The Practical Economics and accomplishments of the reclassification project at James E Shepard Library , North Carolina Central University

The basic purpose of this research was to investigate the accumulated cost of Shepard Library's reclassification of its pre- 1979 library material from Dewey to Library of Congress and also find out what had been accomplished in terms of volumes reclassified since the project took-off. Data pertaining to the project was obtained from institutional records and interviews with the Library Director, Head Cataloger and Personnel Officer at NCCU. Analysis of the data revealed that the automated environment made the project more feasible than would have been otherwise. Sixty-nine thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine volumes were reclassified at an accumulated direct cost of about $585,100 in personnel, equipment and supplies expenses and OCLC charges. Nearly 136,000 volumes remained to be reclassified after the first seven years of activity.