DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION
FEDERAL UNIVERSITY DUTSINMA
COURSE MATERIAL FOR DIPLOMA PROGRAM

DLIS 012: CATALOGUING AND CLASSIFICATION 1

INTRODUCTION

Historically, library catalogue were introduced with the advent of public libraries

in 18th century when collection of library began to grow beyond the points where

they can be humanly remember items for items. Catalogue is an important tool of a

modern and well equipped library. A library always need a systematic and well

planned catalogue in order to provide up to date information to the users. If there is

no catalogue in a library or an incomplete catalogue, it will be like a house which

has been built without keeping in view the need, nature of the accommodation.

While referring to efficient service, we interpret to mean a well-planned catalogue,

qualified staff and the adequate reading materials.

Therefore, catalogue is a guide for the directing readers to the location of

information materials. It is as important to library resources such as the key to a

door. A library may possess good collection but, if it lacks good catalogue, the

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collection will not be properly used. Hence the extent of the use of library

resources depends greatly upon the quality of library catalogue. Good catalogue

enhance the reputation of the library on one side but mars the reputation of the

library in other side.

Definition of Library Catalogue

Brown defined library catalogue as one of the important key and inventory of

books. Key in the sense that, it indicates the location or the identification of the

book and inventory in the sense that it contains the bibliographical information.

A library catalogue is an organized set of bibliographic records of the library

holdings. It consists of various unit or entries of bibliographic details of

information source, relating to their physical description. Catalogues are created by

librarians to list the documents or collections held in a library, print or electronic,

for the purpose of inventory and access.

Library Catalogue is a surrogate list of all items (such as books, microforms, audio

recordings, video tapes, etc.) in a collection usually arranged by author, title or

subject.

Library catalogue is also regarded as an index to the collection of a library.

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A library catalogue is an essential tool in a library and the key to the resources of a

library. It is referred to as the finding, access and retrieval tool of a library‟s

collection.

OBJECTIVES OF A LIBRARY CATALOGUE

The objectives of library catalogue were broadly described by Charles Ammi

Cutter in 1876, the objectives are

1. To enable the person to find a book of which

a. The author

b. The title or

c. The subject is known

2. To show what the library has

a. By a given author

b. On a given subject

c. In a given kind of literature

3. To assist in the choice of a book/ documents

a. As to its edition (bibliographically)

b. As ton its character (literary or topically)

FUNCTIONS OF A LIBRARY CATALOGUE

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The functions of library catalogue are essentially to:

1. Find: it help user to search for and find information sources that meet their

specific needs for which they know either the author, title or subject from

the larger library collection.

2. Select: it help users on the choice or selection of documents that best suit

their specific or peculiar information needs from the library collection.

3. Inform: It tells the users what the library has and their locations by title,

author or subject.

4. Bibliographic record/control: It records and maintains the records of

information sources in the collections of a library by a given author, title,

subject and in a given type of literature , thereby aiding the management of

the collection of a library

5. Identify: With detailed bibliographic description, the catalogue aids the users

to uniquely identify specific information sources by differentiating between

information sources of similarity or by matching an information source to a

given citation or description.

6. Navigate/browse: It helps users to articulate their needs by using the library

catalogue to gain knowledge of existing information sources.

PHYSICAL FORMS OF CATALOGUE

Library catalogue exist in several physical format which includes:

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1. Sheaf catalogue: The sheaf catalogue as the first to be introduced and used

by libraries in the late 18th century, they consisted of catalogue entries on

light sheaves of paper were then threaded together and keep in suitable

location in the library to be consulted by user. The sheaf catalogue is

portable; it is flexible and allows replacement and withdrawal of slip easily.

Its major disadvantage is that they were easily worm out from the wear and

tear of usage due to the quality of paper.

2. Bound book catalogue: In the early 19th century, book catalogue were an

improvement over the sheaf catalogue and become popular. They were

bound version of the sheaf catalogue and were more compact and more

durable. They were initially handwritten and later typed.

