Facet Analysis

a Library Information Science student in denial of end-of-quarter madness

A few blog posts back (Cataloging Feels), I mentioned the slight temptation of completing a facet analysis of my small book collection. Well, dear readers, instead of working on homework or grocery shopping or other I'm-a-grad-student-and-an-adult activities, I decided to analyze and organize my books--using facet classification to create my own individual classification system.

I followed these basic steps from my Information Organization class:

1. Analyze the items
2. Identity facets
• Location
• Completion
• Form
• Format
• Century
3. Identify sub-facets (arrays) within the facets
4. Establish a citation order for facets
5. Establish a schedule order for the facets (At least I think this is what I did...)
6. Compile schedules
7. Organize on shelf

Thornton, Katherine. “Faceted Classification.” University of Washington. 12 Feb 2013. Lecture.

My Steps

Step one: Pull all books off shelves and arrange in 

some sort of nonsensical order that only makes sense to you

Step two: Use Excel to keep track of all your books and their facets.

Sort accordingly.

Step three: Arrange on shelf.

Step four: Cry about lack of space on book shelves

Step five: Blog about experience

Currently my books are arranged in this order: 

• Read, Location (by continent), Century, Form, Alphabetical by Author
• Partially Read, Location (by continent), Century, Form, Alphabetical by Author
• Unread, Location (by continent), Century, Form, Alphabetical by Author

I am not wholly satisfied with this classification. There may a L. Haight Classification 2.0 in the near future. But for this evening, I think I've successfully procrastinated in the most productive way possible.