James Duff Brown: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
H3llBot (talk | contribs)
Bots
134,512 edits
m BOT: Checking dead links; Marked 1 link with {{Dead link}} (Further info: WP:DEADLINK)
mNo edit summary
 
(41 intermediate revisions by 29 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Scottish librarian (1862–914)}}
{{Orphan|date=February 2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
⚫
'''James Duff Brown''' (1862 – 1914) was a British librarian, information theorist, music biographer and educationalist. Most of his life was spent in London.
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Duff Brown
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1862
| birth_place = [[Edinburgh]]
| death_date = 1914
| death_place = [[London]]
| nationality = [[Scotland|Scottish]]
| other_names =
| known_for = Innovator of open access libraries; author of ''The Subject Classification''
| occupation = [[Bibliography|Bibliographer]]<br>[[Librarian]]
}}
⚫
'''James Duff Brown''' (1862–1914) was a British librarian, information theorist, music biographer and educationalist. Most of his life was spent in London.<ref>Munford, William Arthur. (1968). ''James Duff Brown 1862-1914: Portrait of a Library Pioneer.'' London: Library Association.</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==


He was born in Edinburgh, but after beginning his library career in Glasgow, he subsequently moved to London, and worked in [[Clerkenwell]] for the [[Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury]].
He was born in [[Edinburgh]], but after beginning his library career in [[Glasgow]], he subsequently moved to London, and worked in [[Clerkenwell]] for the [[Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury]]. He devised three classification systems: Quinn/Brown (1898), Adjustable classification (1898) and Subject Classification (1906). The latter system was for municipal libraries and was informed by his advocacy of open shelf access of books in the UK. Indeed, he was ''[t]he pioneer of this new system [while he was librarian] of Clerkenwell, where the first experiment in open access was launched in May, 1893''.<ref name="Kelly">{{cite book
⚫
|title=Books for the People: an illustrated history of the British public library
He devised three classification systems: Quinn/Brown (1898), Adjustable classification (1898) and Subject Classification (1906). The latter system was for municipal libraries and was informed by his advocacy of open shelf access of books in the UK. Indeed he was ''[t]he pioneer of this new system [while he was librarian] of Clerkenwell, where the first experiment in open access was launched in May, 1893.''<ref name="Kelly">{{cite book
|url=https://archive.org/details/booksforpeopleil0000kell_z8c6
⚫
|title=Books for the people: an illustrated history of the British public library
|url-access=registration
|last =Kelly
|last =Kelly
|first=Thomas
|first=Thomas
|authorlink=Thomas Kelly
|publisher=André Deutsch
|publisher=André Deutsch
|location=London
|year=1977
|year=1977
|isbn=0-233-96795-8
|ISBN=0233967958
|page=[https://archive.org/details/booksforpeopleil0000kell_z8c6/page/137 137]}}</ref><ref name="Skelton">{{cite web
⚫
|page=137}}</ref> This was referred to as "safe guarded open access". Alongside his classification work, he produced a standard textbook on librarianship (the ''Manual of library economy''). He further contributed to theoretical journals and also produced correspondence courses in librarianship "upon which most British librarians depended for their professional studies until the 1930s". As Librarian in the [[Metropolitan Borough of Islington]] he largely built up their collection and service.<ref name="Wedgeworth"> {{Cite web
| url = http://www.infotodayeurope.com/2012/06/26/the-first-open-access-debate/
|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HSFu99FCJwQC&pg=PA150&lpg=PA150&dq=%22Malhan%22+%22James+Duff+Brown%22&source=web&ots=SQyLSVQRAY&sig=WzN3Jy-vrSCOI0Cf5SpB2YJeb20&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA150,M1
| title = The first open access debate
| work= Information Today Europe
| last1 = Skelton
| first1 = Val
| access-date = 2 January 2014
| date = 26 June 2012
}}</ref> This was referred to as "safe guarded open access". Alongside his classification work, he produced a standard textbook on librarianship (the ''Manual of Library Economy''). In 1898, he was threatened with a libel action by [[Charles Goss]], over a [[polemic]] defending open access, and he was forced to apologise.<ref name="Harris">
{{cite journal
|last1= Harris
|first1= C. W. J.
|year= 1970
|journal= Library World
}}</ref><ref name="Johansen2003">{{cite journal
|last1= Johansen
|first1= Michelle
|year= 2003
|title= A fault-line in library history: Charles Goss, The Society of Public Librarians, and 'the Battle of the Books' in the Late Nineteenth Century
|journal= Library History
|volume= 19
|issue= 2
|pages= 75–91
|issn= 0024-2306
|doi= 10.1179/lib.2003.19.2.75
|s2cid= 143572448
⚫
}}</ref> He further contributed to theoretical journals and also produced correspondence courses in librarianship "upon which most British librarians depended for their professional studies until the 1930s". As Librarian in the [[Metropolitan Borough of Islington]] he largely built up their collection and service.<ref name="Wedgeworth">{{Cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSFu99FCJwQC&pg=PA150
|title=World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services
|title=World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services
|author=Robert Wedgeworth
|author=Wedgeworth, Robert
|accessdate=December 16, 2008
|access-date=16 December 2008
|isbn=9780838906095
|year=1993
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


