Cataloguing & classification
Cataloguing and classification are the technical skills required to organize library materials. It is one of the hidden activities that take place behind the scenes in the library but it is the area that ensures that there is organization in the midst of all the volumes of materials. This chapter identifies and discusses some classification schemes that are being used in law libraries all over the world; sharing examples of how they have been used to classify legal materials.
Keywords
Classification; cataloguing; RDA; Elizabeth Moys; Library of Congress; Swiss Institute
Cataloguing
Cataloguing is the creation and organization of bibliographic records of library materials using prescribed rules and formats. These rules guide the description of records that appear in the library catalogue. The practice in many academic law libraries is to outsource cataloguing and classification of library materials to book suppliers which means that they arrive shelf ready. And in centralized systems, cataloguing and classification activities of this area are being relocated to the main university library.
The Anglo-American cataloguing rules
The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Cataloguing (AACR) were the most widely used among libraries around the world since the 1960s. It was published jointly by the American Association of Law Libraries, Canadian Association of Law Libraries and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (UK). The second edition, known as AACR2, was published in 1978 and followed by many revised editions but finally ceased to exist in 2013 with the introduction of Resource Description and Access (RDA). The AACR rules guide cataloguers when creating bibliographic records.
Resource description and access (RDA)
RDA replaced AACR2 effective March 31, 2013; which means that many libraries would have implemented RDA or are still in the process of changing their bibliographic records to reflect these changes. The changes in bibliographic documentation became necessary as a result of the growth and transformation of available formats of library materials, especially digital ones. RDA standards were created to improve upon the on the inadequacies of AACR2 but follow the requirements of IFLA’s International Standard of Bibliographic Description (ISBD). Significant efforts and assistance have been made by different stakeholders to ensure the smooth transition of the new standards by libraries all over the world. One such effort includes the availability of a subscription-based online toolkit co-published by the American Association of Law Libraries, Canadian Association of Law Libraries and Facet Publishing representing the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Its objectives and principles are available on the Internet - http://www.rda-jsc.org/docs/5rda-objectivesrev3.pdf.
International standard of bibliographic description (ISBD)
The ISBD was created to ensure that libraries all over the world have a uniform and consistent form of describing all their materials in bibliographic records. Its origin dates back to 1969 when a group of cataloguing experts in a resolution to the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) recommended the establishment of international standards to regulate bibliographic records. The first International Standard of Bibliographic Description for Monographic Publications (ISBD (M) was published in 1971 and subsequently followed by editions to accommodate serials, non-book materials, rare books and electronic resources. A consolidated edition of the ISBD was published in 2011.
Selected classification schemes used for law materials
Classification following the definition of Raganathan is the organization of library materials in a meaningful manner. Classification allows easy retrieval of library materials on the shelves. Librarians over the years have created classification schemes for the organization of library materials; however law libraries have created their own schemes to suit the uniqueness of the law library collection. Note that some libraries that are usually smaller law libraries have their own customized classification system to address the needs of their collection. The most popular schemes like the Library of Congress (LC) and Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) are mostly taught in library schools; however it is critical for anyone who aspires to specialize in law librarianship to understand and have an idea of the different classification schemes being used in other law libraries.
I Elizabeth Moys classification scheme for law materials
The Elizabeth Moys Classification Scheme for Law Materials was developed by the late Ms Elizabeth Moys, a British law librarian. Ms Moys had worked in the United Kingdom as well as in academic law libraries in some Commonwealth countries where she must have encountered the inadequacies in the existing classification schemes that were being used in these libraries.
The scheme uses a dual notation of the letter K or the number 340; in other words cataloguers can use either the alphabet or the numbers depending on preferences.
Here are some of the highlights and distinctive features of the Moys classification scheme:
• Common law jurisdictions are arranged by subject see outline for KF – KN
• Common law jurisdictions have numbers for primary materials - KF (i.e. law reports, statutes etc.)
• Non-common law jurisdictions are arranged by jurisdiction KP - KW.
• Tables I – VIII is a breakdown of subjects allowing the user to be creative with numbers.
• It provides a jurisdiction and topic index which lists countries and can be used as a subject heading.
Examples of Moys call numbers for some law titles:
1. Gower and Davies’ principles of modern company law: / Paul Davies
Call Number - KN261 .G69 2003
2. International environmental law: / Alexandre Kiss and Dinah Shelton.
Call Number - KC243 .K57 1999
3. Chitty on contracts
Call Number - KN10.A1 C54.29
4. Encyclopedia of public international law: / under the direction of Rudolf Bernhardt; assistant general editor, Peter Macalister-Smith.
