Classification of government publications at the University of Lagos library in Nigeria

Government Publications Review, Vol. 10, pp. 109-I 16, 1983 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

0177-9390/83/010109-08$3.00/O

Copyright @1983 Pergamon Press Ltd

CLASSIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS LIBRARY IN NIGERIA

M.R. ADERIBIGBE Librarian, Bibliographic and Research Services Department, University of Lagos Library, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract-This article describes the classification scheme being used for the organization of government publications at the University of Lagos Library in Nigeria. The scheme arranges publications alphabetically according to continents, countries, and states of origin. The problems posed by this arrangement in the retrieval of materials in the collection are examined. Alternative ways of organizing the publications by subject are suggested to enhance easy access to these materials.

Libraries are facing increasing responsibilities for organizing the influx of materials generated by different governmental activities for the use of their clients. The official collection of the University of Lagos Library comprises publications from Nigeria, other countries, and international organizations. It is organized by an internally developed classification scheme. The primary objective of this scheme was to resolve the problems of accessing the vital information contained in these government publications. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The classification scheme, first developed in 1967, was essentially based on the following arrangement: (a) for National (Nigerian and Foreign) Government Publications, we have Location symbol/Geographic area/Subject Division/Form; (b) for International Organizations, Publications we have Location symbol/Abbreviation of International Organization/Subject Division/Form. A schematic representation of this classi~cation scheme is shown in Figure 1. A brief description of each aspect of the format will now be given. LOCATION SYMBOLS

Location symbols are the distinguishing numerals which precede any notation from the scheme. They could be a “3” “4” or “5” (as shown in Figure 2) and have the following meanings: * “3” is assigned to Nigerian and foreign government publications. “4” is used for official and non-official publications which originated from international organizations, such as the United Nations and Organization of African Unity. l “5” is allocated to Nigerian and foreign non-government publications which can include, for example, corporate annual reports, university calendars, bulletins and prospecti. l

109

110

M.R.

ADERIBIGBE

I

CLASS1F,C.T1ON SCHEME

I

I

LOCATlON SYY

BOLS

SCHEDULE

Figure

1

I. Illustration

AMENOEO

CUTTER

NUMBERS

FOR

GEOGRAPHICAL

of the classification

AREAS

ABBREVIATIONS

M PllN

OF

SVBJECT

INTERNATIONAL

CLASSES

ORGANIZATIONS

SUB-DIVISIONS SCHEDULE

SCHEOULE

2(b)

scheme for the government

publications

COMMON

-

FORM

OIVISIONS SCHEDULE

3

at the University

L

of Lagos library.

These numerals are separated from the remaining part of the notation by the use of a slash(/). The purpose of the location symbols can therefore be seen as differentiating between publications which belong to the three main categories of: (a) Nigerian and foreign governments; (b) International Organizations; and (c) Nigerian and foreign non-governments. The peculiarity of these prefixes could, however, pose a problem to users who are accustomed to the Library of Congress classification scheme, which is adopted for the general collection in the University of Lagos Library. GEOGRAPHICAL

AREAS

This is the alphabetical grouping of countries and their publications according to geographical locations, using Cutter designations for the various geographic areas. This is further illustrated in Figure 3. Examples of some of these geographic designations are: Africa, A3; Europe, E9; Germany, G2; Ghana, G3; and Nigeria, N6. This method of organization has led to the assignment of an identifying symbol to each of the countries/continents in the list. Some of these assigned numbers are further subdivided to provide for the geographic divisions within a country, such as states and cities. For example, Nigeria, with the designation

1

NATIONAL

I

I

Figure 2. Illustration

INTERNATIONAL

of the divisions

I

of the location

I

symbols.

NATIONAL

Classification

of government

GEOGRAPHICAL

AFRICA

AMERICA

A3

A42

NIGERIA

publications

111

in Nigeria

AREAS

EUROPE E9

N6

GERMANY G?

GHANA G3

ANAMBRA STATE

Figure

3. Illustration

of the amended

geographical

Cutter

numbers

~621

at the University

of Lagos Ghandi

Library.

