Previous by Date | Next by Date | Date Index
Previous by Thread | Next by Thread
| Thread Index
| LM_NET
Archive
| |
Colleagues, There was an LM_NET discussion last June (2007) regarding several problems with Dewey, including religious discrimination. It is interesting to read the Wikipedia article about Melvil Dewey. Here's a quote: "While remembered for his Dewey Decimal System, Dewey's personal views would be considered racist and sexist today. Even in his own day, his career as a public servant, as New York State Librarian, was negatively affected by the anti-Semitic policies of the Lake Placid Club (Wiegand 1996:280; Garrison 1983:42); his role in the ALA was curtailed by his overly familiar attention to women (Wiegand 1996:340)." (Verified by other sources including the ones cited on Wikipedia...) If we agree that ALL texts have bias based on the values of their authors, then Dewey's classification system necessarily reflects his values. To review the June discussion, you can search the LM_NET Archives for: To Dewey or Not to Dewey. The following is a posting I contributed at that time. (Learning from Madeleine Zember's post, I should amend #2 to read "Christian" rather than "Judeo-Christian.") At the risk of being redundant: 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. Best, Judi Judi Moreillon, M.L.S., Ph.D. Literacies and Libraries Consultant Author: Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact http://storytrail.com info@storytrail.com To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU Subject: [LM_NET] To Dewey or Not to Dewey From: Judi Moreillon;storypower@THERIVER.COM; Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2007 08:59:55 -0500 Reply-To: storypower@theriver.com Sender: School Library Media & Network Communications;LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU; 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 -----Original Message----- From: M S [mailto:drjesons@GMAIL.COM] Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 12:32 AM Subject: Bias in Dewey Hello I read with interest Debbie Reese's comments about the bias in Dewey/LC shelving I agree that there is bias in the Dewey system toward certain groups. My question is- