College and Research Libraries


B y M A U R I C E F . T A U B E R 

Special Problems in Reclassification 
and Recataloging 

Mr. Tauber is chief, Catalog Department, 

University of Chicago Libraries. 

IN A N EARLIER PAPER, 1 it w a s i n d i c a t e d that a number of complex problems 
are created by introducing projects of 

reclassification and recataloging into aca-

demic2 libraries. Consideration w i l l be 

given here to a group of special problems 

which may be peculiar to individual li-

braries, or to small groups of libraries, but 

are probably of interest to most admin-

istrators and technicians. T h e s e problems 

concern ( i ) classification of special types 

of materials, ( 2 ) open-shelf collections, 

( 3 ) letter classifications, ( 4 ) arrears in 

cataloged and classified materials, ( 5 ) ex-

perimentation in filing, ( 6 ) uses of films, 

( 7 ) discarding and storage, and ( 8 ) union 

catalogs. T h e s e matters w i l l be treated 

in relation to practices in a group of sixty 

college and university libraries which have 

either completed reclassification or are still 

reclassifying by the L i b r a r y of Congress 

system and in six other libraries which 

have always used the L i b r a r y of Congress 

system. A f e w points made are based 

upon the possible f u t u r e development of 

libraries rather than upon prevalent pres-

ent practice. T h e y are noted, however, 

** Tauber, Maurice F. "Reclassification and Re-
cataloging of Materials in College and U n i v e r s i t y 
L i b r a r i e s . " I n Randall, William M . , ed. The Acqui-
sition and Cataloging of Books. U n i v e r s i t y of Chi-
cago Press, 1940, p. 187-219. 

2 A s used in this paper, " a c a d e m i c " r e f e r s to "col-
lege and university. 

for they may aid in t h r o w i n g light upon 

questions which are frequently omitted in 

discussions of the problem of reorganizing 

the technical processes. 

Classification of Special Types of 

Materials 

Institutional differences among libraries 

w i l l necessarily result in variations in prac-

tice in regard to the placement of certain 

types of materials during reclassification. 

F o r example, w h a t should be done about 

the placement of subject bibliographies? 

O f biographies? O f fiction? O f text-

books? O f juvenile collections? O f pe-

riodicals? It may be observed that li-

braries employing the L i b r a r y of Congress 

classification are not faced w i t h the same 

problem in arranging these materials as 

they are in the placement of classes of ma-

terials for w h i c h no L i b r a r y of Congress 

schedules3 exist or in situations wherein 

inadequacies in the schedules are present.4 

T h e question concerns the variations and 

the possible reasons for them. T h e dis-

cussion of the practices relating to the 

handling of these special types of materials 

should c l a r i f y rather than settle points of 

controversy and should enable one to pro-

ceed along w h a t e v e r lines the best in-

terests of a particular library seem to 

indicate. 

3 E.g., L a w . 
4 Tauber, op. cit., p. 211-12. 

D EC EMBER, 1942 49 



Bibliographies 

T h e w h o l e problem of whether to place 

bibliographies w i t h the subject or in the 

special class Z ( B i b l i o g r a p h y ) is presented 

to the librarian w h o is reclassifying by 

the L i b r a r y of Congress system. O n e may 

not say categorically which is the better 

procedure. Y e t , on the basis of the prac-

tices of the libraries included in the study, 

the m a j o r choice (82 per cent) has been 

to f o l l o w the L i b r a r y of Congress assign-

ments and build up a special collection of 

bibliographies in the Z (1001-9000) class. 

A n o t h e r method which is claimed by its 

adherents to result in effective grouping is 

to assign the bibliographical item its sub-

ject notation and then preface the num-

ber by the letter Z , that is Z Q E 7 5 . A 2 2 

for Nickles' Bibliography of North Amer-

ican Geology. I t should be noted that the 

L i b r a r y of Congress itself frequently places 

its second copy w i t h the subject rather 

than in Z . 

