The application of the Bliss Bibliographic Classification in Cambridge College libraries

Abstract

With publication of the classification schedules having begun in 1977 and not yet complete, the revised edition of the Bliss Bibliographic Classification (BC2) is still new. The scheme has been widely praised for its theory, but has hitherto been applied chiefly in specialist libraries. A major opportunity to see how it works in general, if small, academic libraries is provided by the libraries of Fitzwilliam, Jesus, King's, Queens' and Sidney Sussex Colleges in Cambridge. This article shows how these libraries differ from each other in their application of BC2 in the location of major subjects, in minor choices of classmark, in the length and presentation of classmarks and through the problem of early converts to BC2 being locked into draft schedules. The divergences demonstrate clearly the flexibility of BC2, and in all cases the faceted structure aids understanding. User reaction or lack of it suggests that BC2 functions well in general academic libraries.