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Deborah, Barbara, et al. --<br><br>
Reader browsing is not the only issue here. It depends upon the
library, of course, but library staff often have access to at least some
part of the rare book stacks, and they also benefit from classified
arrangement -- this is particularly true of curators and others who
create exhibitions. <br><br>
Cheers,<br><br>
Eric Holzenberg<br>
Director & Librarian<br>
The Grolier Club <br>
47 East 60th Street<br>
New York, NY 10022<br>
phone: 212/838-6690<br>
fax: 212/838-2445<br>
e-mail: ejh@grolierclub.org<br>
website:
<a href="http://www.grolierclub.org/">www.grolierclub.org</a><br><br>
<br>
At 03:14 PM 5/1/2003 -0400, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>DDC, LC, and other classification
systems that I know of are all subject classifications, specifically
designed to facilitate reader browsing. When stacks are closed and
browsing is not permitted, the primary goal of subject classification is
not present. And since subject classification does require time on the
cataloger's part to apply, and has shelving disadvantages as well, many
rare book repositories (such as the Folger) keep most of their rare books
in accession number order.<br><br>
There is an advantage to subject classification for closed stacks, which
is the browsing possible by shelfmark in online library systems. It's a
matter of effort vs. benefit. In a closed stack, the benefits don't come
close to justifying the efforts.<br><br>
___________________________<br>
Deborah J. Leslie, M.A., M.L.S. <br>
Head of Cataloging<br>
Folger Shakespeare Library<br>
201 East Capitol St., S.E.<br>
Washington, D.C. 20003<br>
202.675-0369 (p)<br>
202.675-0328 (f)<br>
djleslie@folger.edu<br>
<a href="http://www.folger.edu/" eudora="autourl">www.folger.edu</a><br><br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: jones barbara
[<a href="mailto:jones5@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu" eudora="autourl">mailto:jones5@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu</a>]
<br>
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2003 2:34 PM<br>
To: dcrb-l@lib.byu.edu<br>
Subject: [DCRB-L] Classification numbers<br><br>
<br>
Colleagues: As a lapsed cataloger who has forgotten much of
the<br>
theoretical underpinnings, I would very much appreciate your
opinions,<br>
local practices, or references to articles on the following
question:<br><br>
Why do we assign classification numbers in books in a closed stack such
as<br>
a rare book library? Do your libraries assign them? I am not
referring<br>
to named collections here.<br><br>
I would appreciate practical as well as theoretical reasons.<br><br>
I miss the good times we had in New Haven. Best wishes, Barbara
Jones</blockquote></body>
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