Biographies 

T h e placement of biographies presents 

a problem similar to that raised by biblio-

graphical materials. G e n e r a l l y , libraries 

have f o l l o w e d the L i b r a r y of Congress 

practice of placing biographies w i t h the 

subject. F o r those titles which are diffi-

cult to place w i t h a specific subject, C T 

( B i o g r a p h y ) is used. A t least six libraries, 

however, use C T for all their biographical 

works. T h e experience of librarians has 

indicated that most users of academic li-

braries are more satisfied to find biographi-

cal material w i t h the subjects rather than 

in a single alphabetical order by the names 

of the biographees. 

Fiction 

In larger libraries fiction has been placed 

w i t h the literature of the country of the 
author. T h e class P Z 3 , used by the L i -
brary of Congress for most of its fiction, 
has thus been eliminated in twenty-eight 
libraries. A p p a r e n t l y in academic li-
braries it has been found more useful to 
the patrons to arrange fiction according 
to the literature of the country rather than 
in a single alphabetical order. T h e r e is 
more divergence of opinion in regard to 
the handling of fiction than there is in the 
cases of bibliography and biography. 
Eighteen libraries place all fiction in P Z 3 . 

Textbooks 

T h e arrangement of textbooks has pre-

sented special problems to those institu-

tions which maintain teacher-training 

schools or divisions. T h e large collections 

of elementary, secondary, and junior col-

lege texts, sometimes reaching five thou-

sand or more volumes, apparently do not 

best serve their purposes for comparison 

and consultation by teachers and prospec-

tive teachers w h e n they are dispersed in a 

general collection of t w o or three hundred 

thousand volumes. F o r this reason there 

has been a tendency on the part of li-

braries w i t h teacher-training divisions to 

segregate textbook materials in special col-

lections. B u t the large majority of 

libraries ( 7 0 per cent) have treated 

textbooks which are below the level of 

higher education just as they have other 

materials, that is, arranged them in their 

respective places according to L i b r a r y of 

Congress practice. If w e add the 15 per 

cent of libraries which f o l l o w L i b r a r y of 

Congress practice, which generally means 

placement w i t h subject, it may be said 

that approximately 85 per cent of the li-

braries class textbooks w i t h the subject. 

A n interesting special classification has been 

50 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



devised in one library by using the L i b r a r y 

of Congress class number assignments and 

prefixing L T to the numbers to throw 

them into a distinct grouping. T h e re-

sults seem uniformly better than in the 

four institutions which have devised spe-

cial classifications based upon broad D e w e y 

numbers prefixed by the letters L T . 

Juvetiile Works 

T h e presence of juvenile collections, 

which are used in connection w i t h teacher-

training schools by the pupils themselves 

or by students preparing to be teachers, 

presents a problem similar to that of text-

books. W h i l e 21 per cent of the libraries 

(out of fifty-eight libraries) place such 

materials w i t h the subject, the more preva-

lent practice is to segregate such materials 

in the L i b r a r y of Congress P Z 5 class. 

T h e latter grouping is probably more ef-

fective for the academic library. T h e plac-

ing of The Little Farmer on the shelf 

beside a scientific treatise on agriculture 

hardly seems a satisfactory procedure in an 

academic library so far as probable use is 

concerned. 

Periodicals 

Periodicals generally have been reclassi-

fied along w i t h books. In several libraries 

the classification of periodicals has been for 

shelflist purpose only, that is, the periodi-

cals are classified and then arranged alpha-

betically by title on the shelves. Evidence 

based on observation alone indicates that 

the approach of most users to periodicals 

generally has not been on the basis of 

subject groupings of the titles but by spe-

cific articles. Subject groupings of periodi-

cals, however, probably aid the user w h o 

is w o r k i n g on a special topic by bringing 

together a similar group of journals. T w o 

libraries decided to reclassify the periodi-

cals after the process of reclassification had 

been in progress for several years because 

experience had demonstrated that the read-

ers in the stacks found an alphabetical 

arrangement difficult to use when periodi-

cal titles changed or merged. Stack at-

tendants were presented w i t h a similar 

difficulty in locating and shelving mate-

rials. T h u s , the reclassification of pe-

riodicals along w i t h books may be 

undertaken primarily for purposes of ad-

ministrative efficiency. 

