The reclassification team have now reclassified books with old style shelfmarks from K000 to K744. Reclassified books have been placed in the Library of Congress Classification sections and are available for use by readers. They will continue to reclassify from K744 onwards today (Wednesday).
Please ask library staff for assistance if you are unable to locate the books you require.
Related Links: Reclassification project | Contact us | Missing book form
The reclassification team have now reclassified books with old style shelfmarks from K000 to K703. Reclassified books have been placed in the Library of Congress Classification sections and are available for use by readers. They will continue to reclassify from K703 onwards tomorrow (Tuesday).
Please ask library staff for assistance if you are unable to locate the books you require.
Related Links: Reclassification project | Contact us | Missing book form
The reclassification team have now reclassified books with old style shelfmarks from K000 to K606. Reclassified books have been placed in the Library of Congress Classification sections and are available for use by readers. They will continue to reclassify from K606 onwards on Monday.
Please ask library staff for assistance if you are unable to locate the books you require.
Related Links: Reclassification project | Contact us | Missing book form
HFL books being reclassified
The History Faculty Library books are on the move again. A team of reclassification staff have started to move books that are already in the Library of Congress Classification into their final positions. This means that books with shelfmarks A to DA175 are now in the Lower Radcliffe Camera, as are oversize books from A to N. These books can be browsed, used in the library and also borrowed by University members.
The books are still showing as being held in the Gladstone Link rather than the Lower Camera on the SOLO library catalogue, but this should be updated by Monday (17 September).
Further work until 12 October
More material will be moved during the project, which is due to finish on 12 October. Further details of areas being worked on will be posted on this blog next week.
If you are unable to access an area of books because they are being worked on by reclassifying staff, please search for an alternative copy using the SOLO library catalogue. If you cannot find an alternative copy, please ask library staff at the Lower Camera Reserve Desk for assistance.
Ask library staff for help
If you need any help locating material, please ask library staff at the Lower Camera Reserve Desk for assistance, alternatively call 01865 277262 or email library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
Related links: Report a missing book | Contact Us | Locate the Library | Reclassification project
The reclassification of Bodleian History Faculty material with old style shelfmarks will begin next week (from 12 September onwards). A team of reclassifying staff will work through the HFL collections to create a single sequence of books in Library of Congress Classification (LCC). The books will run from A-Z in the LCC system, beginning in the Lower Radcliffe Camera and continuing down into both levels of the Gladstone Link. The main project work is due to be completed by the end of week 1 of Michaelmas Term (12 October 2012).
The collection will still be available to consult and Oxford University members will still be able to borrow and return books. However, sections of the collection will be inaccessible for short periods of time while the team are working on reclassifying and moving the books into their final locations. We will be posting regular updates on this blog about which areas are being worked on.
HFL library staff are available to assist you in locating material or arranging access to alternative copies. You can contact us by phone on 01865 277262, email at library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk or in person at the Lower Camera Reserve Desk.
Many will already be familiar with LC classmarks from the Social Science Library, the Radcliffe Science Library or the Vere Harmsworth Library. There are two main elements: Class number and Item number.
The Class number element describes the main subject of a book e.g. History/Philosophy/etc. As well as class and/or sub-class it may also contain a topical or form Cutter number, which can identify, for example, a place or person under discussion.
The Item number element consists of a Cutter number for the main entry – Oxford uses the first three letters of the author’s surname or the title in the case of edited works. Dates of publication are added to achieve a further level of division
Example:
Bernard G.W., The Power of the Early Tudor Nobility (1985)
Shelfmark: HT653.G7 BER 1985
HT653.G7 = class number
BER 1985 = item number
The HFL collections are now located in the Radcliffe Camera and Gladstone Link in the central Bodleian site.
Returning books
If you have borrowed books before our move and would like to return them, please put them gently into our new book return box. The box is situated in the Lower Radcliffe Camera, in between the entrance to the Gladstone Link and the Lower Camera Reserve Desk.
book return box
Library staff will be emptying the box regularly.
Borrowing books from 3 September
Borrowing of books from the Radcliffe Camera Lower Desk will begin again on Monday 3 September. Until then our books can be used in the Bodleian Library site – the Old Library, Gladstone Link and Lower Camera. They can also be photographed, copied and scanned (within copyright limit).
Radcliffe Camera closures
The whole Radcliffe Camera will be closed on Tuesday 28 August while HFL staff move in. The Upper Camera will be closed from 20 August to 29 September inclusive. A staff mediated fetching service is in place for the books housed in the Upper Radcliffe Camera, including the HFL set texts.
Related links: HFL move webpage | Upper Camera closure notice
Following our closure on Friday last week to allow for the Library’s move, library staff and book movers have been working hard to transfer the History Faculty Library’s collections from the Old Indian Institute Building to the Radcliffe Camera and Gladstone Link on the central Bodleian site.
Here are some pictures of our progress so far:
The West Room and West Gallery are empty…
The West Room and Gallery
…and our material is in the Gladstone Link. Most of the books that have been moved over are on shelves, but some are still being unpacked from their crates.
In the Gladstone Link
Collections available again from Monday 20th August
HFL material will be available again for reference use from Monday 20th August and borrowing of material begins on Monday 3rd September.
Contact us if you need help accessing material
If you urgently require access to HFL material, please contact us. You can also contact the Bodleian Just-in-Time team to help you locate an alternative copy of a book by emailing moves@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
Related Links: HFL move webpage | Contact us
The History Faculty Library will close today at 5.30pm for the move of collections and staff to the Radcliffe Camera. Readers are warmly invited to join us from 4pm for drinks, chats and old HFL stories.
Readers wishing to return books before 17 August, should do so at our current location, Old Indian Institute Building, Broad Street, where a book drop service will be provided. Books returned after 17 August should be taken to the Lower Camera desk. Check out the locations page on our website if you are unsure.
Yes, absolutely. Throughout this time you can contact HFL staff (e: library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk; t: (0)1865 277262 ) if you have any questions, problems or urgent requirements. We can help you bridge this period of disruption. The Just-in-Time team can also be directly contacted by readers who require urgent access to alternative copies of HFL material.
Interested in some temporary work reclassifying the HFL collections? Backstage Library Works, contracted to reclassify our collections in the forthcoming weeks, is looking to employ temporary technicians.
Pay: £7 ph with the opportunity to increase to £7.50 ph.
Details of the job and how to apply are advertised in the Oxford Times.
Deadline for applications: 13 August 2012 with interviews to be held in that week.
Gladstone Link
Ahead of schedule, Radcliffe Camera/Gladstone Link access route is now open again, all collections that remain in the Gladstone Link are fully accessible again and as is the seating and IT equipment. The only area still cordoned off in the Upper Gladstone Link is one for empty shelves as some of the HFL materials are destined to move into those starting 6 August. We apologise again for any inconvenience.
Here to help
Contact the Just-in-Time team (moves@bodleian.ox.ac.uk) if you need an alternative copy. Contact HFL staff (e: library.history@bodleian.ox.ac.uk, t: 01865 277262) if you have any questions or concerns or need help.
Thank you for your patience while we complete the transfer and transformation of the History Faculty Library in its new home.
Related links: Contact us | HFL move webpage | About the Gladstone Link