-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Map Classification Colon Technique
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2012 09:35:02 -0500
From: Bertuca, David <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]>
Hi all, didn't have a chance to jump into the conversation earlier;
I agree on the colon thing too (at least for the city level)... I have
used it in our collection and it serves very well for collections of
materials that have heavy concentrations on single places. My first map
cataloging activity in life (1983) involved a collection of several
thousand maps of the city and region around Niagara Falls, NY. I had at
least 1,200 maps, cadastral and other hand-drawn maps, as well as
published maps on the city alone! For a starting job, it was not the
best choice of backlog. However, being able to sort out maps using the
colon-separated distinctions made it easier for the cataloging, and for
librarians/users. It was a special collection so the curator and his
assistant were the main persons needing to locate materials for patrons.
The rest of the library that the History Collection was in, was using
Dewey, but I suggested LC to the curator and showed him what a Dewey
number sequence might look like for the 700th Niagara Falls map. Oddly
enough, they migrated to LC eventually on other formats.
Class Web, I have to say, makes life much easier and more consistent. It
is very handy though to master the concepts on paper still, and I do
maintain my own call number shelf-list in a database just to be certain
I don't step on my own toes...
One note on colonizing other-than-city-level entities: when I started
the Niagara Falls project (when I was just a novice at map-cat), I
initially tried to create an LC-based call number sequence that would
allow me to colon-cutter many maps of the same area (e.g., same township
or county). I am glad that I didn't go far on this concept as later in
my career I realized that LC was already set for concentrated
collections of same-geographic entity cataloging.
As for "colonoscopies" I might suggest "colonosophy" instead; sounds
more academic :> (and less painful), though "osophies" as defined by a
lawyer-friend I know are 'just ways to rationalize your opinion."
David J. Bertuca, Map Librarian
225 Capen Hall University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260-1672
716-645-1332 / 716-645-3710 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, American
Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Map Classification Colon Technique
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Map Classification Colon Technique
Date: Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:10:26 -0500 (EST)
From: Paige G Andrew <[log in to unmask]>
To: Air Photo Maps, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]>
LOL! yeah Ed! I agree with you, to a point. At least they are only being
used with ONE "class" of classification numbers now, and not two!
But to be honest, these colon numbers are very helpful in the context of
wanting to be able to pull together maps of a given place *within* a
city, since the overall classification system stops at the city level.
Paige
----- Original Message -----
From: "Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee"
<[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 4:42:45 PM
Subject: Re: Map Classification Colon Technique
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Map Classification Colon Technique
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 16:14:36 -0500
From: Redmond, Edward James <[log in to unmask]>
To: 'Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship'
<[log in to unmask]>
As a reference librarian, the folks who actually *use* those infernal
call numbers with colons, I vote for a colonoscopy....
Ed
-----Original Message-----
From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, American
Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 3:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Map Classification Colon Technique
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Map Classification Colon Technique
Date: Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:33:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Paige G Andrew <[log in to unmask]>
To: Air Photo Maps, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]>
Bob,
The 4th edition (1976) of the LC G-schedule, pages 209 and 210, shows
the colon cutter technique being used at the "major political division"
level, including counties, or those class numbers ending in 3 or 8 (page
209).[page 210 shows its use for areas within a city, or those class
numbers ending in 4 or 9] The difference between these two situations is
that for colon-cuttered numbers at the county level immediately
following the colon itself one uses the number "3" immediately prior to
the Geographic Area Code for that place; whereas for areas within a city
one uses the number "2".
That said, times have changed and one can only use the colon cuttering
technique for places within a city or similar metropolitan area. For
example, in the illustration in the 1976 edition it shows for Perry
Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania:
G3823
.F3:3P4
but if you attempt to find this in Classification Web it will take you
only to Perry County. Townships and boroughs are considered an
administrative area similar in nature to a "city" or "town" and are
given their own distinct Geographic Area Code under the city class
numbers. So, Perry Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania is given as:
G3824.P473
If you're not using Classification Web, which is THE national standard
for Geographic Area Codes, and want to ensure that you provide
distinctly unique place codes for different places then I recommend you
do. And, if you don't have access to ClassWeb (i.e., your institution,
my alma mater, won't pay the subscription price for access) the next
best thing is to search the Library of Congress' online catalog for
comparison.
Sorry for making this probably waaaay longer than needed, but I wanted
to provide explanations as well as an answer(s).
Paige
----- Original Message -----
From: "Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee"
<[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 3:08:53 PM
Subject: Map Classification Colon Technique
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Map Classification Colon Technique
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 19:59:10 +0000
From: Bob Thomas <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Should the geographic cutter colon technique be used at the county
level? For example, for natural features (lakes, streams, mountains)
within a county and/or named areas of a county (e.g., named areas used
by the county planning staff). Is there a stated policy on this?
Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
/Bob Thomas/
Integrated Systems Librarian & Head of Cataloging
Western Washington University Libraries
Bellingham, WA
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