Call Number - KC73 E562
One of the advantages of using this scheme is that it accommodates the needs of Commonwealth jurisdictions and allows for a lot of creativity by the cataloguer or anyone using it. One of the major strengths of the scheme is that it identifies the names of individual jurisdictions in the Commonwealth which are not necessarily available in other schemes; this allows the cataloguer to create specific numbers for titles originating from that jurisdiction. It also allows the use of a dedicated number for the home jurisdiction and the letters KP can be used to classify any publication from the cataloguer’s home jurisdiction. For example, many academic law libraries that use this scheme in Nigeria use KP for all publications that jurisdiction. The Moys scheme is commonly used in academic law libraries in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Caribbean and Nigeria. See Table 5.1 for a summarized schedule from the 5th edition.
Table 5.1
Elizabeth Moys classification scheme for legal materials
From the 5th edition.
See also cheat sheet of the Special Libraries Cataloging services based in Canada - http://special-cataloguing.com/node/1429.
There is a listserv where librarians using the scheme post discussions and useful tips on how to work efficiently. Moys users listserv - https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=LIS-MOYS-USERS.
Ms Moys bequeathed the publication of the classification scheme to the British and Irish Association of Law Libraries and this group has ensured that there is continuity in the publication of this book and the updating of the scheme. In the process of updating the 5th edition of the manual, members of the Editorial Board called for suggestions and recommendations from law librarians in different jurisdictions who use the scheme. Below is an outline of the scheme from the 5th edition:
II KF modified: KF classification modified for use in Canadian and common law libraries
The KF Modified scheme was adapted by Canadian law libraries from the Library of Congress Class K. It is being used in almost all academic law libraries in Canada. The origins of the scheme date back to the late 1960s through the collaborative efforts of academic law librarians who were proactively seeking a solution for a viable classification scheme for their expanding collections. At that time the Library of Congress classification scheme was inadequate for Canadian and Common Law materials. So in the summer of 1968, the team of Canadian law librarians led by Shih-Sheng Hu of the University of Manitoba Law Library made the decision to modify the already existing number KF in the Library of Congress to fit all materials on Common Law. Their preference was based on a choice to classify common law materials by subject rather than by jurisdiction (Ginsberg, 1988).
It arranges by topic and then by jurisdiction; it only uses the KF together with numbers and so it is quite restricted, unlike Moys which, at the cataloguer’s discretion, is allowed to use numbers. Nonetheless, one of the advantages of the scheme is that it highlights the location for materials on different legal subject areas, especially Canadian titles. Members of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD) are responsible for periodic updating and coordinating the publication of the manual for the KF Modified Scheme (note that there is a special interest group of CALL that is responsible for this). See Table 5.2 for an outline of the scheme.
Table 5.2
KF classification scheme modified for use in law libraries in Canada
| 1–8 | Bibliography |
| 16–154 | Common law primary materials and finding aids are not classed at present |
| 24–37 | Parliamentary material |
| 16–49 | Legislative documents |
| 50–90 | Statutes and administrative regulations |
| 101–153 | Law reports and related materials |
| 154 | Encyclopedias |
| 156 | Law dictionaries. Words and phrases |
| 159 | Legal maxims. Quotations |
| 165 | Uniform state laws |
| 170 | Form books |
| (175) | Periodicals |
| 178 | Yearbooks |
| 180–185 | Judicial statistics |
| 190–195 | Directories |
| 200 | Society and bar association journals and yearbooks |
| 202 | Congresses |
| 220–224 | Criminal trials |
| 228 | Records and briefs of individual civil suits |
| 240–246 | Legal research. Legal bibliography |
| 250–251 | Legal composition and draftsmanship |
| 255 | Law reporting |
| 261–292 | Legal education |
