How to use the Wessex classmarks

Hints on how to use the Wessex classmarks

• The basic arrangement of the scheme is by specialty. As a general rule items should be classified within the appropriate specialty, unless there are compelling reasons such as explicit instructions in the schedules to do otherwise, e.g. a book on quality of life in mental disorders goes in psychiatry at WM70 rather than at the more general quality of life section at WA5
• Where a book covers more than one specialty (e.g. obstetrics and gynaecology) there will usually be guidance in the schedules as to which takes precedence
• Please note that specialties include paediatrics (WS) and geriatrics (WT)
• Never classify by title alone. Titles can be very misleading concerning the real content of the book. Read prefaces, blurbs, introductions, contents pages etc. for information on the true nature of the publication. NLM catalogue (Locatorplus) or Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) data may help, but CIP is not always reliable and should be used with discretion. Do not use class numbers from Locatorplus or CIP records (although they look similar, but use the NLM classification scheme not Wessex)
• Never classify by relying on the classification numbers in the Annotated Subject Index to the Wessex Classification Scheme. Always check the classification numbers given in the Index against the actual schedules. The numbers given in the Index are a guide only and it is also essential to check that the context for the given classification number is correct for the publication in hand (e.g. rational emotive therapy and other psychotherapeutic methods were developed as mental health therapies, but are now sometimes used in other settings where a mental health classification number would be incorrect)
• Classify by the subject of the book – not who it is written for (e.g. statistics for nurses is about STATISTICS) or its form (e.g. an encyclopaedia of nursing goes with nursing, not with general encyclopaedias)
• Classify at the most specific number available (e.g. put items on general practice at the general practice number, not primary care)
• Promote consistency by checking how similar works and previous editions have been catalogued and indexed in the past within your library
• Where a subject is outside the Wessex schedules, Library of Congress numbers can be used. Reference to some of these is made in the index (e.g. BF for magic, HG for insurance)

Library of Congress Classification Files (loc.gov)

Recurring numbers

A few classification numbers are the same in most specialty sections, example;

• 13 - Dictionaries, encyclopaedias, bibliographies (example, WY13 for a dictionary of nursing, WB13 for an encyclopaedia of medicine). However if a dictionary etc. covers a more specific topic, such as nursing research, it should be classified with that topic (example, an encyclopaedia of nursing research at WY20)
• 18 - Education, examinations, questions and answers, MCQs etc. These are classified together by form for the convenience of students. Use a secondary classification number to indicate actual subject where appropriate
• Z - Bibliographies. This is a suffix which can be added to any classification number in the scheme in order to separate bibliographies from other works on the topic
• A - Adolescent/ce. This suffix can be added to any WS number to indicate the age group the content relates to