Other Materials 

Such materials as government docu-

ments and dissertations of other insti-

tutions present problems which need 

consideration during reclassification. F o r 

example, the evidence from a f e w libraries 

indicates that there is a tendency to f o l l o w 

L i b r a r y of Congress assignments in both 

these classes of materials. In a f e w in-

stances librarians have arranged documents 

chronologically or according to the class-

ification of the Documents Office. T h e s e s 

of other institutions are sometimes ar-

ranged chronologically under the names of 

the issuing institutions rather than under 

the subject. 

Summary Note 

T h e methods of treating special types of 

materials during reclassification depend 

upon the purposes of the library and the 

characteristics of the users. M a j o r i t y 

practices are not always the best criteria. 

H o w e v e r , it should be emphasized that 

unless local conditions are likely to be 

permanent, the adoption of ill-advised ar-

rangements may prove expensive variations 

w i t h o u t proportionate returns in user 

satisfaction. 

D EC EMBER, 1942 51 



Cutter and Letter Classifications 

In t w o libraries modifications of the 

C u t t e r classification w e r e employed in the 

arrangement of books. T h e presence of a 

letter notation such as that w h i c h char-

acterizes the C u t t e r system and t w o of 

the local classifications w h i c h w e r e used 

may raise annoying administrative prob-

lems. In order to preserve system in the 

stacks for faculty members and students 

using volumes at the shelves and to re-

move difficulties from the tasks of the 

loan attendants or stack assistants in se-

curing books w i t h dispatch, a decision 

should be made regarding the method of 

distinguishing between the notation of the 

L i b r a r y of Congress classification and that 

of the system being discarded. If libraries 

had used a pure C u t t e r notation, w h i c h 

does not include the use of digits in addi-

tion to the letters, the problem w o u l d not 

be pressing. H o w e v e r , all the libraries 

using either the C u t t e r or local letter sys-

tems had modified the arrangements to 

the extent of including digits as part of 

the call numbers. T h r e e procedures for 

reducing confusion apparently have been 

f o l l o w e d : ( I ) T o segregate on different 

tiers or in sections of the stack the mate-

rials classified by C u t t e r or letter systems 

f r o m those reclassified by the L i b r a r y of 

Congress system, ( 2 ) T o remark the re-

classified volumes in some distinctive w a y , 

as, f o r example, to shift the position of the 

marking or the labels, and ( 3 ) T o place 

a temporary colored label, dot, or mark 

on those volumes w h i c h have been re-

classified until the whole collection has 

been rearranged. T h e presence of a letter 

classification is a factor, although a minor 

one, in raising the cost of reclassification. 

S h i f t i n g in the stacks is usually more fre-

quent than otherwise, and the extra task 

of differentiating between unreclassified 

and reclassified materials is introduced. 

Open-Shelf Libraries 

T h e presence of open-shelf libraries or 

collections creates problems for both the 

library staff and the users. T h e librarian 

is forced to organize the routines of re-

classification so that the personnel of the 

catalog department w i l l have no difficulty 

in w o r k i n g w i t h the collection and so that 

the users w i l l not be unreasonably limited 

in their access to materials. In most of 

the libraries h a v i n g open-shelf collections, 

the procedure has been either to remove 

to the catalog department certain sections 

of a class, as, for example, all the books 

in the 510's, w h i l e they are being processed. 

In other cases, certain areas have been 

blocked off d u r i n g the reclassification 

process and the mechanical w o r k done on 

the spot. By the latter method direct ac-

cess is prohibited, but it is possible to sup-

ply materials to users w i t h o u t delay. T h e 

arrangement of the building is a determi-

nant of the best procedure in regard to 

open-shelf collections, and it is not pos-

sible, therefore, to suggest w h a t a certain 

library should do unless such factors as 

location of the collection, distance to the 

w o r k r o o m , and the nature of use are con-

sidered. It may be generally stated, how-

ever, that any procedure f o l l o w e d should 

be prompted by the policy of giving com-

plete and immediate service to the users. 

B y a system of records in both the cir-

culation department and the catalog de-

partment, any book w h i c h is being w o r k e d 

upon should be readily located. A m o n g 

the f a c u l t y complaints regarding reclass-

ification, the inability to secure books which 

w e r e in process of being changed has been 

emphasized. 

