Dewey Decimal Classification at Linköping University Library - an implementation project Eva-Lisa...

Dewey Decimal Classificationat Linköping University Library - an implementation project

Eva-Lisa Holm Granath

Project Manager

Linköping University Library

1EDUG symposium April 26th 2012

EDUG symposium April 26th 20122

Short facts about the university… • University status in 1975

• Today 27.000 students & 4.000 employees

• Two cities: Linköping & Norrköping

…and about the library

4 libraries at 3 campuses in 2 cities

100 employees

approximately 500.000 printed books

(of course a large electronic collection)

tradition of open stacks & shelf-browsing


Outline of this presentation

• 2009 A time of adjustment…

• 2010 Preparations…

• 2011 Let’s go!

• 2012 Where are we now?

4EDUG symposium April 26th 2012

Why change & how to do it?

• Follow the decision made by the National Library of Sweden in November 2008 to change to DDC

• History of eagerness to be in the ”front-line”

• Early in 2009 a working group was formed with a mission to:

• ”From a user perspective present alternative solutions for arranging the book collection after the transition from SAB to DDC”


Our solution: 2 separate collections with the clear ambition to move books from the old collection to the new…

• Start using DDC January 1st 2011

• Create a new shelf list according to DDC

• Start a new collection shelved according to DDC containing all new books

• …but also reclassify/reshelf all course books/text books, all reference books and all the returned books we can manage…


Lots of things to do!

• Information & support

• Discussions & planning

• Measuring shelfspace

• Weeding (again!)

• Technical issues

• …..


…and still more

• Budget plan for 2011

• Training for all staff and particularly for cataloguers

• Last but not least: Create the new shelf list


From the old shelf list to the new…

• We had around 1200 shelf marks/call numbers according to SAB

• Management determined that we should have MUCH less according to DDC

• Great help from lists created by other Swedish libraries

• Discussions with the liaison librarians about their subjects

• Comparisons and compromises

• Drafts that were scrutinized again and again…


By November we had an accepted list with around 450 shelf marks/call numbers!

• Why not shelf according to full classification?

• Keep areas together that would be spread out

• More clearly defined subject groups

• Easier shelving & easier to shelf browse


For example 200/Religion


200 - Religion

200 Religion Religion

200.71 Religionsundervisning Religion: education

210 Religionsfilosofi Philosophy of religion

220 Bibelvetenskap Exegesis

230 Kristendom Christianity Hit även böcker klassade 240, 250 & 260

270 Kristendomens historia History of Christianity Hit även böcker klassade 280

290 Religionshistoria History of religion

294.3 Buddhism Buddhism

294.5 Hinduism Hinduism

296 Judendom Judaism

297 Islam Islam

Another example 350

• 351 Offentlig förvaltning Public administration (Hit även böcker klassade 352-354)

• 351.485 Offentlig förvaltning: Sverige Public administration: Sweden (Hit svenska förhållanden klassade 351-354)

• 353.6 Sjukvårdsadministration Administration of health services

• 355 Militärvetenskap Military science (Hit även böcker klassade 356-359)


Now it’s January 2011 & we’re ready to go live!

• Budgetwise this was our lucky year: 2 extra librarians hired to work with the project this year!

• Schedules throughout the year to work with returned books.

• During the summer we had ”youngsters” employed to help to make more space for the new collection

• During 2011 we managed to change over 50.000 books including all course books/text books.


Monitoring the transition through statistics

• New DDC collection = Floating collection

• Books stays at the library were they are returned

• Statistics on a weekly basis

• Books in the new collection: by library, by new acquisitions or reclassified/relabled

• Reference books in the new collection by library (compared to the ones in the old collection…)


What about the users?

• Information through the university website

• Information through the library webpage

• In the library: TV-monitors, roll-up:s, book marks…

• Most of all: friendly staff who explains and shows around

• So far: mostly positive reactions!


Example from the catalogue:


The book is classified 365.643, but in our

shelf list there is a commentary saying that

books classed 365 are shelved under 364

since we just want one section for Criminology


The marked area is the ”300-section”

…and here’s the shelf and the book.


Project status in April 2012

• 70.000 books in the new collection

• Routines now up and running on a regular basis


What more needs to be done before the project ends?

• One goal can be: the number of books borrowed from the new collection should reach 80% of the total number of borrowed books…

• Make sure we concentrate on the most wanted/most used books – for example by refining the statistical evaluation analyis

• Continue to prioritize staff time to work with returned books


Special collections

• How to deal with the fiction collection?

• Non-fiction for children: we have a plan, but when will we have time…

• There still remains more than 8.000 reference books to deal with…

• Periodicals…


My vision

• I can see a future scenario when shelving according to Dewey is natural and dominates our libraries. There might still be a small old and odd collection shelved according to a long forgotten letter-based system. The librarians move freely and swiftly among the DDC numbers, both in thoughts and in the physical collections. The students don’t know any other system than the numberbased, mostly they don’t care at all how the books are shelved. The important thing is that they find what they are looking for.


Thank you for your attention!

[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.bibl.liu.se/

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