Cataloging and Metadata Commons^™

Bringing Political Upheaval And Cultural Trauma Into Order: A Document-Theoretical Approach To The Social Significance Of Bibliographic Classification Systems, Joacim Hansson

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This paper explores the ability to define bibliographic classification systems as socially significant documents in a way that goes beyond their immediate function in the information retrieval process. It does so in dialog with theory on documents and documentality, and knowledge organization theory. Two examples show how development of new classification systems address social and cultural structures in periods of rapid social and cultural change and crisis. The first example discusses the design of a classification system for Swedish public libraries in the late 1910s, and the second addresses the re-formulation of the Holocaust experience in American Jewish library classification …

Law Library Blog (October 2021): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Classifying The Data: A Comparative Analysis Of Traditional Library Classification And Linked Data Classification Systems, Saima Hanif, Saima Hanif

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Background. With the evolution of information technology, library classification schemes have transformed to effectively manage the information in electronic environment. The availability of library data on the web makes it challenging to devise a classification scheme that meet the need of Linked Data (LD) technologies. Objectives. This study aims to survey the library classification system along with automated classification system. It also highlights the links between the library classification systems and web of document classification system as a joint venture of LD.

Methods. For achieving the objectives of the study, available literature related to the traditional classification schemes, automated …

Otrouha: A Corpus Of Arabic Etds And A Framework For Automatic Subject Classification, Eman Abdelrahman, Fatimah Alotaibi, Edward A. Fox, Osman Balci

The Journal of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although the Arabic language is spoken by more than 300 million people and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (UN), there has been less research done on Arabic text data (compared to English) in the realm of machine learning, especially in text classification. In the past decade, Arabic data such as news, tweets, etc. have begun to receive some attention. Although automatic text classification plays an important role in improving the browsability and accessibility of data, Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) have not received their fair share of attention, in spite of the huge number …

Poetry, Sort Of: My Experience Using Library Of Congress Subject Headings And The Supplemental List Of Seventh-Day Adventist Subject Headings, Daniel J. Drazen

Journal of Adventist Libraries and Archives

The Library of Congress Subject Headings, for all its seeming comprehension, has not always been up to the task of covering Seventh-day Adventist subject matter better than the Supplementary List of Subject Headings published by the Loma Linda University Libraries as used by the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index. More important, there has been, and continues to be, a need to coin new terms as they are needed. To rely primarily on one source for assigning index terms, however comprehensive it might seem generally, is too inflexible a strategy to be realistic. Relying on both the LCSH and the …

Measuring The Value Of Professional Indexing, Philip Hider, Pru Mitchell, Robert Parkes

Information Management

This study provides both a quantitative estimate and qualitative analysis of the additional ‘retrieval power’ that professionally assigned subject indexing affords users of a typical database in the field of education. A full version of Informit’s A+ Education database and one stripped of its subject indexing were searched by four research assistants tasked with compiling exhaustive bibliographies on forty-eight topics. The searchers were then surveyed about their use of the two databases, while their bibliographies and search logs were also examined. A two-way ANOVA model was constructed to estimate the percentage of additional resources found by the searchers on the …

Representing Normal: The Problem Of The Unmarked In Library Organization Systems, Emily Drabinski

Publications and Research

The problem of bias in library classification and cataloging structures has been well documented and analyzed. Efforts to intervene in these systems have largely taken the form of advocating for added or revised subject terms to reflect the language of diverse users and diverse library content. This case study will analyze the status of marked and unmarked binaries related to social identities in LCSH.

Classification Methods In Context At Theological Libraries: A Case Study, Chloe G. Noland

School of Information Student Research Journal

This case study explores issues of interoperability and shared collection management between two libraries – one community and one academic – located within the American Jewish University (AJU). AJU’s choice to use two separate classification systems, Library of Congress and Elazar, respectively, provides a necessary separation of academic and religious context, but limits record access between the two collections. Specifically, this study aims to answer the following core research question: is consolidation into one classification scheme both a realistic and helpful solution for increased interoperability? Examining the history, patron needs, and principles of arrangement in both systems provided further insights …

Challenging Classification Bias With Linked Data, Juliya Borie, F. Tim Knight, Jordan Hale

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Can library classification systems find new ways to deal with charges of bias? Can linked data contribute a more inclusive representation of diverse voices and communities? This panel will discuss the inherent biases present in cataloguing and classification, and consider the potential for linked data to provide a space to highlight and explore the challenging political issues that can arise in our work. These include issues related to jurisdiction, territory, and community with examples drawn from legal classification and the classification of cartographic resources.

