What is Yale Class?: 

Books located on 6W, 7 and 7W in the Sterling stack tower which have Yale call numbers.  Yale used its own call number system until the early 1970s when it shifted to the Library of Congress system. 

Goals of the Project: 

• Fix the long-standing cataloging problems with the Yale Class collection.   Without good cataloging records, we don’t know what books are in the collection.
• Address the preservation needs of the Yale Class collection.   We estimate that 40% of the collection needs repair.
• Create space in the Sterling stack tower to temporarily transfer all of the Bass Library books during the Bass Library renovation which should begin in summer 2019.  
• Create space in the Sterling stack tower to permanently transfer some of the Bass Library books that will not move back into the Bass Library
• Shift all of the books in the stack towers so that they are in one run of the Library of Congress call number system.

Where will the Yale Class books go?:

• Books that faculty and librarians have identified as important to stay in Sterling will be reclassed (i.e., given a Library of Congress call number) and interfiled with the rest of the Library of Congress classed books.

• Similarly, Yale Class books that have been recently checked out will be reclassed (i.e., given a Library of Congress call number) and interfiled with the rest of the Library of Congress classed books.

• Books with a pre-1800 imprint or are otherwise rare will be transferred to the Beinecke Rare Book Library collection.
• Remainder of the books will be transferred to LSF (Library Shelving Facility):
  • Books with good cataloging records will be transferred within 2018
  • Books with imperfect cataloging records will be moved to holding areas where catalogers can work on them.  Once a cataloging record is fixed, the book will be transferred to LSF.  This extensive process will continue through June 2021.

Use of materials during project

• Books will be available for the public to use as long as they are on the shelf.  However, all Yale Class materials are slated to be moved off of the shelves by January 2019
• Any books ‘in-process’ will be unavailable for use until processed and cataloged.  They will then be immediately available for use by the public.
• Because materials are marked as ‘unavailable’, users may request materials through Borrow Direct or Interlibrary Loan for use within 4-7 business days.

Outcomes of the Yale Class Project:

• All of the Yale Class books will be discoverable through the Orbis catalog
• Fragile books will be stabilized to prevent further deterioration
• Rare books will be stored in secure locations
• All of the books in the Sterling stack tower will be filed in a single call number range
• We will have space on the book shelves to accommodate the growth of the book collection for at least three years without needing to transfer additional books to LSF