Session 1 - Activities - SOC 335: Nowheres - Research Guides at Williams College Libraries

Activity #1: Call Numbers

Goal: Discuss how call numbers organize materials in the library

The four following books are about about Somaliland and are in the library collection.

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Book 4

Click on the links to open the catalog record for each book
Take note of the call number for each book
Consider the following questions:
- Why these books about Somaliland have different call numbers?
- What is the impact of this organizational approach?

Activity #2: Library Classification

Goal: Learn about the Library of Congress Classification

Table 1:Book 1

Table 2: Book 2

Table 3: Book 3

Table 4: Book 4

Go to the Library of Congress Classification Outline: https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/
Locate the classification category for your book (go as deep as you can in the classification system)
How is this call # class is organized?
What do you think about this organization?
Be prepared to share the highlights of your discussion

Activity #3 - Geographical Representation- Demo

Take a look at the the following 3 Subject Browse Searches in the library catalog:

What do you notice about how countries/regions/groups appear in the library catalog?

To what do you attribute the difference between the representation to Abkazia and Kosovo?

Activity #4: Geographical Representations - Who Decides?

Open the Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative Program FAQ
Look at Question #3. What do you think of that?
Go to Library of Congress H690: Formulating Geographical Name
On page 4, read the Note for section

What do you notice? What surprises you? What other information would you like to have?

Activity #5: Subject Headings - Exploration

Goal: Compare the Library of Congress Subject Headings assigned to each book