3. Card catalogue: The card catalogue was introduced by the end of the 19th to

replace the book catalogue. They were bibliographic entries recorded on

card and interfiled in appropriate trays provided by the purpose. It has

internal and external guiding system. It‟s more durable, flexible, portable

and easy to maintain. The size of the card adopted by libraries in early 1980s

was 3 by 5 inches.

4. Microfilm and Microfiche: These had a brief life span between 1950s and

early 1980s. Based on the usage of computers, they were produced in either

microfilm or microfiche, they were an interim between the card and the

electronic (computerized) and were soon discarded due to their inflexibility

and lack of durability.

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 5. Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC): This is the catalogue of choice for

libraries that have automated their operations. Bibliographic records stored

in computer memories are displayed on a video screen or computer monitor

in response from the user. OPAC are now becoming rule, rather than

exceptional especially in academic libraries and special libraries.

TYPES/CATEGORIES OF LIBRARY CATALOGUE

The general principle of the catalogue is to provide access through the main entry

of the respective information materials which usually the author, title and subject.

In other word, librarians presume that a user knows at least one of the three major

features in respect of the desired information package. In views of that, most

librarians provide the following types of library catalogue access.

1. Author catalogue: This contains entries with the names of authors as the

main entries. That is a catalogue report that gives the name of the author at

the major feature by which users main identify, find and locate a library

materials.

2. Title catalogue: This contains entries with the title of the materials as the

main access point or main entry.

3. Subject catalogue: This also use subject terms as main entry. Subject

catalogue has its peculiar features which include:

 The subject catalogue is arranged alphabetically in the catalogue cabinet.

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 It is very essential for keyword search.

 It is possible for a library user to come to the library without any idea as

to the author or title of information resources he/she needs. In this case,

subject catalogue is needed, if he/she has an idea of the subject content of

the materials. Below is the example of subject catalogue.

Z 857.D14 Library Science

DAN

DANGANI, Babangida Umar.

Use of Library and Study Skills/by Babangida .

. Umar Dangani- Zeh communication Limited, .

. Katisna, Nigeria: 2020.

vi, 258p.; illus; 24cm.

ISBN: 978-978-654-232-7

Includes: Index

1. Library Acc. No. 005373-005374

i. Title

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 4. Dictionary catalogue: Is a catalogue in which all the entries (author, title,

subject, series etc.) and there related references are arrange together in one

general alphabet. Sub arrangement frequently varies. Thus, in a dictionary

catalogue all the entries and concerned references are arrange in a single file.

5. Classified catalogue: Is one in which some entries are number entries and

some are word entries. Thus, it consists of two parts, namely the classified

part and alphabetical part.

LIBRARY CATALOGUE ENTRIES

A library catalogue consist of at least as many catalogue entries as the

bibliographic collection of that library, with each entry or card serving as a

surrogate or representing a document in the library‟s collection. There may be

more than one entry for each information materials, depending on the nature of the

materials. This is regarded as access points. Access Point is a name or a term that

can be used to retrieve the bibliographic information from a card catalog or an

online catalog. Examples are: author‟s name, title of the book, and subject heading.

All entries, or headings, are access points.

1. Main Entry: The main entry is a basic record for a given documents. It is a

specific entry which provides maximum information about the documents.

Each document has one main entry. Example

Author card (using the author‟s name as the main entry and access point)

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 TD
193 DAVA, S.S.
A text book of environmental chemistry/
S.S Dava and D.D Mishra.-rev. ed-New Delhi:
S. Chand and company, 2010.
Xiii, 59pg.: ill, 23cm
Include index
ISBN 81-219-0883-3
i. Environmental Chemistry
ii. Mishra D.D
iii. Title

2. Added Entry: Added entry is an entry additional to the main entry under

which a bibliographical entity is represented in a catalogue. The additional

entry supplement the main entry by providing an additional approach to

document listed in the card. This refers to other access point(s) besides the

main entry used to identify a work. Sometimes added entry is called

secondary entry. These are prepared for subordinate author like joint

authors, editors, series, subjects, titles etc. Example

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Subject card

TD ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISRTY
193 DAVA, S.S
A text book of environmental chemistry/
S.S Dava and D.D Mishra.-rev. ed-New Delhi:
S. Chand and company, 2010.
Xiii, 59pg.: ill, 23cm
Include index
ISBN 81-219-0883-3
i. Mishra D.D
ii. Title

