I know having a 3-part call number would be a huge help to us. Our collection development policy splits the call number range up into 12 different chunks, but since we use prefixes, I have to run a full report and pick out that month's call numbers by hand. I would much rather schedule 12 reports and never fool with that again.
Jason -- Jason Boyer, IT Specialist Jackson County Public Library 303 W Second St Seymour, IN 47274 [email protected] On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 3:33 PM, Kathy Lussier <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > > > The MassLNC consortia have been looking at the way Evergreen handles call > numbers and had some thoughts for possible enhancements. I wanted to share > these ideas with the general community to see if there is any interest in > making these changes. > > > > To provide some background, two of our consortia that will be moving to > Evergreen include libraries using both Dewey and LC classification schemes. > I have seen previous discussion about creating a sort algorithm for LC - > http://markmail.org/message/fvbptjffblwvyedu - but I wasn’t sure if any > development had been done. For our consortia, we would need to be able to > support Dewey, LC, and the default free-text field (what we refer to as > “other”) within the same Evergreen instance. > > > > One approach we were considering is that, when entering a call number, > staff would need to clearly identify whether the classification scheme is > Dewey, LC or “other.” The system would then know which sorting algorithm to > use, and there would be no mixing of Dewey numbers with other homegrown > alphanumeric numbers when doing a sort. At the same time, we were concerned > about adding an extra step to the cataloging process where staff would need > to change the default classification scheme every time they needed to add a > DVD or a book of fiction to the system. If the call number were tied to the > item record, we could identify the classification scheme in the item > template, but Evergreen doesn’t work that way. I don’t know if there are > other ways the system could determine that the default classification scheme > for Library A is Dewey for non-fiction books, but “other” for fiction books > and all DVDs. > > > > We also wanted to float the idea of breaking up the call number into > multiple fields as opposed to putting the entire call number (prefix, call > number, suffix) into one free-text field. We have many libraries that use J > as a prefix for children’s materials while others use juv, and there are > many other areas where the prefixes differ. Pulling those prefixes and > suffixes into different fields could simplify the process of creating > reports based on call numbers, sorting by call number, and possibly creating > spine labels. > > > > We’re interested in finding out how others in the Evergreen community would > feel about these changes. > > > > Thank you in advance for your feedback! > > > > Kathy Lussier > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------- > > Kathy Lussier > > Project Coordinator > > Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative > > (508) 756-0172 > > (508) 755-3721 (fax) > > [email protected] > > > > > > >
