A Computer Produced Shelf List
Richard De Gennaro · College & Research Libraries · 1965
The Harvard University library has developed a system for converting its sheaf shelf lists to machine readable form and for using the computer to produce a new type of three-part shelf list which will provide readers with a new approach to the library's collections and the library staff with a more accurate and efficient inventory and classification tool.THE 2,225,000 voLUMES in the Widener library are represented by an estimated 1,600,000 entries in what is probably the only remaining sheaf shelf list in any large American library.A few of the two hundred classes in the Harvard classification scheme are on cards, but the major portion of the shelf list continues to be maintained on handwritten or typewritten sheets in looseleaf binders.This type of list is difficult to maintain, and errors tend to accumulate each time the contents of a full page have to be transcribed to several fresh pages to permit the addition of new entries.The disadvantages of maintaining a shelf list in this antiquated and inefficient form are obvious, but there are two important advantages that are worth citing-it takes less space than a card list, and it is easier to consult.The shelf list was designed to serve two essential pur_poses.It is an inventory