Title card
TD A TEXT BOOK OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY
193 DAVA, S.S
A text book of environmental chemistry/
S.S Dava and D.D Mishra.-rev. ed-New Delhi:
S. Chand and company, 2010.
Xiii, 59pg.: ill, 23cm
Include index
ISBN 81-219-0883-3
i. Environmental Chemistry
ii. Mishra D.D

3. Analytical entry: Is an entry for a work or part of a work that is contain in a

collection, series issues of a serial (like articles in periodical, contribution to

conference proceedings) or other bibliographic units for which another

comprehensive entry has been made. An access point that is the title or name

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 of a part of a work, or a separate part that belongs to a series. There are three

(3) types of analytical entry namely, author, title and subject analytical.

4. Cross reference entry: Is a direction from one heading or entry to another

related place in the same work. It is a number entry which is entered under

one of the classes other than its dominant focus or class. Example.

E150
See also
E198-NS9
Ammi Cutter
Cataloging and Classification. P 50-60

5. See Reference (replacement): A see reference direct the user from the name

of person or of a corporate body or the title of a work or subject or name of

series not used to the heading being used at the moment. This may happen as

a result of change of name. Example

KATSINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Annual report to council…
UMARU MUSA YARADUA UNIVERSITY

You are expected to give the title proper of the materials you are referring your

user to.

6. See Also Reference (additional): This direct the user from one heading to a

related heading. Example.

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BOTANY
Yusuf B.J
Introduction to the study of …
BIOLOGY

DEFINITION OF SHELF LIST:

“Shelf List is a record kept on cards of the books and other materials in a library in

the order in which they stand on the shelves” (Merriam-Webster)

“Shelf list is a description of a repository‟s holdings that is organized in the same

order that the materials are stored” (American Archivists)

“A Shelf list is defined as a formal catalogue with entries sorter in the same order

as the bibliographic items are shelved” (LIS Carrel)

So, we can say that shelf list is a record on which on cards for every book, journal,

periodical, and other materials in the library are kept on the master shelves.

USES OF THE SHELF LIST:

The shelf list, which is, otherwise, called the master catalogue, that contains

tracing on the basis of which main author entry and all other added entries are

prepared, performs the following functions/uses.

1. Inventory Record: It serves as a record with which stocktaking may be

done to find out missing materials by checking the accession number of each

book on the shelf against the shelf list.

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2. Provides Complete Record of Books: It shows the total number of titles or

copies of books owned by the information institutions, as it contains

accession number of all copies of a title.

3. Serves as Classified Catalogue: Because the entries are arranged by

classification numbers, it works as a classified catalogue.

4. Alternative to Accession Register (AR): It provides some additional

information about the books, printed on the left side of the entry, i.e. date

order, price, source, etc. which are also given Accession Register (AR). The

Shelf list thus works as an alternative to Accession Register (AR).

5. Check against Duplicate Call Numbers: While assigning new call number

to a new book, the cataloguer must check the Shelf List to ascertain whether

that number has already been allotted to the subject in question, or it is a

different number for the some object.

6. A Book Selection Apparatus: It shows the acquisition officer, before

procuring new books, how many and what materials the information

institution has in a given subject. It also works as a book selection tool for

the new and smaller information instructions.

7. Record of Insurance: It serves as a record for insurance against destruction

of collection by fire, war or other climates.

8. Historical and Statistical Record of the Book Collection: Because the

shelf list maintains record of number of copies of a book purchased

including its price, the copy lost or withdrawn, location of the book in the
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 central library, or branch libraries, or subject reading rooms, the information

institution can have a history of every book it contains through the shelf list.

Differences between Shelf List and Public Catalogue

Apart from the general bibliographical information of a book as found in a

main author entry, the Shelf List (SL) contains certain additional information

printed on the left-hand side of the entry, i.e.

 Date of ordering or Date recommended, or Date order.

 Date of procurement or date procured.

 Accession number, or serial number.

