James Duff Brown: Difference between revisions
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==Publications== |
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*Biographical dictionary of musicians (1886) |
*''Biographical dictionary of musicians'' (1886) |
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*British musical biography (1897) |
*''British musical biography'' (1897) |
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*Manual of library classification and shelf arrangement (1898) |
*''Manual of library classification and shelf arrangement'' (1898) |
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*Guide to the formation of a music library (1893) |
*''Guide to the formation of a music library'' (1893) |
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*Manual of library economy (1903 - 7 later eds.) |
*''Manual of library economy'' (1903 - 7 later eds.) |
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*Manual of practical bibliography (1906) |
*''Manual of practical bibliography'' (1906) |
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*Subject classification (1st ed. - 1906 ; 2nd ed. 1914 ; 3rd ed. (rev. by J.D. Stewart) 1939) |
*''Subject classification'' (1st ed. - 1906 ; 2nd ed. 1914 ; 3rd ed. (rev. by J. D. Stewart) 1939) |
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*The small library |
*''The small library: a guide to the collection and care of books'' (1907) |
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*Characteristic songs and dances of all ages (1910) |
*''Characteristic songs and dances of all ages'' (1910) |
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*Library classification and cataloguing (1912) |
*''Library classification and cataloguing'' (1912) |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 09:03, 6 April 2010
James Duff Brown (1862 – 1914) was a British librarian and information theorist, music biographer and educationalist. Most of his life was spent in London.
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 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.[1] 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, he also produced correspondence courses in librarianship "upon which most British librarians depended for their professional studies until the 1930s" As Librarian in the London Borough of Islington he largely built up their collection and service.[2]
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.
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."[3]
Publications
- Biographical dictionary of musicians (1886)
- British musical biography (1897)
- Manual of library classification and shelf arrangement (1898)
- Guide to the formation of a music library (1893)
- Manual of library economy (1903 - 7 later eds.)
- Manual of practical bibliography (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)
- Characteristic songs and dances of all ages (1910)
- Library classification and cataloguing (1912)
References
- ^ Kelly, Thomas (1977). Books for the people: an illustrated history of the British public library. André Deutsch. p. 137. ISBN 0233967958.
- ^ Robert Wedgeworth. "World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services". Retrieved December 16, 2008.
- ^ Clare Beghtol. "James Duff Brown's Subject Classification and Evaluation Methods for Classification Systems" (PDF). Retrieved December 16, 2008.