Improving Readability and Tracking of LC Classification Number Updates with Python
Every month, the Library of Congress releases changes and additions to LC classification numbers published to classweb.org/approved/. Most recently, the Library of Congress has begun releasing changed classification patterns for outdated and/or harmful racial and ethnic group terms. NCSU Libraries has an interest in tracking and implementing these changes locally. We explored how to process these monthly lists using Python to filter the monthly results into a more readable spreadsheet for us to review and implement changes as they appear. Using regular expressions, HTTP requests, and Pandas, we successfully created a script that exports these lists into a multi-tab spreadsheet for users to track and execute all applicable changes in a more readable, easy to use format.