 Source of acquisition

 Price

 Location, etc.

These are not to be found in a public catalogue, either classified or dictionary. The

Accession Register (AR) includes most of the items except date of ordering and

location of the books.

a. Number of Entries for a Book: The shelf list contains only one entry for one

title of a book, whereas a public catalogue, either contain card entries in classified

or dictionary order. It may contain more than one entry including added entries for

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subject(s), joint author(s), title, compiler, editor, translator, series, etc. for a book in

question. Accession Register doesn‟t contain any such entries.

b. Subject Entry: A Shelf List doesn‟t include any subject entry whereas a public

catalogue may include one or more entries for a book. The Accession Register has

nothing to do with added entry.

c. Cross Reference Entries: A Shelf List doesn‟t include any type of references

which may be found in both classified and dictionary catalogues viz, Instruction

USE Education. Accession Register doesn‟t include such entries.

d. Official or Public Catalogue: A SL is maintained as an official catalogue

works as a public catalogue for the use of the public. The Accession Register is

also an official record of books procured and maintained in the Acquisition

Development.

e. Arrangement of Entries: A SL like a classed catalogue, is arranged according

to classification number of any scheme, while a dictionary catalogue is arranged

alphabetically by author, title, subject, series, etc. The Accession Register is not

arranged in this way, but the entries of new arrivals are made in a register copy

according to dare and serial numbers.

f. Book Selection Aid: The SL and the classified catalogue may be used as a book

selection tool and for research purpose because the entries on a given subject and

its related areas can be found together. It may be difficult for the both dictionary

catalogue and the Accession Register to serve both these purposes, since subject

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entries are not given prominence in a dictionary catalogue, while entries on a

particular subject are scattered all over the Accession Register.

Finally, we can say that it should be remembered here that if the library is

automated or computerized, the above card catalogue or Shelf List will be of no

use since an OPAC can offer not only the information contained in shelf list but

also more than those.

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENTS IN THE CATALOQUING DEPARTMENT

 LC Subject Headings/ Sears list of subject headings

 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rule 2 (AACR2)

 3x5 Cards

 Card sorter

 Scissors

 Accession machine

 Shelf-list card cabinet

 glue

 Ruler

 Masking tape

LEVELS OF CATALOGUING ENTRIES

The AACR2 recommends three levels of details in describing cataloguing.

Depending on the size and type of the library, a certain number are included for the

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catalogue entry of a given information package. In other word there are three level

of cataloguing.

FIRST LEVEL:

The first level of cataloguing comprises a maximum of five entries or descriptive

area. It is recommended and adopted by small libraries such as school libraries,

children‟s libraries and small collection without high growth potentials

SECON LEVEL:

The second level of cataloguing comprises a maximum of eight items or areas and

is adopted and used by academic libraries.

THIRD LEVEL:

The third level is the most detailed with up to twelve areas and is used by special

libraries because of the specialised nature of both their collections and their users.

Whatever the level of cataloguing used, the ultimate aim is to facilitate search of a

library‟s holdings for the purpose of enhancing access through their identification

and location.

CONCEPT OF CLASSIFICATION

The history of classification corresponds to the various attempts to adapt and

modify existing philosophical system of knowledge to the arrangement of

materials and to user needs. One of the best known early American classifier was

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the United States. He adapted certain elements

of Francis Bacon outline of knowledge, not only to his library, but also to his plans
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for the organization of the university of Virginia and reorganization of the college

of Williams and Mary.

Classification is natural human activity. Essentially, it is the attempt for creation of

structure and order through the categorization of items or elements into groups

determined by their similarity or lack of it. In classifying the universe of

knowledge, librarian and information mangers attempt to group different facet of

the knowledge universe into categories of like and unlike terms. The purpose is to

separate the information materials of the library‟s holdings into classes in order to

distinguish them from one another and also to highlight any relationship that may

be among them, thereby making it more easy to and retrieve specific items from

among many that may or may not be related to one another.

DEFINITION OF CLASSIFICATION

There are many views on the definition of library classification. Literally,

classification is a step-by-step process of grouping information resources with

regard to their similarities and differences.

