Classify is a new service from OCLC which returns class numbers (Dewey, LC, and National Library of Medicine) assigned to books in WorldCat. This could be a good way to use the “wisdom of the crowd” when you are not 100% sure where to group a particular book.

I noticed that the url had a “2″ at the end, so I removed it to see what would happen. It appears to be an earlier version of the service. I didn’t have any luck with the first few ISBNs I entered, but the example links work well.

Any other changes to the url bounce the user to the DeweyBrowser, which is a lookup service from a couple of years back. Although it also has a “2″ at the end of the url, nothing happens when one changes it. So much for rewarding curiosity

Classify found via Lorcan Dempsey’s weblog

LENS is an AquaBrowser online catalog installation at the University of Chicago library that has just gone live, albeit in beta.

It is an impressive catalog interface, showing what can be done with our existing cataloging, good software, and an eye towards good layout.  I especially like the Library of Congress Classification links that reside above the search results… each time you narrow your search, you get additional options for narrowing it even further.  Try it and you will see what I mean.

Pretty much the only things I don’t like on first look are:

1. I have never really liked the “starburst” tag cloud that is part of the AquaBrowser installation.  It doesn’t really add to the ease of use, and isn’t very accessible (a text-based tag cloud is more user-friendly, I feel).  No big problem, though, as it isn’t an integral part of the search, and can be ignored fairly easily.
2. When you turn off page styles, the resulting page is very unfriendly, especially the search results box, which is sized quite poorly.  Their high accessiblity version of the site (called “text only”) is a great improvement.  Web sites should handle styling much more naturally, imo.

These minor points aside, this is our future, and UofC has done some fantastic work.  Kudos!

from a post to NGC4LIB

Karen Coyle (again) has written a great post on the subject of the Dewey Decimial Classification system, the Library of Congress Classification system, and Library of Congress Subject Headings.

She highlights what, to my view, is one of the major problems with all three of them : they are too complex for their own good.  To structure classification and subject information in a straightforward, scalable manner is a daunting challenge.  That we don’t have this structure is hurting us, and this will only get more prominent as time goes on.