A brief investigation of U.S. superintendent of documents filing practice

Abstract

An automated program to produce a shelf list of Superintendent of Documents Classification arranged publications by sorting them on the components of their SuDoc numbers will best serve its users by providing a choice of the four most common filing options in use. Beyond the level of the stem, little consistency exists in the actual filing rules by which SuDoc classified shelves are arranged in depository libraries. While this inconsistency has minimal effect on the gross arrangement of shelves, the programming of an automated sorting algorithm to produce SuDoc organized shelf lists requires a knowledge of the filing procedures actually in use. A survey of 139 depository libraries concerning their SuDoc filing procedures produced 87 usable responses, for a return rate of 63 percent. Thirty-nine percent, or 34, file all numbers before all letters with some variation on the second level. Forty-eight percent, or 42, file all letters before numbers with small variations on the second level. The remaining 13 percent, or 11, utilize a mixed filing system, making use of an order based upon the components of the notation rather than their alphabetic or numeric characteristics. The Depository Library Systems Committee of the Depository Library Council (DLC) suggests a particular mixed order of this sort, but only one surveyed library followed this order.