Library‟s Glossary defines library classification as the arrangement of library‟s

holding in logical order according to their degrees of likeness.

Classification can also be defined as the systematic and logical grouping or

arrangement of library resources according to their degrees of likeness or

similarities. It is a coding system that represents the meaning of concepts.

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Classification of documents is part of subject cataloguing where the notation

chosen for a document is stated on the bibliographic entry. It is by this notation

that a document is shelved in the library in a systematic manner.

Purpose of a library classification

1. It facilitates the arrangement of information resources in a library in an order

convenient to the users and librarian

2. It facilitates the arrangement of subject entries in the library catalogue.

3. It enables the classifier to sort documents into classes based on the subject

content as well as indicate relationships between documents in the same

class.

4. Through classification, a library would be able to ascertain the subjects

having more publications and those with few publications

5. It enables book/information resources to be organized in group

6. It is a means by which books/ information resources may be returned to their

former relative position on the shelves after use.

Principles of Classification

Ideally, the process of classification involves establishing the main subjects treated

in a document. After identifying the relevant subject terms using subject heading

list, the classifier would check the index to enable him/her have an idea of the

classification number. This number would therefore be confirmed from the

schedule for specific notation.

Below are the principles that guide classifier in classifying a document/resource:

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 i. A document/resource is classified first based on the subject content, and

then by form in which the subject is represented EXCEPT in general

class or literature.

ii. A document/resource must be classified where it is most useful.

iii. A document/resource must be placed in its specific class

iv. A document/resource that deals with two or more subjects should be

placed in the class of the most predominant subject or the subject that is

named first.

v. When a document covers more than three subjects then a class that

covers all the subjects should be chosen.

LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES

There are many classification schemes that are practiced in different libraries, such

as, Library of Congress Classification Scheme (LCCS), Dewey Decimal

Classification (DDC), Universal Decimal Classification (UDC), Colon

Classification Scheme (CCS), Faceted Classification Scheme (FCS), Nippon

Decimal Classification Scheme (NDCS) and many more.

A classification scheme usually consists of three main components, these are;

i. Schedule ii. Notation iii. Index. Other components may include, tables,

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CLASSIFICATION SCHEME

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The history of LC can be categorised into three (3).

a. The early system b. Jefferson System c. The modern System

The library of congress (USA) came into being in 1800 as a result of a bill passed

by the USA house of congress to establish a library that will guide their operation.

They purchased 700 books from England and were arranged on shelves. The then

librarians classify them by accession number also colour of the book and nature of

binding was also used to classify materials. By 1812, the collection has grown to

about 3,000 volumes and better method of classification was needed. They used

Bacon system to arrange the materials, soon after it, British soldiers invaded

America and burn the capital where the collections was housed.

To re-establish it, Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his 7,000 collection to the

congress, after some debates, they agreed to purchase his books, although many of

them were destroyed in a later fire.

In 1899 Dr Herbat Putnam, the new librarian that took over from John Russel

Yong decided to reorganize and classify his rapidly growing collection together

with James C.M Hanson the head of cataloguing division and Charles Martel the

chief classifier. After Putnam and his cataloguer Charles Martel determined the

broad outline of the new classification scheme, different subject specialist were

asked to develop each individual scheme or portion for the system. The general

frame work set up to ensure coordination of each topic or class identified was

further organized to display library‟s holding and to serve anticipated research

need.
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In the LC scheme, the whole field of knowledge is divided into 21 groups, using 21

letters of the alphabet to represent the main classes and their sub divisions. The

notational symbol are mixed. Main classes denoted by capital letter and the second

capital letter represent another major subject area. (i.e umbrella subject; e.g H-

social science, HF commerce.)

 A – General Words.

 B – Philosophy and Religion

 C – Auxiliary Science and History

 D – Universal History

 E-F- American History

 G – Geography, Anthropology

 H – Social Science

 J – Political Science

 K - Law

 L – Education

 M – Music

 N – Fine art

 P – Language, Linguistics and Literature

 Q – Science

 R – Medicine

 S – Agriculture

 T – Technology
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  U – Military Science

 V – Naval Science

 Z – Librarianship and Bibliography

Letter I, O, W, X, and Y are not yet use in LCC. They have been reserved for

further expansion of the scheme.

