5.5 Shelving, displaying and filing materials
Once materials have been classified and catalogued, they are
ready to be put on shelves, on display, or in files in the resource
centre.
5.5.1 Shelving materials
Shelving means arranging materials on shelves according to their
classification number. Materials on the same subject have the
same classification number, so they are arranged together alphabetically
by the first three letters of the author’s name, or by
title if no author is given.
Good shelving:
- makes it easy for users to find what they need
- makes it easy for staff to do a stock check
- helps staff to answer questions
It is very important to ensure that each material is put in the
right place. If books have been mixed up, they must be rearranged
in the correct order. This is called ‘shelf reading’,
and needs to be done regularly.
Book supports are useful to ensure that books stay upright (see
Section 3.3: Choosing furniture and equipment).
Books and documents Books should be arranged
upright from left to right, starting on the top shelf. Shelves
must not be overcrowded. Overcrowding can damage the books by
preventing any flow of air between them and making it awkward
to remove them. It will also leave little space for adding new
books. It is best to fill only three-quarters of the shelf space
to allow for new additions. This will save staff from constantly
having to move books to make room for new ones.
Each shelf should be labelled according to its subject, so
that users can see where to find material on a particular subject.
If shelves are labelled with classification numbers and the
subject that they represent, it will help users to understand
the classification system.
Shelf labels or book labels can also be used to identify different
categories of materials. For example, different coloured labels
can be used to identify materials that may not be borrowed,
or to distinguish training manuals from other publications.
Labels can be hand-made and stuck onto the shelves, or a special
shelf-label holder can be obtained from library suppliers.
TIP: How to make shelf labels
You can make shelf labels from stiff white or coloured
cardboard. The piece of card should be long enough to fit the
number of letters needed, without making the letters too small
to see from a distance. The height of the card should be no
more than a couple of inches, to prevent it getting in the way
of removing books from the shelf.
Write the classification number and subject on the piece of
card clearly with a thick, felt-tip pen. If you have a computer,
print the labels in large type. If possible, cover the labels
with transparent tape to keep them clean and protect them from
damage.
Oversized books, posters and audiovisuals
It is often convenient to keep very large books separately from
other books, as this makes better use of shelving space, and
enables more materials to be fitted into a smaller resource
centre.
Slides are sometimes kept in hanging files, either in filing
cabinets or filing boxes. Posters are usually stored in map
chests or plan chests, or in a large folder (see
Section 3.3: Choosing furniture and equipment). Rolling
up or folding posters is not recommended, as it may damage them.
Videos are sometimes kept in a locked cupboard. If so, it is
very important to provide a list of videos in subject order,
with brief summaries of their content, so that users know what
is available.
Periodicals Periodicals are best kept in pamphlet
boxes or magazine boxes (see Section
3.3.3). These help to protect the periodicals and make them
easily accessible. All parts of a periodical volume should be
kept in one box. Several periodicals can be kept in the same
box, to save space. Each box should be clearly labelled with
the title of the periodicals in it, and the years of publication
and volume numbers. Issues of each periodical should be arranged
in the order of their volume and issue number, starting with
the first volume and issue number and continuing to the most
recent.
There are two choices about where to keep periodicals. They
can either be kept together in a separate section of the resource
centre, arranged by title, or they can be put on the shelves
(in pamphlet boxes) with books and other materials on the same
subject. Keeping periodicals with books can help to bring them
to the attention of users who are interested in a range of materials
on a particular subject. However, a separate section may also
be needed for periodicals that cover a wide range of subjects.
If funds are available, it might be worth having complete volumes
of periodicals bound. However, before doing this, it is important
to consider how long each periodical will be kept, and how often
it will be used. For example, news magazines are useful for
a shorter period than other periodicals containing less time-specific
information. Instead of keeping the whole periodical, useful
articles could be catalogued and kept in a filing cabinet.
5.5.3 Filing materials
It is important to keep m aterials such as leaflets, brochures
and annual reports in a way that makes them easy to find. These
materials can kept either on the shelves (in pamphlet boxes)
with books and other materials on the same subject, or in filing
cabinets, filed by subject or organisation name, depending on
how the information is most likely to be sought. If there are
a lot of materials, such as leaflets about many different organisations,
they could be filed first by geographical area and then by organisation
name.
5.5.4 Displaying materials
There are a number of reasons for displaying materials in a
resource centre. Displays help to highlight new materials, and
encourage people to use them. An attractive display adds colour
and interest to the resource centre, and shows that staff are
actively providing a good service.
New books, periodicals or other materials should be displayed
in a ‘display area’ of the resource centre for between
a week and a month (depending on how often new materials arrive),
so that users can see them before they are put on the shelves.
Details of new materials should be included on noticeboards elsewhere
in the organisation, to promote them to those who do not visit
the resource centre regularly (see
Section 8.2: Promoting the resource centre).
Current issues of periodicals are usually displayed on display
racks, arranged alphabetically by title. Each time a new issue
arrives, the previous issue should be removed and put in the
appropriate pamphlet box.
next: Section 6. ICT
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