Transforming the Barnard Classification Scheme for C21st collection and data management

Eloise Carpenter, Collection Services Manager, LSHTM, eloise.carpenter@lshtm.ac.uk

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

LSHTM is one of the world’s leading public health universities.  Founded in 1899 at the London Docks, LSHTM has two UK sites in the Bloomsbury area of London at Keppel Street and Tavistock Place, and units in The Gambia and Uganda.  LSHTM’s mission is ‘to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide, working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice’.   

A Classification Scheme for Medical and Veterinary Libraries

Cyril. C. Barnard, the first professional librarian at LSHTM (in post 1921-1959), realised that classification schemes available at the time were unsuitable for the specialist focus of LSHTM and so devised his own scheme focusing on tropical medicine and public health.  A Classification Scheme for Medical and Veterinary Libraries was first published in 1936 and revised for a second edition in 1955.   

The project 

In 2019 an idea was mooted to review and update Barnard’s scheme to reflect the current research priorities and teaching interests of LSHTM and meet the collections-specific requirements of the Library. The project aimed to: 

  • Assess content of Library collections and LSHTM research priorities and teaching interests  
  • Review operational effectiveness of scheme, identifying areas requiring improvement 
  • Plan changes, including potential impact on collections, Library staff, users and budgets 
  • Update and revise scheme 
  • Implement revised scheme, provide training for staff, communicate changes, establish policies and procedures 
  • Publish and promote revised scheme 

On paper, the project appeared relatively simple.  In practice, an extensive range of work was required.  As the project progressed, three threads quickly emerged, each linked to a power dynamic: language, society, colonialism.  Unravelling the scheme’s power dynamics would be key to an effective revision.   

Language

Controlled vocabularies organise subjects, assisting readers to find information.  However, resulting knowledge structures and subject headings regularly lead to an unfamiliar language evident in library discovery tools. Using accessible language and making informed choices about order opens the knowledge contained in the scheme and increases resource discoverability. 

  • Subject headings and descriptions reviewed, removed, and updated, as necessary 
  • New headings and topics added, balancing the needs of readers, resources, and scheme
  • Metadata reliability: logical structure, duplication avoided, all cross-references checked 
Society

Classification creates meanings and shapes perception by defining and categorizing groups of people, experiences and subjects in a cultural context. 

1950s society exercised social control by various means. Levels of state regulation were high. The British Empire was mainly intact.  Britain’s population was overwhelmingly indigenous, socially conservative, dominated by social class, traditional beliefs and values.  Opportunities for women were limited. 

  • Subjects, language, and arrangement of topics revised to reflect sociocultural changes, contemporary demographics, political and economic developments 
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion promoted incl. gender, race, disability, sexual orientation.  Conscious and unconscious biases challenged. 
Colonialism 

LSHTM directly benefitted from colonialism and its colonial past. Barnard’s scheme was inevitably bound with the practices, language and publication of science under Western control. A major aim of the revision was to resist colonial taxonomies, integrate different voices, and acknowledge the global creation of knowledge.

  • Term ‘tropical’ often used interchangeably for ‘colonial’: addressed where ‘tropical’ homogenised regions, was treated as inferior in the structure and/or language 
  • Auxiliary table of countries amended to show transition to independent states, especially the decolonisation of Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania. Indentations removed where they signified power structures. Less weighting given to USA and UK locations. 
  • Assumption of Linnaean taxonomy and Latin knowledge removed
  • Addition of decolonisation-related subjects
A scheme for C21st collection management 

The 3rd edition of the Barnard scheme provides accurate, up-to-date subject classifications designed with the needs of library users at the forefront. It provides medical and veterinary libraries with a scheme uniquely created for their specialist collections, supporting various collection management activities.

Collaboration and knowledge-sharing 

Across LSHTM several systems were using ad hoc taxonomies, logic, and dated terminologies.  Innovative collaboration, task- and knowledge-sharing, led to several exciting ventures:

  • Elements research information system (where staff deposit their accepted manuscripts to LSHTM’s OA repository): staff profile interests effectively mapped to Barnard
  • Research Costing & Pricing (RCP) tool: keywords mapped to Barnard
  • LSHTM’s Data Compass (digital repository of research data): current project mapping keywords to Barnard

Specificity of definitions encourages quality metrics and analytics, data is more credible, identifying key variables and understanding how one element relates to another is simpler, and knowledge transfer and management is greatly improved. For collection management, accurately evaluating how Library resources are supporting LSHTM research and academic interests enables informed decisions about resource allocation, acquisitions and deselection to create a dynamic user-centred collection. Collections metadata is becoming integrated across LSHTM’s research systems, resulting in improved interoperability for changing needs and new directions, bringing benefits to both LAORS and the wider organisation. 

A sustainable future 

The 1936 edition sold out in 5 years and was in use in 34 libraries across 5 continents. At the time of Barnard’s death in 1959, 45 libraries were using his scheme including in the UK, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Fiji, Australia and the USA. The scheme is still in use by LSHTM, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Defra, and the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. The Royal Veterinary College has shown interest in adopting the scheme for part of their collection.   

Barnard believed no library could be self-sufficient and strongly advocated for the sharing of knowledge and resources, supporting national and international collaboration between libraries and librarians. In our modern global society, libraries and open access (OA) publishing are recognised as key players for achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals by providing improved access to information and knowledge. The OA publication with the LSHTM Press enables the scheme to be freely available to as many libraries and organisations as possible, including those in the Global South, and ultimately promote a more sustainable future.   

Barnard, CC 2024, A classification for medical and veterinary libraries, rev. E Carpenter, LSHTM Press, London.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56920/lshtmp-1.
License: CC-BY-NC 4.0