Mr. Dewey in Scotland or how a general schema is forced to organize the National Museums...

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

DDC is

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)

The Library is partially closed Summer 2008

The Library 2008-2011 … mostly

Lets start

Challenges arrive, finding out how DDC works is not the only problem

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…

Translation tableIron age Scotland

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

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

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

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

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 /

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.

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.

Done!!

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

The Research Library is open to all! Long live libraries!!

Questionsi.colmenero@nms.ac.uk