With the recent revision of the Barnard classification scheme – which determines where books are shelved in the Library – the Collections team has been investigating ways that searching for books can be made easier for readers.
At the Enquiries Desk, when readers wish to find a book that they have read before but are unable to remember the title, they will often let LAORS staff know the colour of the book, in case that will be of help. At the moment this is not a means by which we can search for books, however this is all about to change! A new auxiliary table (Table 12) is being added to the 3rd edition of the Barnard scheme so that books may be shelved by colour. We have assigned each Main Class with its own unique colour and will be binding all books published 2000- so that they align with this. Books will still have a shelf mark on the spine, but in addition, readers will be able to search for topics by specific colour. A guide has been produced which will be available at the Enquiries Desk. A copy is also included below to help you get familiar with the changes.
Note: colours and terms subject to change.