There is also provision for additional cutter number after decimal points for further

arrangement. The additional figures consist of capital letter followed by two or

three figures.

The cutter number are allocated in the following order

ABC DEF GHIJ KLMN OPQR STUV WXYZ

123 4 5 6 7 8 9
DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION (DDC)

DDC was conceived by Melvil Dewey in 1873 and first published in 1876. It is

based on a division of knowledge into ten classes:

000 Generalities

100 Philosophy and Psychology,

200 Religion,

300 Social Sciences,

400 Language,

500 Natural Sciences and Mathematics,

600 Technology,

700 Arts,

800 Literature, and

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900 History and Geography.

It is continually updated by an editorial policy committee. The classifications for

social sciences and technology have grown the most over the years. The 22nd

edition was published in 2003.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library is one of the

largest libraries in the U.S. that uses the Dewey Decimal Classification. Its

adoption probably dates from the beginning of the 20th century.

UNIVERSAL DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION (UDC)

UDC was developed by two Belgium called Senator Henri la Fontaine and Paul

Oflet in 1885 under the organization known as Institute Nationale de Bibliography

(IIB) in France. Their initial intention was to develop a universal index to record

knowledge hence they try to compile a catalogue of world literature, the scheme

was based on all the items in the word recorded literature. The scheme was based

on the 5th Dewey Decimal Scheme, it was widely used in Europe particularly in the

France speaking world. The French edition was first published in1905 It has since

appeared in several languages, the scheme is based on DDC scheme but, the two

final zeros are omitted UDC and class 400 was also integrated into 800. The

English volumes consist of two volumes. Volume one consist of systematic table

while volume two is the index. UDC is very popular among special libraries

because it was designed for details indexing. It is based on a division of knowledge

into ten classes:

00 Generalities and Prolegomena

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10 Philosophy, Psychology, Logic and Ethics

20 Religion and Theology

30 Social Sciences, Law and Education

40 Philosophy, Linguistics and Language,

50 Mathematics and Natural Sciences

60 Applied Sciences and Technology,

70 Arts, Entertainment and Sports

80 Literature, and

90 Geography, Bibliography and History

FEATURES COMMON TO LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION

To be of maximum benefit to the classifier, classification scheme need to include

the following features:

a. General class: This class caters primarily for books of general knowledge,

which could not be allocated to any particular subject class because of their

pervasive subject coverage.

b. Form class: A form class makes provision for those books where form is of

greater important than subject. Most of this kind are literary works – fiction,

poetry, plays for example. Poetry is primarily read for its own sake and not

because the poems may be about animals or trees or whatever. Dewey

literature class is an example of a form class except that class is divided first

by language and then by form.

820 – English Literature

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 821 – English Poem

c. Schedules: The term schedule is used to describe the printed list of all the

main classes, division and subdivision of the classification scheme. The

schedule provide the logical arrangement of all the subject encompassed by

the classification scheme, this arrangement usually being hierarchical i.e

showing the relationship of specific subject to their parent subject.

d. Index: The index to classification scheme is an alphabetical arrangement of

all the subjects listed in the schedule. It is the key to the topics or terms used

in the schedule with the relevant class mark (or notation) showing against

each subject. There are two types of index; Relative and Specific index.

e. Table: The table of a classification scheme are additional to the schedules

and provide list of symbols which can be added to class marks to make them

more specific and precise. Mostly the most important in the table is the table

of standard subdivision or form class.

f. Notation: The notation is the character used to represent the terms

encompassed by the classification scheme. Notation contains the codes

assigned to the different subject terms listed in the schedules. The notation

can be „pure‟ i.e using one type of symbol (letters or numerals) only or

„mixed‟ i.e using more than one kind of symbols (both letters and symbols).

The notation usually appears on the spine of library books to facilitate

shelving and to ensure that each book is placed correctly on the shelves. The

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notation is also on catalogue entries to help the staff and public to retrieve

books quickly.

DELIGHTFUL READING AND BEST OF LUCK..

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