The Nakata-Strange Classification System

History

The Nakata-Strange Classification System is a method of arranging Illinois government documents. It is based on the Superintendent of Documents, or SuDocs classification system used by many libraries for arranging United States government documents.

The SuDocs system was created by Adelaide R. Hasse and was first implemented in the 1896 work List of publications of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1841 to June 30, 1895, inclusive. Hasse developed this system while she was an assistant librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library, then expanded upon it from 1895 to 1897 while working as the first librarian in the office of Superintendent of Documents.

A published description of this system appeared in William Leander Post’s List of Publications of the Agriculture Department 1862-1902 with Analytical Index, which was published in 1904. This description of the SuDocs system is fundamentally the same was the one used today, with letter classes signifying government agencies and following numbers indicating branches and sub-offices.

Over time, SuDocs-like systems came to be applied to state-published government documents. Arizona, for example, employs the AzDocs system, which is quite similar to the SuDocs system, as is Wyoming’s WyDocs system. California’s CalDoc system and the system in place in North Carolina bear more resemblance to the Library of Congress system. All of these systems, however, classify based on provenance, rather than subject matter.

The Nakata-Strange system was formally proposed in 1974 by Yuri Nakata and Michele Strange in Classification Scheme for Illinois State Publications. It is unclear how many Illinois libraries ever employed this system, although it appears that the University of Illinois at Chicago was the first to do so. Of the 22 state depository libraries in Illinois, 19 employ either LC or Dewey for the classification of Illinois documents. The Chicago Public Library employs a SuDoc-based system that appears to have been developed in-house. This system is not the same as the Nakata-Strange system, although it bears a superficial resemblance due its similar basis in SuDoc. As of 2019, only the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University employ the Nakata-Strange system.

What makes the Nakata-Strange classification system unique is that it, unlike other state documents classification schemes, was never adopted by the State Library (which uses Dewey Decimal classification), but was instead adopted only by depository libraries. This means that the system had no formal oversight and has developed independently at the two institutions that employ it.

At Northeastern Illinois University, the Nakata-Strange system has been kept up-to-date with a system of cards. One set of cards provides an enumeration of departments and sub-department classes, while the other set is filed by agency or agency and provides a list of series numbers. The purpose of this site is to replace that system with a searchable list of all data contained on these cards.

This site was previously hosted at the library-owed domain neiuinfo.org. This site is a copy of that previous site, and is the only one that is currently being updated.

This site is maintained by Christopher Straughn. To view the rest of his projects, return to the main site at https://www.elegantlexicon.com.

Structure

The Nakata-Strange classification system is structured much like SuDoc. Call numbers consist of a class stem denoting the agency, a number denoting the sub-agency, a serial number, a cutter, and further information separated by slashes. For more complicated call numbers, refer to the Superintendent of Documents Classification Guidelines.

For example:

Take Amtrak to the heart of Chicago

IL TD 21.2:A 528/996

Class Stems

Class stems are derived from the name of the department (or other entity) and are usually based on the first significant word. Co (Department of Conservation) is preferable to DC, as most departments begin with the word Department. Exceptions include DNR (Department of Natural Resources). Because this department is often referred to as the “DNR” is everyday speech, this exception makes sense. Most class stems have already been established.

Unlike SuDocs, Nakata-Strange numbers may employ both uppercase and lowercase letters. Lowercase letters are used when the class stem is based on an abbreviated form of the first significant word (Ae for Aeronautics, In for Insurance, etc.) All uppercase letters are used for acronyms or initialisms (HR for Human Rights, IPA for Illinois Power Agency).

If a department has undergone a significant name changes (e.g. Department of Conservation to Department of Natural Resources), that justifies the creation of a new class stem.

Ideally, only code departments, the office of the governor, the judiciary, the general assembly, and independent agencies should receive class stems. Any other body should be assigned a sub-class under Y 3 or Y 4, as described below. This convention has not been consistently followed, in part because it is difficult to determine where an agency falls within the structure of Illinois state government. Ballotpedia is a good source for the current structure of Illinois government, and the Illinois Blue Book can provide historical perspective on agencies and their sub-structures.

Sub-agencies

Sub-agencies, or subordinate offices, are designated by integers. The digit “1” designates the main office. Successive integers are employed to indicate subordinate offices, and are assigned arbitrarily to these offices based upon when new publications are received.

