Dear list members,
A new lecturer has made the comment that a map of our Dewey shelf numbers would help first-time users like them who come unstuck when they find a book on the catalog and want to locate it on our shelves. Our collection is spread across 4 floors with only reference books and back-issue journals on the first floor. The sequence on the next floor starts with a separate law collection (340s plus journals), winds back and forth across an aisle, continues round a corner, then finishes around another corner in a more conventional block of rows.
We already have a floor-by-floor booklet of subject areas and corresponding shelf numbers, with the number ranges of all floors on the front page, but there may be a case for a map of some sorts.
Have you ever produced a shelving map of a complex building? If so, what level of detail did you go into (e.g. number ranges, non-shelving features such as staircases/study rooms/ banks of PCs)? What sort of design software did you use?
Most importantly, has your map improved orientation for your users when finding books?
Best wishes for the new year,
Sam Piker
Senior Library Assistant
Buckinghamshire New University
Queen Alexandra Road
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire HP11 2JZ
Telephone: 01494 522141 (extension 4512)
http://bucks.ac.uk
http://bucks.ac.uk/library
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