RPL Plan Explanation

The cataloging plan we have adopted is commonly referred to as the Rowan Public Library Plan. It was first developed by the small history room in the Arlington, TX Public Library in the 1980s, but greatly expanded and enhanced by two librarians, Linda Blake and Evelyn Stallings at the RPL in Salisbury, NC in the late 1990s. Blake and Stallings recognized the need for genealogists to approach their research by geographic location after discussions with experienced genealogists and local history librarians. It was Blake and Stallings who expanded the Arlington system to the county level and the term 3 subject codes.  This special coding system is used in the RPL History and Genealogy Room while the rest of the library system continues on the Dewey Decimal Catalog system.

 

The RPL code consists of four terms arranged in three or four lines. The largest part of our collection consists of books grouped by state so we will use them for our example:

 

Term 1                        Two letter postal codes for the state Ex: FL, GA, etc.

Term 2                        First three county letters Ex: PAL, BRO, BRE, etc.

Term 3                        Decimal code for subject Ex: .4 Military, .5 Religion, .6 Ethnicity

Term 4                        First three letters of author’s name, plus volume number, if any.

 

In those cases where a book covers multiple counties within a state, AAA designates genealogical materials and ZZZ designates materials with primarily a historical focus .

 

A special sub-plan is used so that the system also accommodates nongeographic resources such as historic or instructional materials, family histories, church and ethnic group histories. These materials are shelved before geographic materials. The letters AA through AJ are used for non-geographic materials. Since an alphabetical list of state codes starts with AK (Alaska) this method effectively shelves our books in alphabetical order by broad subject categories.  State books are shelved based on their two letter code, not the spelled out name.

 

Term 1 List of non-geographic categories:

 

AA- Assistance, Bibliographies, Indexes, Heraldry & Name Dictionaries, Directories, Instructional

AB – Biographies, Term 2 is the family surname.

AC – Church histories at the national level.  Term 3 is a decimal code defining the denomination.

AD – Documents, buildings, etc. (Not currently used.)

AE – Ethnic and Emigration/Immigration. Term 3 is a decimal code for the group.

AF – Family histories, Term 2 is the family surname.

AG – Genealogies not specific to any state. Almost all are USA and Term 3 further defines the material. All lineage and heritage society materials are shelved within this group, unless the society is state specific.

AH – History (general) subdivided as above; Term 2 identifes country or continent and the term 3 decimal number narrows to specific time, place, etc. All foreign materials are shelved in this grour regardleass of whether they are historical or genealogical in focus.

AJ – Miscellany (we prefer not to think of it as the junk section); Neither genealogical nor geographical. Term 2 is  AAA and term 3 is the 1st subdivision of the Dewey System.

 

Term 2 Most commonly is a country or U.S. country abreviation and AAA  covers material from multiple counties within a state. ZZZ is ocassionally used for historical materials with no genealogical content..

 

Term  3 Further defines the resource by subject or time period. These are listed and explained on bookmarks readily available in our library.

 

Among the primary benefits of this shelving plan is easy access to resources down to the county level. Most resources are located together, so that wandering the library looking for a particular record type is minimized.  Our patrons will have quick access to most of the records from one locality in one spot.  Having easily accessed what they were seeking, we hope they will return to use our library often.

 

Notes:

 

When using the catalog it will return a summary listing of items. For full detail, click on the title. This will yield the fourth term of the catralog number and the media type. If, next to media type you see "Checkout and Download" by clicking on it you can download the book and save it or read it on your computer, without ever coming into the library.

 

Media Types:

 

 

AC = Ancestor Chart

AD = Administratve

AW = Art Work

BK = Book

CD = CD, shelved seperately

ER = Electronic Resource, ask for assistance

IR = Internet Resource, remotelt accessible.

LB = Large Book, located on nearby shelf

MF = Microfilm

MI = Microfiche

MP = Map

OS = Over Size and is in the map case

OT = Other

PE = Periodical

SD = Shared Drive, accessible from library only

TU = Tube Rack

VD = Video

VF = Vertical File, may range from one to 80 pages