“People seem to understand numbers better than the alphabet” : Experiences and effects of reclassification from SAB to Dewey at a university library

Abstract: This thesis is an analysis of the effects and experiences of reclassification from the Swedish SAB system to the Dewey Decimal Classification at one of the faculty libraries at Lund University. The background for this study is the National Library report from 2006 where advantages and disadvantages of switching to the DDC were outlined. The theoretical framework is based on Bowker and Star’s infrastructure theory. Six librarians were interviewed about their experiences with the reclassification and the new system. The study analyzes the results from the perspective of classification systems as infrastructures. The results show that librarians were affected the most by the reclassification, whereas there was little impact on patrons and physical spaces. The study also finds that the librarians mostly agree with the advantages and disadvantages of reclassification from the National Library report.