==Ideas==
==Ideas==


His work in classification attempted to deal with the problem of the shelf arrangement of interdisciplinary works, and how to ensure that works on the same topic would be found in the same place. Part of his attempt to deal with this was to create synthesised notation (a rarity among classification systems in his day) to allow composite classmarks to be created.
His work in classification attempted to deal with the problem of the shelf arrangement of interdisciplinary works, and how to ensure that works on the same topic would be found in the same place.<ref>de Sales, Rodrigo, Daniel Martínez-Ávila, and José Augusto Chaves Guimarães. 2021. “James Duff Brown: A Librarian Committed to the Public Library and the Subject Classification.” ''Knowledge Organization'' 48 (5): 375–96.</ref> Part of his attempt to deal with this was to create synthesised notation (a rarity among classification systems in his day) to allow composite classmarks to be created.


Clare Beghtol notes ''He tried to bring all works on a concrete topic together notationally so that, for example, "at E917 for Coffee must be collected everything related to coffee, regardless of standpoint, form or other qualification but it must not be put under such headings as Tropical Agriculture, Beverages, Crops, Foods, Drugs, Ethics, Bibliography, Customs, or any other general head."''<ref name="Beghtol">{{cite web
[[Clare Beghtol]] notes ''He tried to bring all works on a concrete topic together notationally so that, for example, "at E917 for Coffee must be collected everything related to coffee, regardless of standpoint, form or other qualification but it must not be put under such headings as Tropical Agriculture, Beverages, Crops, Foods, Drugs, Ethics, Bibliography, Customs, or any other general head."''<ref name="Beghtol">{{cite web
|title=James Duff Brown's Subject Classification and Evaluation Methods for Classification Systems
|title=James Duff Brown's Subject Classification and Evaluation Methods for Classification Systems
|url=http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/1763/01/SIG-CR2004Beghtol.pdf
|url=http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/106250/1/SIG-CR2004Beghtol.pdf
|first1= Clare
|author=Clare Beghtol
| last1= Bheghtol
|accessdate=December 16, 2008
|access-date= 2 January 2013
}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
}}</ref><ref>Beghtol, Clare. 2004. “Exploring New Approaches to the Organization of Knowledge: The Subject Classification of James Duff Brown.” ''Library Trends'' 52 (4): 702–18.</ref>


==Publications==
==Publications==
*''Biographical dictionary of musicians'' (1886)
*1886: ''Biographical Dictionary of Musicians''
⚫
*1893: ''Guide to the Formation of a Music Library''
*''British musical biography'' (1897)
*1897: ''British Musical Biography'' with [[Stephen Samuel Stratton]]
*''Manual of library classification and shelf arrangement'' (1898)
*1898: ''Manual of Library Classification and Shelf Arrangement''
⚫
*''Guide to the formation of a music library'' (1893)
*''Manual of library economy'' (1903 - 7 later eds.)
*1903: ''Manual of Library Economy'' (7 later eds.)
*''Manual of practical bibliography'' (1906)
*1906: ''Manual of Practical Bibliography''
*''Subject classification'' (1st ed. 1906 ; 2nd ed. 1914 ; 3rd ed. (rev. by J. D. Stewart) 1939)
*1906: ''Subject Classification'' (1st ed. 1906; 2nd ed. 1914; 3rd ed. (rev. by J. D. Stewart) 1939)
*''The small library: a guide to the collection and care of books'' (1907)
*1907: ''The Small Library: a guide to the collection and care of books''
*''Characteristic songs and dances of all ages'' (1910)
*1910: ''Characteristic Songs and Dances of All Ages''
*''Library classification and cataloguing'' (1912)
*1912: ''Library Classification and Cataloguing''


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{wikisource author-inline}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James Duff}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James Duff}}
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1914 deaths]]
[[Category:1914 deaths]]

