[Genealib] Genealogy Room Set-up

[treviawbeverly]

I'm not a professional librarian, although many years ago I organized a small church library, and have been a volunteer at other libraries. I have to admit that I am used to and very partial to Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research. http://www.houstonlibrary.org/clayton  We are arranged by general USA section, then by states in alpha order that are arranged by general state section followed by counties in alpha order and lastly periodicals for that state. Foreign collection, family collections and the usual maps, microfilm, vertical files....

Region may be nice but I've seen Texas put in with the South and with the Southwest states.  So??  
And if you're a small state - Delaware with 3 or Arizona with 15 you may get by with "region" shelving. But Texas has
a whopping 254 and I guarantee you that everyone (especially guests from other states) will not know what region (we have seven) a county may be in.  But the alpha system works if you know the state and the name of the county.

Hopefully one of our staff members will chime in on this -
Come see us sometime!

Trevia Wooster Beverly
Houston, Texas
Charter Member, Clayton Library Friends - http://www.claytonlibraryfriends.org/
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Elaine Hayes 
  To: genealib at mailman.acomp.usf.edu 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 5:55 PM
  Subject: Re: [Genealib] Genealogy Room Set-up


  I like Dewey because if I learn the basic Dewey categories for something, I can find it at another library because it will be in the same place.  I don't have to learn a new system for each library.  But it is complicated enough that every library should have a searchable catalog, list or index and helping aids like shelf labels, too.

  We do a modified Dewey which means the states are arranged regionally from east coast to west the way Dewey originally planned it out.  Inside the states they are arranged by county (also following the Dewey designation for the county - regionally not alphabetically).  Everything is cataloged and is searchable in the computer. 

  It's modified because the books about a cemetery or a church are not in a separate place.  If the cemetery is in a certain county it's put in with all other books on that county in that state.

  For example a cemetery transcription book written by the Alabama chapter of the DAR about a cemetery in Clarke county, Alabama would be call number:

  GEN
  929.3761245   (929.3 is for genealogy resources) (7 for U.S., 61 for Alabama, 245 for Clarke county)
  ALDAR (abbreviation for Alabama DAR- also could be authors last name, i.e. Wins for Winston)
  v.1 (if applicable)
  cem (for cemetery-also church, news, court, deed, marr, birth, etc.)
  1775-1850 (years if applicable)

  The disadvantage is that this is a long call number and easy to misshelve but it will be shelved with all other books about Clarke county, Alabama and does follow Dewey if you have a library system/cataloging system that cares about such things.

  So there are ways to get everything together and still follow Dewey. 

  Elaine Hayes

  Elaine Jones Hayes
  Assistant Manager - Reference Services, 
  Special Collections Librarian - Family & Local History
  Laramie County Library System
  2200 Pioneer Avenue
  Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001
  ehayes at lclsonline.org
  307-773-7232



  >>> "Kate Stirk" <stirkk at juno.com> 7/7/2009 4:29 PM >>>
  I admit to having very strong feelings on this topic because I'm usually only allowed a few hours to do research while my dear spouse is waiting as patiently as he can...

  Please think about your researchers. Put the collection in order by region, then by state and within the state by county. Alphabetically by county. The library in Macon, Georgia is this way.

  When people come in to look for family- they look for the county where events happened. Having all the books on that county (marriage, deeds, wills, cemetery, church, etc) together makes it so much easier for your patrons.

  Please do not do it strictly by Dewey- those collections are so hard to use because the marriages are all in one area, the cemeteries in another....

  There is a library (which shall remain nameless) close to me that has gone Dewey- and they do not have a catalog in the genealogy area....I just quit going there. No catalog, books on a county in a variety of shelves- chaos for a researcher.

  When I go in a genealogy library done strictly by Dewey, I know the catalogers made the decision not the genealogists.....



  Kate Stirk, Librarian
  Chattahoochee Technical College, North Metro Campus
  StirkK at Juno.com


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