| 294 | Law societies, A–Z |
| 297–334 | The legal profession |
| 336–337 | Legal aid. Legal aid societies |
| 338 | Lawyer referral services |
| 345–349 | Legal history for the Commonwealth |
| 350–374 | History (U.S. only) |
| 379–382 | Jurisprudence and philosophy of American law |
| 394–395 | Common law in the United States or other common law jurisdiction |
| 398–400 | Equity |
| 410–418 | Conflict of laws |
| 501–553 | Domestic relations. Family law |
| 560–720 | Property |
| 566–698 | Real property. Land law |
| 701–720 | Personal property |
| 726–745 | Trusts and trustees |
| 746–750 | Estate planning |
| 753–780 | Succession upon death |
| 801–1241 | Contracts |
| 911–935 | Sale of goods |
| 939–951 | Contracts involving bailments |
| 956–962 | Negotiable instruments |
| 966–1032 | Banking |
| 1046–1062 | Secured transactions |
| 1146–1238 | Insurance |
| 1244 | Restitution. Quasi contracts. Unjust enrichment |
| 1246–1327 | Torts |
| 1298–1299, 3775 | Environmental law |
| 1328 | Compensation to victims of crime. Reparation |
| 1341–1348 | Agency |
| 1361–1380 | Unincorporated associations |
| 1361–1362 | General |
| 1365–1380 | Business associations. Partnership |
| 1384–1480 | Corporations. Juristic persons |
| 1384–1386 | General |
| 1388–1389 | Non-profit corporations |
| 1396–1477 | Business corporations |
| 1480 | Government-owned corporations and business organizations |
| 1501–1548 | Insolvency and bankruptcy. Creditors' rights |
| 2971–3192 | Intellectual property |
| 2986–3080 | Copyright |
| 3084 | Author and publisher. The publishing contract |
| 3086 | Design protection |
| 3091–3192 | Patent law and trademarks |
| 3195–3198 | Unfair competition |
| 3301–3320 | Employment law |
| 3301–3580 | Labour law |
| 4101–4258 | Education |
| 4315–4319 | Libraries |
| 4325 | Archives. Historical documents |
| 4330 | Educational, scientific and cultural exchanges |
| 4480–4496 | Constitutional law – History for the Commonwealth |
| 4480 | General and comparative constitutional law or history |
| 4481–4483 | Canada |
| 4483.15 | Immigration law |
| 4483. C519 | Charter of Rights |
| 4485–4487 | Great Britain. Northern Ireland |
| 4488–4490 | Australia |
| 4492–4494 | New Zealand |
| 4496 | Other Commonwealth countries, A–Z |
| 4501–5130 | Constitutional law (U.S. only) |
| 4501–4515 | Sources |
| 4520 | Works on legislative history of the Constitution |
| 4525–4528 | Texts of the Constitution |
| 4530 | State constitutions (Collections) |
| 4541–4545 | Constitutional history of the United States |
| 4546–4554 | General works (History, theory, and interpretation of constitutional law) |
| 4695 | Public policy. Police power |
| 4700–4856 | Individual and state |
| 4700–4720 | Nationality and citizenship |
| 4741–4783 | Civil and political rights and liberties |
| 4788 | Political parties |
| 4791–4856 | Control of individuals |
| 4791 | Identification |
| 4794–4794.5 | Passports |
| 4800–4848 | Aliens |
| 4850–4856 | Internal security |
| 4865–4869 | Church and state |
| 4881–5130 | Organs of the government |
| 4881–4921 | The people. Election law |
| 4930–5005 | The legislature |
| 5050–5125 | The Executive Branch |
| 5130 | The Judiciary. Judicial power |
| 5691–5710 | Regional and city planning. Zoning. Building |
| 5760–5810 | Land and real property |
| 5820–5857 | Personal property |
| 6271–6645 | Taxation |
| 8201–8228 | Indigenous Peoples. Indians. Native Peoples. Aboriginals. Inuit |
| 8711–8807 | Court organization and procedure |
| 8810–9075 | Civil procedure (includes works on both civil and criminal procedure) |
| 9085 | Arbitration and award. Commercial arbitration |
| 9201–9461 | Criminal law |
| 9601–9760 | Criminal procedure |
| 9771–9780 | Juvenile criminal law and procedure. Administration of juvenile justice |
(This is an abridged version of the scheme) Anyone interested can contact the KF Modified Committee on the CALL/ACBD website.
Some of the noted highlights and distinctive features of the KF Modified are:
• It includes special sections to accommodate materials originating from Commonwealth jurisdictions which are not available in the Library of Congress Scheme. These materials include law reports, statutes and parliamentary materials.
• It uses a geographical division (GD) at the end of a subject area or topic. GD classifies and groups materials together, sub-arranging them by jurisdictions. When the GD is used then the form division tables are excluded.
