subject index listing

[Pam Davies]

I'd like to describe a project we're hoping to embark on, to see if 
any of you out there can say "Yes, we're doing something very similar 
and here's how" or "Sounds as if you should use ...."

We have a home-made classification scheme (classmarks/call numbers
like Mathematics F-3.2, Ancient History A-0.07, etc, with 3 letters
of author's name added for each book), and although we use LCSH to
subject-index our books we want to produce a simple index to the
classification - "Partial differential equations: Mathematics F-4.3"
- for use at enquiry points, and to aid in classifying books.

A previous file on which we might base this had some 30,000 entries,
though we might get it edited down to half that.

There is strong demand for an A-Z printout to be kept at enquiry
desks, updated only occasionally, but we feel if we are going to do
this we need also something which can be searched free-text
("differential + partial"), almost certainly from our Web pages.

The catalogue is Geac, and heading for replacement in summer 97;  
this new system might integrate with its unknown successor so that a 
search could turn into a classmark search. 

We need 16 people, responsible for different subjects and varyingly 
computer-literate, to be easily able to edit and update "their" listings, 
for their named subjects, and the resulting separate files to be able 
to be combined into an A-Z listing and a searchable system.

We've got Word, MS-Excel, MS-Access; we use Netscape.  We don't at 
present run our own server, having our web pages on the central 
University server.

Any ideas?  Please reply to me rather than to the whole list, unless 
you've got general points to make.  Thanks.

Pam

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Pam Davies, Edward Boyle Library, Univ. of Leeds, LEEDS LS2 9JT, UK
email: p.m.davies at leeds.ac.uk  
phone: 0113 233 5543  fax: 0113 233 5539