Singularities in the organization of private libraries of university professor

Abstract

Objective: This article seeks to identify the process of information organization in personal libraries belonging to professors at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Specifically, the aim was to describe the organizational methods employed in the collections investigated.
Methodology: This is a study with a qualitative approach of an exploratory and descriptive nature. For data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six professors of the university, which took place either in person in the libraries that were the focus of the study or remotely when the collections were in the residences. The interviews were recorded and later transcribed. The content analysis method was used to process the data.
Results: After the interviews, it was found that most participants defined subject as the principle of organization, in addition to the use of authors’ names at the time of classification, year in the ordering of works, and the use of location as a criterion. However, personal criteria in the organization stood out, such as the use of importance as a classification method, the division by continents and countries as the main class, the ordering according to the life trajectory of the professor and of the book, as well as the creation of a personal classification system.
Conclusions: In general, personal criteria stood out in the classification methods used by the professors, a fact that shows how the personal library reflects the life of its owner.