[[Category:Scottish librarians]]
[[Category:Scottish librarians]]
[[Category:Scottish bibliographers]]
[[Category:Scottish bibliographers]]
[[Category:People from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Curators from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Scottish biographers]]
[[Category:Scottish biographers]]
[[Category:Information theorists]]
[[Category:British information theorists]]

Latest revision as of 03:27, 7 April 2024

James Duff Brown
Born1862
Edinburgh
Died1914
London
NationalityScottish
Occupation(s)Bibliographer
Librarian
Known forInnovator of open access libraries; author of The Subject Classification

James Duff Brown (1862–1914) was a British librarian, information theorist, music biographer and educationalist. Most of his life was spent in London.[1]

Biography[edit]

He was born in Edinburgh, but after beginning his library career in Glasgow, he subsequently moved to London, and worked in Clerkenwell for the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. He devised three classification systems: Quinn/Brown (1898), Adjustable classification (1898) and Subject Classification (1906). The latter system was for municipal libraries and was informed by his advocacy of open shelf access of books in the UK. Indeed, he was [t]he pioneer of this new system [while he was librarian] of Clerkenwell, where the first experiment in open access was launched in May, 1893.[2][3] This was referred to as "safe guarded open access". Alongside his classification work, he produced a standard textbook on librarianship (the Manual of Library Economy). In 1898, he was threatened with a libel action by Charles Goss, over a polemic defending open access, and he was forced to apologise.[4][5] He further contributed to theoretical journals and also produced correspondence courses in librarianship "upon which most British librarians depended for their professional studies until the 1930s". As Librarian in the Metropolitan Borough of Islington he largely built up their collection and service.[6]

Ideas[edit]

His work in classification attempted to deal with the problem of the shelf arrangement of interdisciplinary works, and how to ensure that works on the same topic would be found in the same place.[7] Part of his attempt to deal with this was to create synthesised notation (a rarity among classification systems in his day) to allow composite classmarks to be created.

Clare Beghtol notes He tried to bring all works on a concrete topic together notationally so that, for example, "at E917 for Coffee must be collected everything related to coffee, regardless of standpoint, form or other qualification but it must not be put under such headings as Tropical Agriculture, Beverages, Crops, Foods, Drugs, Ethics, Bibliography, Customs, or any other general head."[8][9]

Publications[edit]

  • 1886: Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
  • 1893: Guide to the Formation of a Music Library
  • 1897: British Musical Biography with Stephen Samuel Stratton
  • 1898: Manual of Library Classification and Shelf Arrangement
  • 1903: Manual of Library Economy (7 later eds.)
  • 1906: Manual of Practical Bibliography
  • 1906: Subject Classification (1st ed. 1906; 2nd ed. 1914; 3rd ed. (rev. by J. D. Stewart) 1939)
  • 1907: The Small Library: a guide to the collection and care of books
  • 1910: Characteristic Songs and Dances of All Ages
  • 1912: Library Classification and Cataloguing

References[edit]

  1. ^ Munford, William Arthur. (1968). James Duff Brown 1862-1914: Portrait of a Library Pioneer. London: Library Association.
  2. ^ Kelly, Thomas (1977). Books for the People: an illustrated history of the British public library. London: André Deutsch. p. 137. ISBN 0-233-96795-8.
  3. ^ Skelton, Val (26 June 2012). "The first open access debate". Information Today Europe. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  4. ^ Harris, C. W. J. (1970). Library World. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Johansen, Michelle (2003). "A fault-line in library history: Charles Goss, The Society of Public Librarians, and 'the Battle of the Books' in the Late Nineteenth Century". Library History. 19 (2): 75–91. doi:10.1179/lib.2003.19.2.75. ISSN 0024-2306. S2CID 143572448.
  6. ^ Wedgeworth, Robert (1993). World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services. ISBN 9780838906095. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  7. ^ de Sales, Rodrigo, Daniel Martínez-Ávila, and José Augusto Chaves Guimarães. 2021. “James Duff Brown: A Librarian Committed to the Public Library and the Subject Classification.” Knowledge Organization 48 (5): 375–96.
  8. ^ Bheghtol, Clare. "James Duff Brown's Subject Classification and Evaluation Methods for Classification Systems" (PDF). Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  9. ^ Beghtol, Clare. 2004. “Exploring New Approaches to the Organization of Knowledge: The Subject Classification of James Duff Brown.” Library Trends 52 (4): 702–18.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Duff_Brown&oldid=1217657560"