[
Introduction |
Chart of Replacement Numbers | Guidelines |
Special Cases |
Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]
The Library of Congress classification system is now over a hundred years old, and the world has changed faster than the classification, creating some unforeseen problems. In most cases, LC has dealt with change by adding new, and often longer, numbers within the existing range. A prime example is the development of QA75-76, assigned long ago to the unimportant topic of "Calculating Machines" — which has grown considerably since.
From time to time, however, LC decides that the best way to deal with a problem is to close the range of numbers used previously and start fresh. When this happens, it is usually not practical to reclass the existing collection, but new books should be put in the new numbers.
This document lists some cases where this has happened. It is by no means a complete list, but it includes some of the more important examples. Most of those listed result from changes in boundaries during the 20th century.
[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]
| Old Numbers | Subject | New Numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DB191-DB217; DB541-DB560; DB661-DB680 | Czech Republic: Bohemia, Moravia; Slovakia | DB2000-DB3150 | |
| DB231-DB250; DB361-DB380; DB661-DB680 | Bosnia; Croatia; Silesia; Transylvania | DR1652-DR1785; DR1502-DR1545; DK4600.S42; DR279-DR280.74 | and other problems in DB |
| DK401-DK441 | Poland | DK4010-DK4800 | |
| DK445-DK465 | Finland | DL1002-DL1180 | |
| DK511.E4-E8; DK511.L15-.L4 | Baltic States: Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania | DK502.3-DK505.95 | and other problems in DK511 |
| DK511.A9; DK511.G3-G47; Armenia in DK509 | Azerbaijan; Georgia (Republic); Armenia (Republic) | DK670-DK699 | |
| DT727-DT971 | Southern Africa | DT1001-DT3415 | |
| HC500-HC578 | Africa - Economic history | HC800-HC1085 | |
| HM1-HM299 | Sociology | HM401-HM1281 | may accept old numbers |
| JX | International law and relations | JZ (relations); KZ (law) | reclass Law holdings on request |
[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]
If you have a choice of call numbers, one in the "old number" range and one in the "new number" range, the "new" number is always to be preferred. If you see that the number on your copy is an "old number", it should be replaced by a new one even if the book has to go to an original cataloguer, unless the notes above indicate the old number can still be accepted.
"Reclass on request" means that even though it would be a large task to reclass every book in the "old" range, we will reclass any titles selected in the location as priorities (within reason). The Law Library sometimes makes such requests for some of their "Old Class" or JX material.
Items already on the shelves should be reclassed only in special cases. However, projects may sometimes be undertaken to reclass everything in certain call number ranges within a relatively short period.
[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]
A number of call number areas present special issues, some of them dealt with in other documents.
For Canadian History, see Canadian History Call Numbers. [newly done]
For Literature, see Literature Classification : General and Canadian. [newly revised]
For Law, see Law Library Materials : Call Numbers.
Besides a large collection in "Law Old Class", Queen's still has a small number of works in the non-LC classes arY and arZ, created a long time ago to handle folios. These should be reclassed as occasion arises.
The CODOC classification used in the Documents Library is not being changed to LC at this time.
[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]
Section 1, obsoletenumbers
Created April 5, 2004 by D. Rutherford
Page maintained by Elizabeth A. Read, readel@queensu.ca. Created: 04/05/2004 Updated 25-Jun-2004 10:37 AM