52 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



Arrears in Classified and Cataloged 

Materials 

W i t h the introduction of reclassification 

and recataloging into a library, it is ap-

parent that if the annual book acquisitions 

remain constant or increase and the num-

ber of individuals engaged in the technical 

processes remains constant, additional 

w o r k w o u l d normally slow up the prep-

arational operations on new accessions. 

In many of the libraries studied increases 

in acquisitions w i t h o u t a proportionate in-

crease in staff to handle reclassification 

occurred. I t may be observed that re-

classification most often takes place in a 

library in w h i c h the book collections are 

rapidly increasing rather than in a library 

that has reached a stationary stage in de-

velopment. 

It is difficult to say whether or not re-

classification is entirely responsible for 

arrearage in cataloged and classified ma-

terials but there seems to be little doubt 

that it is a contributing factor. In eight-

een of the libraries it w a s possible to 

observe some relationship between re-

classification and arrears. In seven librar-

ies that could provide approximate figures 

of arrears attributable to reclassification, 

the number of volumes ranged f r o m three 

hundred to t w e n t y thousand. F i v e li-

braries reported ten thousand or more 

volumes in arrears. 

T h e question of arrearage as a result 

of reclassification or of other reasons poses 

a real problem for librarians and suggests 

a w o r t h - w h i l e topic for further investiga-

tion. T h i s refers to the actual use made 

of materials in libraries of institutions of 

higher education. Is it more important 

to make available materials of recent im-

print than it is to expend a large portion 

of the time of the technical personnel in 

reclassifying and recataloging older ma-

terials w h i c h may be rarely used by a 

research student? A study of the use of 

library materials is fundamental to reach 

a conclusion on the question of whether or 

not reclassification is desirable in a par-

ticular library. In this connection, an 

experimental library arranged by a period 

classification such as suggested by L u n d 

and T a u b e 5 should reveal some interesting 

facts regarding actual use of materials. 

Experimentation in Filing 

A m o n g the important practical problems 

of the user of card catalogs is the method 

of arranging the cards in the trays. Skill 

in filing w a s once considered among the 

peculiar acquirements of the librarian and 

his ability to file w a s regarded as an 

esoteric talent. B u t more important than 

the ability of the librarian to file cards 

is the success of the user in locating en-

tries a f t e r the cards have been arranged 

in their alphabets and subalphabets. In 

the preliminary plans for a reclassification 

project the librarian should c a r e f u l l y 

analyze the filing situation. W h a t difficul-

ties existed in the filing system up to the 

time of reclassification and recataloging? 

A survey of the users and staff members 

on the question of the ease or difficulty 

in locating materials through the catalog 

should provide the librarian w i t h more 

than a subjective basis on which to intro-

duce a new filing code. A m o n g the sixty 

libraries reclassifying thirty-eight retained 

their old filing systems. T e n of the li-

braries w h i c h changed adopted the Pitts-

burgh r u l e s ; three, the C l e v e l a n d c o d e ; 

t w o , the Cincinnati r u l e s ; t w o , the U n i -

versity of C h i c a g o rules, w h i c h embodies 

8 L u n d , John J., and T a u b e , M o r t i m e r . " A Non-
E x p a n s i v e Classification S y s t e m : A n I n t r o d u c t i o n to 
Period C l a s s i f i c a t i o n . " Library Quarterly 7=373-94. 
J u l y 1937. 

D EC EMBER, 1942 53 



simplified alphabetizing; and one, modified 

L i b r a r y of Congress rules. F o u r libraries 

use a combination of several codes. T h e r e 

is reason to believe that if the L i b r a r y of 

Congress had published its rules more 

libraries w o u l d have used them. 

In connection w i t h the rehandling of 

all cards during complete reclassification 

and recataloging, there is also the possibil-

ity of introducing experiments in filing 

systems. T h e divided catalog, for ex-

ample, is assumed to meet the reader's 

approach to the catalog. In all libraries 

included in the study not one librarian 

ventured to set up the divided catalog at 

the start of reclassification. Recently in 

one of the libraries the catalog has been 

divided. It should be pointed out that 

the adoption of the split catalog during 

reclassification w i l l involve considerable 

effort on the part of the users. T h e old 

catalog and the t w o parts of the new 

catalog may possibly present a psychologi-

cal hazard. A l s o , the split catalog re-

quires a total rearrangement of the tray 

space and probably the purchase of new 

equipment. 

