Masland Library Blog

A frequently asked question of late is "What happened to the books that were on this shelf?" Students are accustomed to browsing the shelves, especially the biblical and theological materials, on the lower floor. There are now, however, large gaps between groups of books. This phenomenon is the result of the library undertaking a reclassification project.

The call numbers on the books have been assigned heretofore using the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). The principal weakness of DDC is that it is self-limiting. As a result most university and college libraries are now using the Library of Congress Classification (LC) to locate the items. PBU library has recognized the need for such a switch for sometime and a decision was made to begin the process.

Since no more books will be added with DDC numbers, the books in the current collection with DDC numbers have all been moved to the mezzanine shelves. The new books are assigned LC call numbers and they are placed on the ground floor shelves. Over time (read summer) many of the books with DDC numbers will be reassigned with LC numbers and relocated downstairs. The library staff plan to do this in a logical fashion so as not to take books out of circulation for a long period of time. Given the fact that the library is currently short-staffed, this project may take a number of years. Therefore, please be patient.

-- TKH