August 20, 2009

Contact:   Susanna Boylston

This summer, we cataloged our last Dewey book and began assigning Library of Congress (LC) call numbers to all newly-received books. We also started reclassing small parts of the Dewey collection, a first step in what is likely to be a multi-year project.

The transition from the Dewey Decimal System to the Library of Congress Classification System is a major event in the library's history, and we wanted to mark the occasion in a special way.

We're pleased to announce that the first book to receive an LC call number was John Wertheimer's Law and Society in the South: A History of North Carolina Court Cases (University Press of Kentucky, 2009). Seventy-three of  John's former students contributed to this publication, making it an example of Davidson scholarship at its best. You'll find the book shelved in the new LC Stacks at call number KFN7478 .W47 2009; Davidson students, faculty, and staff can also read the e-book version. For more information about the book, see the recent news story on the college Web site.

And the last Dewey book? The Naming of America: Martin Waldseemüller's 1507 World Map and the Cosmographiae Introductio, translated by John Hessler (Giles, 2008), shelved at 970.01 W168c-T.

Would you like more information about the Library of Congress Classification System? See our guide to LC.

We'll keep you posted on the plans to convert the Dewey collection.