Uses of Film 

Implications are raised for using films 

during projects of reclassification. T h e 

possibilities in this connection relate to 

( i ) storage and ( 2 ) union catalogs. 

T h e storage of little-used materials 

apart f r o m the central book stock may be 

accompanied by a similar storage of cata-

log cards for the materials. It has been 

suggested, for example, that the card cata-

logs be reduced in size by the elimination 

of subject cards for materials that are 

seldom used. W h i l e selective cataloging 

may permanently eliminate cards from the 

catalog, the use of microfilm techniques 

may make it possible to remove inactive 

cards from the file and still keep them 

for reference purposes. It should be ap-

parent that any librarian having intentions 

of storing materials during reclassification 

should consider the possibilities of micro-

filming the card records for the materials. 

Films may also be used as aids in com-

piling union catalogs. Since reclassifica-

tion and recataloging are often utilized as 

an opportunity to prepare a union catalog 

of all the libraries on a campus or of all 

libraries which are part of an academic 

institution, films furnish t w o distinct uses. 

In the first place, copies of all catalogs 

of departmental libraries may be made 

and used in the catalog department during 

the reclassification process. T h i s is par-

ticularly true if the departmental libraries 

had been independent and complete records 

were not held by the central library. In 

the second place, films may be used for a 

deliberate compilation of a union catalog 

of all materials in the various units of the 

institution. T h i s use of film applies only 

in case the library has not taken advantage 

of the opportunity of duplicating cards 

for a union catalog during the initial stages 

of reclassification and recataloging. 

Discarding and Storage 

Some librarians have considered the 

problems of discarding and storage of 

various types of materials as part of re-

classification and recataloging. Despite 

the recent revival of the proposal that 

college libraries, and to a lesser extent 

university libraries, weed their collections, 

most librarians w h o have undertaken re-

classification and recataloging recently 

have not seen fit to use these processes as 

an opportunity to reconsider the right of 

an item to occupy space on the shelf. 

54 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



It is perhaps thoughtless on the part of 

the librarian not to use reclassification and 

recataloging as a means to weed the dupli-

cate collection of the library. F o r ex-

ample, the reclassification of twenty-six 

copies of a botany textbook or thirty copies 

of an old education textbook, even though 

the library has copies of new editions of 

both titles, is without question a waste 

of time and results in an inefficient use 

of shelf space. 

T h e possible effects of storage and 

reservoir libraries upon the processes of 

reclassification and recataloging should be 

noted. If the g r o w t h of academic libraries 

continues at the present pace, the next half 

century should witness increased library 

building or, as it is now being studied 

seriously, the construction of storage li-

braries. T h e elimination of little-used 

titles and duplicates from the stacks of the 

active materials, therefore, should have 

definite meaning in a program of reclassi-

fication and recataloging. T h e need to 

assimilate materials from a number of 

libraries w i l l require some reorganization 

of the cataloging and classifying practices 

of the contributing units. Since this is a 

problematical matter, no definite statement 

of w h a t should be done w i l l be made at 

this time. B u t no study of storage plans 

which involves a group of libraries should 

neglect to review the possible effects the 

arrangements might have on the technical 

processes in the individual libraries. 

Union Catalogs 

T h e rise of union catalogs in the U n i t e d 

States is a comparatively recent movement. 

T w e l v e of the college and university li-

braries included in the present study have 

been contributing members to union cata-

logs. In most cases, however, the union 

catalogs started after reclassification was 

under w a y or near completion in the 

libraries. T h i s particular section of this 

paper is concerned w i t h the possibilities 

of using union catalog services and 

methods during a reclassification and re-

cataloging project. T h e relations of re-

classification and recataloging to union 

catalogs appear in three w a y s : ( i ) T h e 

use of union catalogs themselves for pur-

poses of cataloging, ( 2 ) T h e use of film 

during the general process of reclassifica-

tion for establishing a union catalog of 

materials on the campus, and ( 3 ) T h e 

improvement of cataloging generally in an 

area through the establishment of uniform-

ity in entries. 