One of the noted advantages of the scheme is that it is expandable and adaptable. Users can exercise a reasonable degree of discretion and flexibility in adding and creating special cutter numbers to deal with particular aspects of a topic not provided in the schedule (Rashid, 2004). The scheme has continued to expand its numbers based on the evolving needs of library users as well as developments in Canada. For example, there have been enhancements in subject areas such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Quebec Civil law, Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality, Labour, Indigenous/Native law, Taxation and Law of Privacy (Rashid, 2013). There is also emerging literature about this scheme and a user’s group which is part of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries CALL/ACBD that produces a KF Schedule which is supplemented periodically.
Blog post for KF Modified Scheme - http://kfmod.wordpress.com/.
Examples of some KF Modified law titles:
1. Constitutional law of Canada / Peter W. Hogg
Call No: KF 4482 H642 1992
2. Intellectual property law: copyright, patents, trade-marks / David Vaver
Call No: KF 2979 V38 2011
3. The law workbook: developing skills for legal research and writing / Shelley Kierstead, Suzanne Gordon, Sherifa Elkhadem
Call No: KF 240 G66 2012
4. Sale of goods in Canada / by G.H.L. Fridman
Call No: KF 915 F77 2013
III Library of Congress classification class K
The Library of Congress Classification Scheme has designated the Class K for Law materials. Class K is an addition to the scheme to address the shortcomings of classifying law materials. This scheme combines the use of alphabets and numbers for classifying the different subject areas of law and different jurisdictions of the world. This scheme is one of the best developed and sophisticated despite its shortcomings in accommodating the needs of other libraries; it comes with its own subject heading and it is available electronically on the web here http://www.loc.gov/aba/cataloging/classification/lcco/lcco_k.pdf.
There is a broad division of the countries by continents and further division into regions. See Table 5.3 for an outline.
Table 5.3
Swiss Institute classification scheme
| Main class A | General Works, general in scope works, comparative law |
| Main class B | Comparative law: groups of jurisdictions |
| Main class C | Individual countries |
| Main class D | Public international law |
| Main class E | Ancient and religious legal systems |
| Main class FA | European integration |
One of the strengths of this scheme is that it is popularly used in academic libraries all over the world especially in cases where there is a centralized system, the LC comfortably accommodates the law collection in Class K. Similarly, in an autonomous structure, where most law libraries usually share the library catalogue with the main library, the law collection is classified either using the LC or a customized scheme. For example, at the York University Libraries, the LC is used for the main university collection; whereas the Osgoode Law Library collection is classified with the KF Modified Scheme. The implication of this is that where the main library acquires some law titles they will have two different classification numbers and locations. Also, at the University of Ibadan, the law library uses the Moys scheme while the main library uses the LC; they operate a centralized system in which case there will be no duplication of law titles.
Examples of Library of Congress Class K
1. Constitutional and administrative law: / De Smith, S.A.
Call number: KD 3930 D46
2. Reasoning from race: feminism, law and the civil rights revolution: / Serena Mayeri
Call number: KF 4758 M39 2011
3. Philosophy of law: / Mark C. Murphy
Call number: K 230 A3 M87 2007
4. Environmental justice and the rights of unborn and future generations: law environmental harm and the right to health
Call number: K 642 W 47 2006
IV Swiss Institute classification scheme
The Swiss Institute Classification Scheme is an example of a customized scheme: it is being used at the Swiss Institute for Comparative and International Law Library, Lausanne, Switzerland. It was created specifically for the collection when the library was established in 1982 after many deliberations among experts. This scheme was designed to cover the extensive collection of the library which spans several jurisdictions of the world and international law. It is a systematic scheme divided into six main classes by subject and jurisdiction.
Examples of Swiss Institute Classification Scheme
1. Public law in East Asia: / ed. By Albert H. Chen et al
Call number: BH 34 g PULE 2013
2. International law: / Malcolm N. Shaw
Call number: D 12 g SHAW 2003
3. Environmental rights: / edited by Steve Vanderheiden
Call number A 59 g ENRI 2012
4. Global minority rights: / Jonathan Castellino
Call number: D 17.1 g GLMR 2011
Conclusion
This chapter has discussed and identified the cataloguing standards and classification schemes being used in selected international academic law libraries. It is useful and helpful for law librarians to have a broad knowledge and understanding of these standards as they may need to be applied at different stages of their career.
Each academic law library decides on the suitable classification scheme that is adapted for organizing its collection; this chapter has identified the Elizabeth Moys Classification Scheme for Legal Materials, KF Classification Modified for Use in Canadian and Common Law Libraries, Library of Congress Class K and the Swiss Institute Classification Scheme.