N6, is divided into 19 States; each of these states is assigned a Cutter designation with N6 serving as the stem, e.g.: Anambra State N621; Bauchi N623; Bendel N62; Benue N637; Borno N624, etc. As can be seen above, geographic subdivisions, within a country, do not follow an alphabetical order because Bendel State publications would come before Anambra State’s and those of Borno State before Benue State%. The knowledge of the designation of a particular state is thus mandatory for the retrieval of the State’s publications. Since all the official publications in the collection are arranged by their geographic areas of origin, it can be seen that in retrieving the material from a particular country, the country or state takes precedence over the subject matter of the material. Furthermore, a major disadvantage of this arrangement is that the position of the publications of a country or state is determined by the current organizational status of the country. This is at the mercy of any political reorganisation and may result in publications of some countries or states being located in two or more places in the scheme [l]. Another consequence is that some publications may be rendered obsolescent. For example, the pre-1976 publications of Anambra (N621) and Imo (N622) States in Nigeria might be difficult to locate because the two states constituted East Central State of Nigeria (N612) before the creation of more states in 1976. A look at Figure 3 also reveals that the Cutter designations, assigned in an alphabetic manner to the geographical areas, do not differentiate between countries and continents within the scheme. The implication of this is that government publications of countries found in different continents are mixed up. Thus, the publication of a European country, such as Germany (G2), would be found between those of African countries such as Gabon (G13) and Ghana (G3). An alternative classification scheme based on geographic Cutter numbers which would distinguish between continents and countries, thereby allowing for more logical arrangement

M.R.

112

Figure 4. Illustration

ADERIBIGBE

of the proposed

alternative

geographical

Cutter

numbers.

of materials is proposed in Figure 4. Here, a specific numeral is assigned to each of the continents. The various countries are then grouped according to their respective continent, with the “continent numeral” prefixing the designated Cutter number for a country. The advantage of this alternative is that the national publications in the collection would first be arranged by continents and within each continent by countries and then by the respective states in a general format of: CONTINENT - COUNTRIES- STATES.

