Non-Book Materials

After the fiction materials have been separated from the non-fiction materials, a further breakdown is necessary before DDC notations can be assigned to the non-fiction items. Many times non-book items are shelved separately from the book items. When this happens, the non-book items may or may not be given classification numbers as part of their call numbers. Many libraries will use an indicator of the format of the item as the beginning of the call number, and follow this by an accession number or perhaps words from the title of the non-book item. For example, a video may have the call number VIDEO 1364, indicating it was the 1364^th video to be added to the library collection. These call numbers are simple and easy to create, and work moderately well for small collections of non-book materials. This type of organization becomes a problem if the non-print collection in question grows to be fairly sizeable. Because the collection is not organized by subject, it is more difficult for the patron to locate materials without consulting the library catalog.

Some non-book collections are shelved in separate locations for convenience, but are still assigned classification numbers and complete call numbers. This creates a collection of special materials that is easy to browse and more user-friendly for both the patron and the library staff member. Many libraries have felt in the past that if they had their non-book collections shelved separately, they could not use the same sort of classification system for those items as was used for books. This is not the case. Non-book materials can be shelved in their own sections and still be divided into fiction and non-fiction, and treated just as books in those categories would be.

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