GEN: Your preferences: call #s, etc

[Karisa <Daisy@goducks.com>]

Hello LM Netters

I am now beginning week 3 of my library organization adventure.  I have most of the 
books loosely grouped by number (100s together, 200s together, etc), and will be 
able to start putting call #s on them as soon as I get the supplies ordered and 
received.  This weekend, I was finally able to make the 2.5 hour drive to visit the 
nearest public library and observe how they have done things.  This seems to leave 
me with more questions than answers.
I know that the answers to most of my questions are just a matter of personal 
preference, but I would like to hear what YOUR preference is... you have already 
weighed pros and cons and come to a decision, and I am humbly asking if I can 
benefit from your collective wisom :)

1.  What books do you put in REF?  Only specific types (encyclopedias, 
dictionaries...) or any books that you don't want to circulate (and why don't you 
want them to circulate)?

2.  The library that I visited had all call #s in the middle of the spine, often 
covering part of the title of the book.  Is there a benefit to this? (I had always 
assumed that the numbers went near the bottom of the spine, thus usually avoiding 
the title)

3.  Many of our books were donated from other libraries, and have a mixture of call 
# styles.  Some are hand-written, some are typed, some use 92 for biographies, some 
use B, some say "FIC," while others say "F."  Is it important that all look the 
same?  My plan (unless I hear differently from many of you) is to pick either "F" 
or "FIC," "B" or "92," etc., and mark all books accordingly.  What are your 
thoughts on hand-written vs. typed call #s?

4.  Do you use Cutter numbers or the first three letters of the author's last name? 
 If you use the latter: when reshelving, do you try to preserve actual alphabetical 
order (Aldous Huxley before Ellspeth Huxley) or just alpha. order of the call # 
("FIC Hux" next to "FIC Hux" is good enough)?

5.  We have National Geographics from 1933 to the present.  These seem to be one of 
the most well-used resources in the library, but I don't think that we need to have 
every single one of them on the shelves.  How many do YOU keep on the shelves?


TIA
Karisa Hayward, pseudo-Librarian
EskDale High School
EskDale, Utah
Daisy@goducks.com

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