The Issues Of Chronology In Cataloging Chinese Archaeological Reports And Related Materials: An Investigation Of The Cultural Bias In The Library Of Congress Classification And Subject Headings, Junli Diao, Haiyun Cao

Publications and Research

This article discusses peculiarities of Chinese chronology in cataloging Chinese archaeological reports and related materials. It first examines cultural limitations embedded in the Eurocentric Library of Congress Classification (LCC) and calls for catalogers’ sensitivity to authors’ cultural background while cataloging the Bronze China archaeological materials. It then discusses the ambiguity in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) Manual H1225 and presents a debate on the necessity of including Chinese dynastic information in constructing subject headings through the comparison of facets extracted in this manual and elements derived from title patterns of Chinese archaeological reports. Furthermore, this article elaborates the significance …

Introducing An Automated Subject Classifier, Pru Mitchell, Tine Grimston, Robert Parkes

Information Management

The library community understands the value of controlled vocabularies in enhancing resource discovery. There is however ongoing tension between that value and the cost of maintaining and applying specialist vocabularies. This paper presents the outcomes of a 2014-15 trial of automated subject indexing at the Australian Council for Educational Research. The integration of a machine learning classification tool has resulted in streamlined workflows and increased use of machine-readable data. Insights were gained into the decisions human indexers make in using a controlled vocabulary, and into the importance of quality abstracts and metadata.

Survey Of Classification And Organization Of Videorecordings, Barbara J. Bergman, Jessica Schomberg, Dorie Kurtz

Library Services Publications

Libraries have long struggled with the question of how to best classify and enable access to videorecordings. While giving a presentation at a state library conference, the authors observed from comments during the question and answer portion of the presentation that the libraries represented in the audience use a variety of video classification and organization practices. To better understand how local practices and librarians’ attitudes regarding the efficacy of these practices vary, we conducted a survey soliciting responses from librarians representing a broad array of library types.

A Process Of Original Cataloging Of Theses And Dissertations, Cedar C. Middleton, Jason Dean, Mary A. Gilbertson

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this paper is to describe the reasoning, methodology, and impact behind a semi-automated cataloging process for electronic theses and dissertations, including explanations of the importance of retention and addition of cataloger created metadata. The authors explain an automated process that is generated by ProQuest and student entered data, and also the addition of metadata including the subject headings, classification number, etc. The study includes a survey of the public service librarians’ perceived usefulness of the cataloger and ProQuest generated metadata to describe theses and dissertations.

How To Deal With Published Maps In Your Collection, Katherine Rankin

Library Faculty Presentations

This program is aimed at archivists and other special collections staff who have published maps as opposed to manuscript maps as part of their collections but do not have much expertise in map librarianship. The program includes information on kinds of maps, the basic parts of a map including those found mainly on pre-19th century maps, how to store and preserve maps, why they should be cataloged, how cataloging rare maps differs from cataloging current maps, why maps should be classified with a standard classification system, how Library of Congress call numbers can be used to locate certain kinds of …

Discovering Jewish Studies Collections In Academic Libraries: A Practical Guide, Izabella Taler

Publications and Research

The U.S. colleges and universities offering non-sectarian educational programs in Jewish Studies rely on the support of their academic libraries for research materials and library services. For college libraries which use Library of Congress Classification scheme, it is a common practice to integrate "studies" resources into their general library collections. Since Jewish Studies sources span a vast number of subjects within all major disciplines, shelving integration leads to the dispersion of all relevant sources and such dispersion in turn leads to a variety of problems for library professionals and library users. For collection development librarians the problems range from lack …

Working With Kf Modified: Changes And Enhancements, F. Tim Knight, Humayun Rashid, Darren J. Furey

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Provides an overview of the KF Modified classification scheme, introduces some recent editorial changes and enhancements, and includes some interactive cataloguing exercises.

William Stetson Merrill And Bricolage For Information Studies, Anita Coleman

Faculty Publications

Purpose – This paper examines William Stetson Merrill, the compiler of A Code for Classifiers and a Newberry Library employee (1889‐1930) in an attempt to glean lessons for modern information studies from an early librarian's career. Design/methodology/approach – Merrill's career at the Newberry Library and three editions of the code are briefly examined using historical, bibliographic, and conceptual methods. Primary and secondary sources in archives and libraries are summarized to provide insight into Merrill's attempts to develop or modify tools to solve the knowledge organization problems he faced. The concept of bricolage, developed by Levi‐Strauss to explain modalities of thinking, …

Bliss: The Man And The Classification, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

This paper discusses the career of Henry Evelyn Bliss, founder of the Bibliographic Classification, which is currently being revised. Dissatisfied with the current classification systems, Bliss devised his own, which was based on a main class order that provided for collocation of related classes. Although not currently used in the United States, the Bibliographic Classification continues to be utilized by approximately 50 libraries in the United Kingdom. Advantages and criticisms are presented for Bliss's system, which is often praised in library science textbooks, yet seldom used as the trend in libraries has been to either the Dewey Decimal or the …

A Classification For Forestry Literature, Faculty Of The Yale Forest School

Yale School of the Environment Bulletin Series

The following classification for forestry literature has been prepared by the Faculty of the Yale Forest School for use in its library. It is published to supply the demand for a simple and comprehensive classification that is adapted to any library system. The work was begun about one year ago and included a study of all available data on the subject. A tentative outline was submitted to prominent members of the profession from whom helpful suggestions were received.

The subject has been divided into nine parts of approximately equal importance. The secondary divisions also have been limited to nine and …