Page 128 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 6: Concept of Call Number

And for collocation of host and associated books, and to bring together a book and its sequels, Notes
the book numbers are quite indispensable. Their utility and importance becomes more
pronounced libraries using broad classification such as Rider’s International Classification or
even the DDC. It is not to suggest that in use with depth classification systems these are less
desired. Whatever be the size of the library and the kind of classification used, book numbers
add [the] last touch to the ultimate shelf arrangement.”
In 1937 Bertha Barden listed six important reasons for using book numbers (though bar codes
have made numbers four and six less relevant now):
Book numbers in addition to class numbers are needed:

To arrange books in order on the shelves.
To provide a brief and accurate call number for each book.
To locate a particular book on the shelf.
To provide a symbol for charging books to borrowers.

To facilitate the return of books to the shelves.
To assist in quick identification of a book when inventories are taken.
Broad classifications will make many books share the same class number. Deep classifications
will mean fewer do. Some libraries, such as in elementary schools, may use very broad
classifications, perhaps Dewey to the tens. What happens when books collide? Ordering the
books alphabetically by author’s last name (the most basic of book numbers, though perhaps an
invisible one if the name is only on the book cover and not on the spine label) seems obvious.
For some collections this is enough.

!
Caution It will not be enough in large or specialized libraries or any library where precision
and detail are valued, in order that the needs of both the librarian who organizes material,
and the user who searches for it, are best served.

6.5.1 Chronological Ordering

All of the book number systems seen so far (except for Dewey’s first attempt, using accession
numbers) arrange books within a topic by author’s last name. This is an obvious and sensible
method of ordering. It will bring together all the books by one writer on the same topic, a
helpful arrangement. However, the chronological ordering will be completely disrupted. Books
on evolution by Charles Darwin will be followed by those by Richard Dawkins (metaphorically
apt, since he is an important Darwinist). What of the 150 years between them? There is little
room for names between Darwin and Dawkins, but they span the entire history of thought on
evolution. A chronological ordering would put Darwin first (or near it), and moving across the
shelf would show how the science progressed up to the latest work in the field.
Satija and Comaromi outline the arguments for and against chronological book numbers.
In their favour, they are simple; there is no confusion when the same writer gets different Cutter
numbers in different classes; when a book has multiple authors, one is not favoured over the
others; the development of a subject can be they are an aid to weeding out of date books; there
are no problems making Cutter numbers for non-European names.

Against them, they note there is no well-developed system for using chronological numbers;
that the arrangement is more helpful for organization than retrieval; that it separates different

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