New sub-agency numbers should be employed when a new office is created or when offices merge or split. If an office changes its name, but retains the same basic duties (and continues to issue the same publications), there is no need to create a new sub-agency number. For example, Co 6. refers to the following three divisions of the Department of Conservation:

• Division of Parks and Memorials (?-1976)
• Historic Sites Division (1976?-1985?)
• Division of Land Management (1985?-1995)

These three divisions perform the same basic duties (management of state parks and other public properties), so a new number was unnecessary.

These numbers are sorted as though they were integers, not as decimals. The following sort order therefore applies:

• Co 1.
• Co 2.
• Co 12.
• Co 25.

Serial Numbers

Serial numbers, or category classes, follow the class stem. Unless otherwise indicated, the following serial numbers are standard:

• .1: Annual Reports
• .2: General publications (unnumbered publications of a miscellaneous nature)
• .3: Bulletins
• .4: Circulars
• .5: Laws (administered by the agency and published by it)
• .6: Regulations, rules and instructions
• .7: Releases
• .8: Handbooks, manuals, guides

Most of an agency's publications will fall under .2 (General publications).

Further classes may be created to deal with serials or frequent publication types. Varying agencies publish materials that do not fall into the above categories, and so may repurpose these numbers to designate frequent publications.

These numbers are sorted as integers. For example, Co 6.2 shelves before Co 6.12.

Occasionally an agency may publish more than one type of item that could fall into a category class. For example, an agency may separately publish both a biennial and an annual report. In that case, a slash may be added after the serial number with yet another number (starting with 2). For example:

Ag 1.1 - Annual report

Ag 1.1/2 - Biennial report

Cutters

Cutters are derived from the first significant word in the title. Under SuDocs rules, monographic cutters consist of two letters followed by however many numbers are necessary (ideally 2 or 3), while serial cutters consist of one letter followed by 2 or 3 numbers. This rule is not consistently followed in the Nakata-Strange system, but it may be wise to follow in the future to ensure consistency with SuDocs.

Nakata-Strange cutters are not identical to those used in the Library of Congress Classification. Rather, they follow the earlier Cutter-Sanborn author tables. An online version of these tables can be found at http://www.unforbi.com.ar/cutteren/.

Cutters may also be followed by slash numbers if need be. For example, pamphlets on the Effigy tumuli sculptures at Buffalo Rock State Park should logically shelve with pamphlets about Buffalo Rock State Park. To make this possible, we cutter as follows:

B 929 - Buffalo Rock State Park (pamphlets)

B 929/2 - Effigy Tumuli Sculptures at Buffalo Rock State Park (pamphlets)

We follow SuDocs in applying two-part cutters for two-part geographic names with common first words (Fort, Saint, Mount, etc.). For example, Fort Chartres State Park is cuttered as F 77 C.

Note that there is no space or number after the “C”. If, for example, there were a Fort Columbus State Park, it would be cuttered as F 77 C/2 to distinguish it from Fort Chartres.

Cutters letters are sorted alphabetically, while numbers are sorted as though they were decimals:

• A 528
• A 5281
• A 53
• A 6
• AD 1
• AD 12
• F 77
• F 77 C
• F 78
• F 8

Dates

Dates follow the SuDocs system. For dates before 2000, only the last three digits of the date are employed (989 for 1989, 962 for 1962). For dates of 2000 and after, the full four-digit date is employed. Publications spanning multiple years employ a dash between dates (989-991 for 1989 to 1991, 2000-2001 for 2000 to 2001).

Dates are only necessary if there are multiple publications on the same topic that employ the same cutter or if a publication is issued on a regular basis (annual reports, etc.).

Y Classes

Classes Y 3 and Y 4 are special classes that refer to boards, committees, and commissions that are not full branches of government, not code departments, and not completely independent state agencies.

Y 3 classes are non-legislative boards and committees, that is, no member of these agencies comes from the legislative branch of government. These are typically boards created by the governor with members appointed by the governor. For example, the Illinois Board of Examiners (Y 3.Ex 15), consists of 11 members who are appointed by the governor.

Y 4 classes are legislative boards, committees, and commissions. These organizations are typically congressional committees, but may also be organizations where at least one member is also an elected representative from the legislative branch. For example, Y 4.Et 84/2 designates the Senate Ethics Commission, which consists of members of the Illinois Senate.

