E4LIBRARIES SUBJECT CATEGORY HEADINGS

BIC has developed a subset of its industry-standard subject categories scheme aimed at the public library sector. These provide library-oriented category headings applicable across the full range of adult non-fiction, fiction and children's/young adult stock.

Many library authorities have adopted categorisation schemes for fiction and non-fiction over the past forty years. The majority of them apply these categories solely at item level to determine shelf display, though a minority also use them to provide a searchable option within the main title-level catalogue record. However, most of these schemes are unique to the authority concerned and rely heavily for their operation on costly and time-consuming staff intervention.

Adoption of a scheme of BIC-based standard subject/genre categories, made available to libraries in addition to existing Dewey classifications, offers the opportunity to reduce cost and streamline workflows by automating the categorisation process, and to support further improvements in stock selection, management, discovery and display.

The scheme provides a comprehensive set of fixed title-level category headings capable of supporting and facilitating all of the following functions: 

• - shelf display/browsing
• - electronic display/browsing
• - standardised servicing
• - reduction in complexity and cost of processing and selection
• - evidence-based assessment of stock demand, supply and performance
• - comparative performance analysis
• - selection specification
• - personalised recommendations
• - links with retail sites

At the same time it offers authorities a degree of flexibility in determining item-level shelfmarks, the categories used to organise and display stock in individual locations, allowing them to customise the scheme to meet their specific needs and to integrate it with existing schemes they have already developed.

E4libraries Category Headings: Adult non-fiction and adult fiction (September 2008) 

E4libraries Category Headings: Children's and young adults (September 2008)