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Why not? The public libraries shelve them in alpha order. Why not just haul them out and put them in a circulating reference section, along with your old encyclopedias? You probably need a new shelf or two in your 900's area anyway. Purists may disagree, but isn't the whole point of librarianship to make information access EASIER? Torpedo those rules that aren't helpful, full speed ahead! My lib also does not have a catalog (!) but will be fully automated by next fall. What drove me nuts was that some state info was in 917.XXX and then some was in 97X.XXX, so I moved ALL the state stuff to the 970's. I did the same with country info. So books on Japan on not in 915.2 and 952, they are all in 952. It's soooo much easier now. Dear Sylvia- You have described the problem well. I think your idea is a good one, and I think I'm going to do it too! It's YOUR users who must be served by your classification and arrangement to books! Sounds like a great idea to me! It will help the kids practice ABC order, too! Sylvia, WHY NOT??? Part of our purpose is to instill a life-long learning attitude in the students. Positive library experiences can only help this - and positive includes being able to find what you're looking for! They will also see the librarian (you) as someone who is willing to help them. They will carry this with them, and see all librarians as helpful. I can't tell you how many college students I have who have had really awful experiences with a librarian at some point; they are reluctant library users, convinced that the librarian's only duties are to "Shush" people and yell at them. I talk to all of them, apologize for the nameless librarian who taught them this, explain that we do things differently, and hope I get through to at least some of them! Remember, part of the beauty of cataloging is being able to arrange things in whatever manner works best for your library! No one ever said that everyone HAD to adhere to the CIP written by LC! I say - GO FOR IT!!! Dear Sylvia, Your unorthodox solution sounds similar to one we use. I have filed our state books by 917.3 state for example, 917.3 ME for a book about Maine. Books about individual states are now filed by state in alphabetical order. These are housed in a separate book shelf clearly marked state books. Unfortunately I realized too late that perhaps I should NOT have used the Post Office's abbreviations for the states because Maine comes before Maryland when the state name is spelled out, but when abbreviated Maryland (MD) comes before Maine (ME). This invariably confuses the shelvers the first time they run across this situation. This arrangement, though flawed, works better than dealing with all those numbers and gets the right book into the student's hands speedily. I do keep books about United States regions in the official Dewey location. Part 5 is coming! Hang in there! Sylvia Adair, Library Media Specialist Lomira, Wisconsin adair@execpc.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= To quit LM_NET (or set NOMAIL or DIGEST), Send an email message to listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST * NOTE: Please allow time for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-= Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 06:10:03 -0600 From: Sylvia Adair <adair@EXECPC.COM> Subject: HIT:State books Pt. 3 Still more great comments on alphabetizing the state books. Hello Sylvia,Your message was very intersting to me. I have been a Media Specialist for a long time and have always put state books in alphabetical order. We have several different sets from various publishers and I keep the set together and alphabetize them with each set. We also put these state books on separate shelves at the end of the 900s. As our student numbers increased and job description evolved to include many more duties, I have had to find ways to simplify what we do. Try rearranging your state books this way, I think both you and students will find that it is easier to shelve and to locate. Good luck. I think if you just use 917 and leave off the decimal points (heresy o heresy) then alphabetical is perfectly logical. I guess the purists would insist that they go by author then, but it that series by the same authors? Anyway, I wouldn't sweat it--do what works! Enjoy As far as shelving goes, whatever works for you to get through the assignment. A spine label suggestion - We put the longer Dewey #'s labels on vertically rather than horizontally where you can't see the whole #. That way you can see the whole # & 3 letters of author's name. As I recall, it works with books like the Sea to Shining Sea series...really skinny books (ie paperbacks), nothing works anyway! It makes shelving easier (don't have to wrap your head around each spine...just tilt a little to the right...looks neater also... I hope that you didn't get too many negative remarks from the "purists"! :-) Dear Sylvia, I'll be interested in the responses you receive, because I too have decided to shelve a set of books on the 50 states together, rather than in Dewey order. It makes it SOOO much easier and quicker for the students to find them! I just say, they're arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the state, right HERE, on this shelf! When I do inventory at the end of the year, I do reshelve in correct order, however. I am in a small library, which perhaps makes doing such arranging easier. Other books that have their special shelves are extra tall books that can't stand upright if placed in their proper order throughout the collection, and the current Mark Twain Award Nominees, which our students want shelved together, so they can decide which one to read next Sylvia, my state books were filed together, as one set, in alphabetical order when I arrived 11 years ago. I haven't changed that. What I did do was put the original Dewey number on an ordinary white spine label, then below it on day-glo orange I put the "set" Dewey number. My parent volunteers know that books with an orange label are going to be filed differently than the other books. I use plain orange strips below the spine label for four other series that are filed in a sets on a free standing bookcase: Hardy Boys, Zane Grey, and Choose Your Adventures, and Star Trek. Sylvia, Most of the nonfic in my library is in dewey order But there are 2 sets of states books plus the biographies (that should be 921) that are marked 92 and shelved at the end of the 900s. The states books are in alphabetical order. The states books were that way when I got here and I may leeave them that away for a few more years. I am trying to sneak the 921 biographies in next to the 920s because I think that is where they belong but they need to be recataloged and I don't have time. A previous librarian changed them from Bs had them all done as 92 and shelved them numerically correct, if you understand me. It drives me bats, but maybe it is because I have always worked with the biographies as 920 and 921 or under the subject.This probably doesn't help a bit. I guess what I am saying is that if it makes sense to you and your students do it. Still not done! Watch for Part 4! Sylvia Adair, Library Media Specialist Lomira, Wisconsin adair@execpc.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= To quit LM_NET (or set NOMAIL or DIGEST), Send an email message to listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST * NOTE: Please allow time for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=