The letter-number combinations for Y 3 and Y 4 committees consist of one or two letters followed by cutter numbers. Note that these cutter numbers are taken from the Sanborn-Cutter tables, and not from the current Library of Congress cutter tables. Regardless of which system is used, the order of these cutters should parallel the alphabetical order of the words that they are derived from. If two or more committee stems are formed from the same word, then a slash can be used to distinguish them (e.g. Energy: En 56, En 56/2, En 56/3, etc.

These letter-number combinations should be derived from the first significant word in the name of the board or commission, i.e. not words like “Illinois”, “House”, “Board”, “Commission".

A list of current committees is available through Ballotpedia.

Codes for Y Classes are formed like cutters and employ the first letter(s) of significant words from the name of the committee. Sub-classes beginning with vowels are ideally formed with the first two letters, but this practice has not been consistently followed.

These classes patterns somewhat differently to other classes. Serial numbers/category classes are preceded by colons rather than periods. Otherwise, these classes are structured and sorted in much the same way as any other class.

The following example breaks down the structure of a Y call number:

Energy conservation : recommendations for Illinois : a report to the Technical Committee of the Illinois Energy Resources Commission

IL Y 4.En 56/2:11/E 56

Spacing

Generally speaking, the only time a space appears in a Nakata-Strange call number is between a letter and a number. This affects mostly class stems and cutters, which always require spaces following letters.

Shelf Order

As in the SuDocs system, all letters are shelved alphabetically, with two or more letters shelved after instances of the single letter.

All numbers are treated as integers or whole numbers, except for cutter numbers. Cutters are shelved as decimals.

After the colon, the following sort order is applied, just as in the SuDocs system:

1. Date
2. Letters
3. Number
4. Word

The following is an example of correct sort order:

• T 1.1:2002
• T 1.2:V 365
• T 1.2:26
• TD 1.1:986
• TD 1.1:987
• TD 1.32/2:09-037
• TD 1.32/2:09-037 CDROM
• TD 3.2:A 656/989
• TD 12.2:V 112

Departments & Agencies

Note that not all entities listed here are actual departments or agencies. G, for example, is the class stem for the Governor of Illinois. Select one of the below entities to see sub-agencies and other organizational elements as they are represented in the Nakata-Strange system.

About this Project

The purpose of this site is to provide information about the Nakata-Strange classification system as it has been applied at Northeastern Illinois University. By providing this information, we hope to achieve the following goals:

• To document and preserve a unique classification system
• To provide an easily accessible reference for both librarians and patrons
• To gain insight into the structure of Illinois government
• To document the print publications of the State of Illinois

How was this done?

The main documentation for the NEIU implementation of the Nakata-Strange system was a drawer full of hundreds of cards. My original intent was to transcribe these into a database. However, this was bound to take a lot of time - time that could be better spent on other tasks.

Instead, I decided to pull call number data from Alma, our ILS. This ensured that our database could link to bibliographic information and also meant that transcribing most of the cards would not be necessary. What follows is a description of the steps I took to organize this data:

1. Enter data about the departments. This was taken from Nakata & Strange's publication and from a series of pink cards.
2. Enter data about subagencies, commissions, etc. This was also taken from Nakata & Strange's publication and from a series of pink cards.
3. Pull data from Alma and clean it up:
1. Extract the data using a query from Alma Analytics. This data included title, OCLC number, MMS ID, and, of course, call number
2. Strip out prefixes and other superfluous information. In our case, all Illinois publications were prefixed with "DOC. IL"
3. Break down the call numbers for consistency and so they could be correctly sorted. This was done in Excel, but could have been done using any number of methods
4. Upload the spreadsheet with the final, normalized data to our SQL server so that it could link to the appropriate agency.
4. Sort out the design of the final webpage, with used PHP to extract the SQL data into HTML format.
5. Compare data from the serial- and title-level cards (our green cards) with the webpage, adding and correcting data as necessary.

By extracting data from our ILS, we saved a considerable amount of typing and time. Rather than enter every single title, we simply ensured that they were present in our dataset, and added any titles that were absent.

All data has been pulled from the database into the file below: agencies and subagencies, plus a listing of all titles grouped by agency. Note that this file loads very slowly:

Data Extract

A pdf copy of this data, plus all information from the history and structure tabs, is in the file below.

PDF - 2.62 MB

For information about the 2021 ALA poster presentation on this project: Documenting and Preserving a Call Number System: Lessons Learned.

For information about the July 22, 2021 presentation at Emporia State: Documenting a Call Number System: Challenges and Lessons Learned.