Union Catalogs and Recataloging 

In several of the college and university 

libraries which still maintain in their 

catalogs thousands of handwritten cards 

of doubtful entry, the utilization of the 

union catalog may be highly desirable. 

W h i l e no library included in the group 

under investigation has actually been en-

gaged in a project of this type, a large 

private library, the L i b r a r y Company of 

Philadelphia, has taken advantage of this 

use of the union catalog. T h i s project 

involves the use of labor furnished by 

the W . P . A . to copy all the cards in the 

Philadelphia U n i o n Catalogue which have 

the name of the L i b r a r y C o m p a n y of 

Philadelphia stamped on them.G A s about 

70 per cent of these cards have been dupli-

cated by libraries which have been better 

cataloged than the L i b r a r y C o m p a n y of 

Philadelphia and many more could be 

identified through bibliographical sources, 

6 Started in 1939. See Berthold, A . B. " U n i o n 
Catalogues and Documentation." In Federation 
Internationale de Documentation. XVieme Confe-
rence Internationale, Zurich, 10-13, Aoiit, 1939. P. 
C i - C s . 

D EC EMBER, 1942 55 



a substantially good catalog w a s expected 

to result. I t is admitted that such a 

procedure has certain drawbacks and the 

n e w catalog w o u l d not be perfect but it 

represents an experiment that merits the 

attention of librarians. U n t r a i n e d labor, 

for example, may be used in such a 

project, and librarians w h o do not have 

adequate budgets for a complete recata-

loging may w e l l consider its potentialities.7 

University or College Union Catalog 

In eight libraries the reclassification and 

recataloging project w a s grasped as an 

opportunity to prepare a central or union 

catalog of materials in all libraries of the 

institutions. I t has been generally ac-

cepted that to maintain effective service 

w i t h o u t considerable duplication the cen-

tral library of an academic institution 

needs a record of the books and other 

materials in all libraries of the college or 

university. U n d e r ordinary conditions it 

may be extremely difficult and expensive 

for a library to attempt to compile a 

central catalog of all holdings. C o m -

menced at the beginning of a project of 

reorganization, however, the making of a 

central catalog may be only a mechanical 

routine. T h e r e seems to be no reason w h y 

the librarian should not be able to deter-

mine w h a t type of catalogs and shelflists 

w i l l be needed in the f u t u r e development 

of the library and start them at the be-

ginning of the project. L a c k of foresight 

on the part of some librarians in this 

respect has been notable. 

''Ibid., p. C3. B e r t h o l d w r i t e s : " W e h a v e no 
hesitation in s a y i n g that it (the p r o c e d u r e ) could 
be applied w i t h more than a f a i r d e g r e e of success 
to a large n u m b e r of libraries with antiquated cata-
l o g u e s . " 

Improvement of Cataloging in an Area 

T h r o u g h their activities in bringing uni-

formity in the numerous entries in their 

o w n files, officials of union catalogs are 

able to observe the many variations which 

occur in the entries of contributing li-

braries. T h e y are thus able to establish 

w h a t may be termed the most logical 

entries, and the contributing libraries are 

in a position to utilize these data for their 

o w n files. T h e maintenance of an infor-

mation service at the union catalogs may 

w e l l be taken advantage of by college and 

university librarians w h o are in the throes 

of reclassification and recataloging. In 

essence it is a form of cooperative cata-

loging. T h e union catalog officials may 

be active agents in inducing librarians to 

conform in their entries to those adopted 

by the union catalog, or the librarians 

themselves may try to gather information 

relevant to difficult or obscure entries. 

U s e f u l variations w i t h i n a particular li-

brary, of course, should be adopted. 

Summary 

O n the basis of the experience of the 

libraries investigated, therefore, three 

points may be emphasized: ( 1 ) T h e r e is 

a definite need for advance planning be-

fore a project of reorganization is started. 

( 2 ) T h e r e is need for t h o u g h t f u l consid-

eration by librarians of the practice of 

introducing local variations w h i c h are of 

doubtful superiority to the practices of 

the L i b r a r y of Congress, and ( 3 ) T h e r e 

should be more attention paid to the pos-

sibilities of g i v i n g a higher plane of serv-

ice to users through economies w i t h i n the 

library or through cooperative enterprises. 

56 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES