Last summer we rearranged both the current issues (2700 titles) and the bound
volumes (85,000 approx.) of our periodicals collection from title to LC class.
 order. This was done after a major addition to our existing buliding in which
 two wings were added on, the entire contents of the library moved into the
wings, the existing building renovated, and the contents moved again. It was
 a now or never classify question. Because space is still at a premium and
title changes shelve together when classified which saves space, the powers
that be said go. We created a database on an IBM PS2 Model 70 with 2 megabytes
of memory (should have had 4) and a 60 megabyte hard drive. We used Microsoft
Excel with Microsoft Windows 386. We used the database function of the soft-
ware for ease of sort on many fields. We entered all the titles, the call nos.,
 a code for linked or not (indicating title changes), growth rate, live or dead
,  and current size in shelves. We had all the data except call no. because we
had collected it in order to squish the collection into the wings while the
middle was renovated. We had some converting to do, and had to hire some whiz-
bang typists but mostly the worst had been collected.  What the database did
 was to rearrange the bound periodical collection, sorting it out by call no.
and assigning  locations based on the total number of shelves we would have
in the end. We were able to figure out just how many years of growth we could
leave for live titles, padding the subject areas in which we might collect if
we ever had any new money. After the initial sort and calculation we divided
the database and the floor (only periodicals on 4th) into quadrants, prettying
up the four edges manually (so no title was split between quadrants). We were
then able to begin moving from and into 4 places at once. We had empty shelving
 to start. By the time we had to move onto ranges that were full in the
beginning, they  were partially empty. But we still had to shift and reshift.
There is a lot more to this story which I would be happy to share upon request,
 and I realize I am rambling on...  but the database was truly a shortcut that
we could not have done without.

Alexis Salisz, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309
(313)370-2484