Product of W.S.Hart Union HS District Shelving An introduction to the organization of resources in...

Product of W.S.Hart Union HS District

Shelving

An introduction to the organization of resources in our library


There are five principles that guide our library practices

Published in 1931, S. R. Ranganathan, from India, proposed 5 principles as a guide for library science

He is considered to be the “father of library science.”

He stressed that service to the PATRON is the foundation of library services


Ranganathan’s 5 principles

Books are for use. Every reader, his or her book. Every book, its reader. Save the time of the reader. The library is a growing organism.


As a growing organism

We need to maintain an organizational system that can accommodate new materials

We need to keep books available on the shelves for our users

There are two main organizational systems commonly used by libraries:Library of Congress ClassificationDewey Decimal Classification


The Dewey Decimal System

Our library uses this system to organize and categorize our non-fiction library collection

We keep fiction in its own designated section

Non-fiction Fiction

These are labels from the

spines of books; more about that later


How to place books on shelves

Remember the shelves “read” left to right, top to bottom

You can think of this the same way you think of the pages in a book

Shelf markers designate how wide the shelf is just like pages in a book do

ShelfMarker


Shelving FICTION

The fiction section is organized alphabetically by the Author’s last name

If several authors have the same last name, the next item to be used for alphabetizing is the first name

If there are several titles by the same author, the next item to be used is the title of the book (remember to ignore “a,” “an,” and “the” if it’s the first word in the title)


Rule of Thumb

Our goal is to help our patrons find what they are looking for

In our library, books from a series may be shelved in order of publication and not by title


Shelving FICTION (cont’d)

A perfect example is Darren ShanMost people looking for his Cirque Du

Freak series of books will want to read all 12 in order

Shelving them this way does not follow the alphabetical rule

It does follow the rule to help patrons find what they are looking for


Shelving Non-fiction

These books and other materials are organized by Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) called the “call number”

The number designates the location of the book on the shelf

Each book has a unique number and location


Shelving Non-fiction (cont’d)

Our Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) lists the call number so patrons can locate the books they want on the shelf

The shelves have guide numbers to help patrons locate the general shelf location of the book

Shelving them properly makes them easier for patrons to find


Location of a Call Number

Call numbers are located on the spine of the book:

Spine label with call number


Anatomy of a call number from the spine label for Mammals

This indicates the class of this title: natural science

This indicates the subdivision within natural science: mammals

These are is the first 3 letters of the author’s last

name

Some call numbers may be preceded by a guide word to show a special location like REFERENCE, CAREERS, or OVERSIZED

???


Things to remember

Nothing comes before something i.e. 599 before 599.001

Use your number sense with decimals 599.02 before 599.1

Shelve by the call number Then by the author

Then by title (if there are multiple books with the same call number and author)

Remember to disregard “A,” “AN,” “THE,” if the first word in the title


Putting it all together

Follow the rule of thumb from Ranganathan’s 5 principles: We want to help patrons find what they’re looking for

Non-fiction is shelved by call numberUse your number sense

Fiction is shelved by author’s last nameSeries can be shelved to follow their reading

orderWhen in doubt, ASK!


Without organization

We’d never find anything…

Happy shelving!


For practice

Work your way through the shelving practice exercises at http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~valmstrum/s2s/utopia/library4/src/library4.html

(from the University of Texas)

Product of W.S.Hart Union HS District Shelving An introduction to the organization of resources in...

Documents

Transcript of Product of W.S.Hart Union HS District Shelving An introduction to the organization of resources in...