From UDC to DDC Reclassification at the University of Bath Elly Cope Information Librarian (Chartered) – Cataloguing & Acquistions

A brief glossary… TS: Technical Services Workroom: Technical Services office AS: Academic Services Upstairs: Academic Services Levels: Academic Services Infos: Information Librarians (usually referring to Academic Services) Deweyfication: The act of reclassifying an item Deweyed: An item/record that has been reclassified

Library hierarchy Head Librarian Deputy Librarian & Head of Technical Services Bibliographic Services Librarian (Acq., Cat., Copy & Print) Information Librarian (Chartered) – Acquisitions Senior Library Assistant x 0.5 Library Assistant x 1.5 Information Librarian (Chartered) – Cataloguing Cataloguing Library Assistant 1 FTE Bibliographic Services Librarian (Document Delivery & Periodicals) Head of Academic Services Faculty Librarians x 3 (Levels 3, 4 & 5) Subject Librarians Level 3 x 1 Level 4 x 2 Level 5 x 3 Information Librarians Level 3 x 1 Level 4 x 1 Level 5 x 1.8 Level 3: Architecture & Engineering Level 4: Science Level 5: Humanities & Social Science

A brief history *Academic Services Information Librarians do the classification at the University of Bath* Universal Decimal Classification adopted as alternative to Dewey Updated schedules not purchased New subjects not covered Additions, notes and amendments made on schedules and, more recently, on the Library wiki UDC numbers ‘disguised’ as Dewey In-house schedules for some subject areas Negative student feedback Possibility of shelf-ready

Task Group: formation & methodology Communications Task Group recommended that: “the classification system and organisation of stock be reviewed with a view to implementing a system which is more consistent, user focused and intuitive.”. Classification Policy Task Group formed Methodology: Graduate Trainee report Literature search Ongoing projects Costings (out-sourcing and in-house classification) Available schemes and associated costs

Task Group: identifying options A.Maintain the status quo Incur no additional costs But not practical B.Which classification scheme? In-house or commercial Ease of use essential (students and staff!) DDC or LCC C.Application of schedules Across the whole library Test area D.Outsourcing Any benefits? E.Retro-conversion Time consuming Test area? F.Management of retroconversion Outsourcing? Large scale one-off project

Task Group: conclusions Preferred options Adopt Dewey across the library Update to latest editions when available Use Coutts shelf-ready service Retro-convert existing stock Short term intensive retro-conversion project Alternative options Adopt Dewey on one floor Update to latest editions when available Use DDC classmark from downloaded BDZ records Partial retro-conversion of identified problem areas

2009 pilot project 1.“To retroconvert architecture books within the 720 range in our UDC sequence to DDC.” 2.“To acquire new architecture books likely to fall within the DDC 720 range in shelf-ready format.” Dewey editions 19+ deemed acceptable 7,108 items in 720 range Using ISBNs Coutts found DDC numbers for 3,500 BDZ records for 3,118 had acceptable Deweys Unmatched books to be classified in-house Coutts chosen as shelf-ready supplier Retro-conversion to be done in-house

Pilot project procedures Academic Services: Check spreadsheet of titles: DDC19+ numbers accepted without checking DDC18 numbers checked and accepted or reclassified Remaining 1,122 items transferred to storage area for classification from scratch (issued to ‘RECLASS’) Holds placed on items out on loan Joblink staff (aka students) produced spine labels and updated records Technical Services: Quality control items coming in as shelf-ready

Pilot project: results Retro-conversion took 22 weeks 6,768 items were reclassified 340 books identified as missing (records deleted) 1,068 moved outside 720 range 67 architecture books ordered as shelf-ready (undercharged!) Catalogue records enhanced User feedback very positive

Expansion of the project No use of shelf-ready New books to Dewey using numbers in downloaded records Extend to all of Level 3 (Mechanical, Chemical and Electrical Engineering) Retro-convert all stock Previous editions and extra copies Huge amount of extra work for cataloguing Early 2010 Request made for Management to be added (Level 5) Late 2010 TS pushed for all fund codes to be Deweyed Frustrating for the team to know items would be back Still not literature…

Current Cataloguing procedures *Everything passing through Workroom now gets a Dewey number (except literature)* Check record for a Dewey number Check that it’s a valid Dewey version for that fund code If a number can’t be found through BDZ, LoC or OCLC Classify it goes ‘upstairs’ for a number Returned to TS for final cataloguing and spine labeling Extra copies & other editions Extra copies dealt with by Technical ServicesExtra copies Other editions dealt with by Academic Services (partly because of Library layout!) User IDs for Workroom and the AS floors for holds

Retro-conversion Retro-conversion of Level 3 ongoing Academic Services conduct targeted retro-conversion projects over summer vacation Subjects/number ranges nominated by members of Task Group Calculations of number of books and time needed to aid decision Recent summer projects: 2010 Mechanical Engineering (620s) 2011 Computer Science ( ) 2012 nominations were: Management (658 & 659) Biology & Biochemistry (570s, particularly 571)

The future Unlikely to adopt shelf-ready in the near future Ongoing summer retro-conversion projects Change to library layout? Changes to Dewey… Staffing changes Keep going! As of August 30 th 2012: 37,297 titles in the library have Dewey numbers (15%) 210,272 titles are still UDC (85%) Calculations predict another 17 years at the current rate..!

Any questions?

Extra copies procedural flowchart Check call no./item tab. Is the record already Dewey? YES Process in the usual way NO Is there an acceptable Dewey no. in the bibliographic record? NO Put book in stacks for classification YES Write it on the slip and in the property stamp. Check record as normal. Go to call no./item tab Print record (File/Print) Change the call number to the Dewey number and change ‘class scheme’ from UDC to Dewey If the Dewey number will place the books on a different level to their current location update the ‘Home location’ to the correct Level as determined by the call no. Check everything else is correct Collect print out Write on the print out the new call no. and what version of Dewey it’s from. Tick off the copy(ies) you’ve done and write ‘Done’ and the date. Are there copies on loan? YES NO Place holds for RECLASS on them and write ‘holds placed’ and the date. Put print out in the appropriate Level folder on Jayne’s desk (by UDC no.) Are they all on loan? YES NO Hole punch and put in narrow blue ringbinder on Cataloguing’s drawers Part B

Other editions procedural flowchart Check a previous edition’s record. Is it already Dewey? YES Breathe a sigh of relief. Double check all the others. Are they all Dewey? YES Use that number for your edition and process as normal. NO Check records for an acceptable Dewey number. Is there one? YESNO Put in stacks for classification Process your book as normal using Dewey number found Return to search Open the record for the next ‘other edition’ in the list Print a copy of the record Collect print outs On each print out write the Dewey version and the new call number Send to Information Librarian on the relevant level (by fund code) Add Dewey number in an 082 field making sure to add |2 and the Dewey version no. Return to search Repeat until all editions have Dewey numbers and all records are printed out. BACK