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Dear Colleagues, Yesterday, I took a road trip with a teacher-librarian colleague. We talked about the new Arizona Dewey-less library. After our conversation, I thought more about two Dewey problems that have been nagging me for years. These issues make me wonder if it wouldn't be so bad to let the Dewey system of classification die - a natural or unnatural - death. To be sure, I am a (real) librarian. I do believe that information must be organized to be accessible. However, my questions are about Dewey's classifications. Here goes: 1. There is a proliferation of informational books for children than the Library of Congress classifies as fiction. This is frustrating when we explain the Dewey system to young students. Although it is shelved with fiction, there is no way that Sandra Markle and Alan Marks' book A Mother's Journey is a "made-up" story. This "story" is scientific facts about Emperor penguins told in a narrative format. These penguins are not in any way anthropomorphized. Is this book classified as fiction because the illustrations are paintings rather than photographs? The proliferation of multigenre books adds to the dilemma of accurately classifying books. Joyce Sidman and Becky Prange's book Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems is clearly poetry, but the addition of factual information about the topic or theme of each poem complicates the waters. You may or may not know that publishers have NO input into the classification of their books. The Library of Congress assigns the numbers, and there is NO debate. 2. The Judeo-Christian bias of Dewey has always bothered me. Creation and other spiritual stories by American Indians and other people are found in the 398.2 folklore section while Judeo-Christian stories are classified in religion when they are found in the non-fiction section of the library. Perhaps, savvy librarians will develop a new classification system that better represents the books and other resources and the sensibilities of 21st-century society and library collections. What do you think? Best, Judi Judi Moreillon, M.L.S., Ph.D. Literacies and Libraries Consultant Author: <http://tinyurl.com/yzvy5g> Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact <http://storytrail.com/> http://storytrail.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------