Proposed Call Number Schemes

From WikiThing

• Be easy to sort, employing as few rules as possible (eg., all numbers are sorted numerically, not some numerically and some digit-by-digit)
• Not be too verbose
• Break easily when typed into a narrow column
• Be reducible to a URL easily
• Possible: Include a checksum? (timspalding proposal)
• Easily fit on a label in readable size

[edit] PROPOSED CALL NUMBER SCHEMES

• "1" used as "any 0-9 digit"
• "0" used as "any number"
• "A" used as "any letter"
• Parentheses indicate optional elements
• "[...]" indicate continuation along the same pattern

What about cutter numbers (authors and subtopics)?

Ip scheme

0.0.0.0[...]

where 0 is... (what range?)

dividers/subdividers? proposed: "#", "@", "/", "<", ">"

DDC scheme or variation

LoC-DDC mixed scheme

A(A) 1[...].1[...]

OSC Scheme:

(FACETS) (CALL NUMBER)

The first letter is audience (A, adult, Y, young adult, C, children's) The second letter is format (B, book, A, audio, G, graphic-novel, etc.) Other facets could be for whatever else needs to be called out—language, special collection, etc.

And so you have

AB 123.321 - Lost Moon

AA 123.321 - Lost Moon in an audio format

CA 123.321 - Goodnight Moon

A library that had no childrens' books would ignore the first facet. A library entirely of Braille books would ignore the second.

Top Down Scheme

The call number would start with something that indicated which top-level category it belonged to. Here are some of the top level categories proposed, and I'm sticking a three-letter code in for each one. First letter is always capitalized. Second and third letters are lowercase if they are part of the first word of the top level category, or capital if they are the first letter of a subsequent word.

Agriculture: Agr

Anthropology& Sociology:AnS

Antiques & Collectibles: AnC

Architecture:Arc

Art: Art

Biography & Autobiography: BiA

Business: Bus

Career: Car

Computers: Com

Crafts & Hobbies: CrH

This way the call number you see directly reinforces the top-level categorization you are working from. It can teach you about the shelving system, but it can also function as a simple code for shelf order.