piicqzq I

1

[pi+&iiq~*/ Figure 5. Illustration

of the abbreviations

I1

.

~~~ used for international

organizations.

Classification of government publications in Nigeria

INTERNATIONAL

113

ORGANIZATIONS

Publications in this group are arranged alphabetically according to the abbreviations of international organizations found in the Yearbook of ~nterna~~onai Organizations [2]. This is illustrated in Figure 5, where the publications of the main organs of the United Nations (UN) are kept together in an alphabetic way by a UN prefix with a slash(/), e.g., UN/A-General Assembly UN/E -Economic and Social Council Those of United Nations bodies, such as the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), are without the UN prefix. As a result, the publications of these UN bodies can be mixed up with documents of other organizations outside the United Nations, such as the Organization of African Unity (OAU). SUBJECT DIVISIONS The subject division as shown in Figure 6 is an adapted form of the Library of Congress classification scheme. The broad classes which are borrowed from the Library of Congress scheme are sub-divided by numerals. An example of this subdivision, using the engineering broad class TA, is shown below: TAl - General works TA2 - Civil TA3 -Electrical TA4 - Mechanical TA5 - Chemical This form of subdividing could allow for an indefinite expansion in each of the engineering divisions. Subdivisions in the area of civil engineering (TA2) could be provided for by introducing decimal numerals, such as TA2.1. This permits continuous expansions of the main classes. The weakness of this subject schedule is that publications on the same subject which are published by different countries or states would not stand together on the shelf since the arrangement of the publications is alphabetically by country. This makes browsing exceedingly difficult.

~::“~~j~~~ ;:! “‘~~.‘” cz;cA 1 =:;RlcPIL

Figure 6. Illustration *the

subject main classes and their sub-divisions.

M.R. ADE.KkBIp 3E

114

FORM DIV,

3NS

These are the classification of publications in the collection to depict their different forms of presentation or the various types of publications (see Figure 7). Examples -f these forms are: .071- Annual reports .022-Laws, decrees, edicts .062 - Surveys By combining all the foregoing schedules of Location symbol, Geographic area, Abbreviations of international Organizations, Subject Division and Form, it is pp-sible to classify materials using the scheme as depicted by the following examples. (a) Imo State of Nigeria. Ministry of Health. Medical Statistics Unit. Annual report 3/N622 RA 8 .071

(b) Nigeria. 3/N6 PN 4 .018

3/ N622 RA8 .071

where

National

where

Council

-National and government publication -1mo State in Nigeria -Medical statistics -Annual report.

for Arts and Culture.

31 N6 PN4 .018

National

Art Exhibition

-National Government -Nigeria -Arts and Culture -General Information

This same notation is shared by another publication: -Nigeria. Ministry of Information. Nigeria’s Art Treasures. The implication of this is that some publications with differing titles may carry the same identifying notations in the library collection. (c) United Nations. Economic Commission for Africa. Techniques of evaluation of basic demographic data 4/ECA HB 2

4/ where

ECA HB2 .063

.063

-International government and non-government -Economic Commission for Africa -Demography -Statistical data

(d) The publications of quasi-official issuing bodies are given the same status as those of government departments in the scheme but are distinguished by the addition of ‘n’ to their notations, for example: - Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research. Fisheries statistical survey of Nigeria.

3/N6 SH 1 .063n

where

3/ N6 SHl .063 “n”

-National government -Nigeria -Fisheries services -Statistical data -quasi official publication

This classification scheme for government documents at the University of Lagos has expanded and grown as the federal and state governments have grown. However, there have been some modifications in the details of use, while at the same time retaining the principle

Classification

of government

Figure 7. Illustration

publications

of common

in Nigeria

115

form distributions.

upon which it was based. Nonetheless, it is not perfect because it is liable to potential problems arising from (1) Political reorganizations which could render some materials inaccessible to users; (2) Lack of unique identifications to each title of the publications: two or more different titles could carry identical notations thereby making access difficult; and (3) The organization of publications by country which could make browsing of subject areas of interest very difficult. SUGGESTIONS In order to overcome some of the shortcomings of the present classification scheme, the following alternative scheme is being suggested: (a) For national government publications, the format should be: Subject division- Location Symbol Geographical area- Title number Using this notation, the above mentioned publication; Nigeria. National Council for Arts and Culture. National Art Exhibition. Can be designated, PN 4 3/1N6 .N3

where

PN4 31 1 N6 .N3

-Art and Culture -National, government -Africa (adopting the proposed scheme of Fig. 4) -Nigeria -Title number

(b) For the publications of International

Organizations, the format would be: Subject Division- Location symbol-Abbreviation of International Organization- Title number Thus, United Nations. Economic Commission for Africa. Techniques of evaluation of basic demographic data can be classified as: HB2 -Demography HB 4/ -International government and where 2 non-government

116

M.R. ADERIBIGBE

4/UN/ECA

UN

T4

ECA .T4

-United Nations (added because ECA is a UN body) -Economic Commission for Africa -Title number

In these suggested schemes, it can be seen that the subject matter of the publications would take precedence over the geographic locations. Since the subject matter will always be the same, then, access to materials cannot be affected by any political reorganization. Also, since the arrangement of publications by subject matter is familiar to many users, the adoption of the proposed scheme would enhance easy browsing by users. In order to have in the same place the publications of a continent and its geographic division and subdivisions, use of “continent numeral” (as proposed in Figure 4) should be adopted as illustrated in the above example. Title Cutter numbers may be used in place of form divisions for unique identification amongst the various titles in the collection and at the same time allowing for expansion. Though the present classification scheme of government documents at the University of Lagos has been helpful in terms of organization, the scheme still requires modification and improvement to make materials more easily available to users. REFERENCES 1. Division of Public Documents. Library. “An explanation of the Superintendent of Documents Classification System”. Prepared by Norman Barbee. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1970. 2. Union of International Associations. Yearbook ofInfernafiona/ Organizalions Brussels: 1948- .