure there was a smooth transition between the change in the Dewey organization of the religion section and no confusion about the future of navigation or how to access the materials in the in-between time period. The transition needed to be swift, yet accurate. It was necessary to make sure the change was noticed, acknowledged and understood by patrons of the library.

While the optimal arrangement itself was straightforward and there were instructions through WebDewey that offered guidance on how to change the call number of an item, it did require attention to detail and investigation to make sure all individual items made it to the right spot. As the religion section had books of various ages, some books needed to be evaluated in order to make sure they fit neatly into the new arrangement. This was to be expected as the DDC had been changed and updated over time. Some books were too specific in their classification number while others were too vague. Consistency needed to be considered for long term accessibility.

The physical processing of all of the items was the most time-consuming part of the transition and was done in batches as the project was being completed. All items needed new labels, stickers and label protectors. After the initial reclassification was finished, all the books were arranged by their new classification numbers and evaluated as a cohesive unit before being put back into their home in the stacks. The reaction from the Simmons community to the optional arrangement was not large, but certainly welcoming. The transition was smooth enough that no patrons were affected or burdened.

The project took time and effort but proved to be the right decision for the Simmons University Library. The change was welcomed and seen as an improvement to the juvenile collection. The library will continue to improve the organization of information and provide accessible material in an appropriate manner for all patrons.

Details of the optional arrangement can be seen at the manual note for 220-290 or this 2019 blog post: Mapping 220‒290 standard notation to the Optional arrangement for the Bible and specific religions.

Comments

[Lori Van Deman]

Are there images of the shelves before and after? We're thinking about implementing this also.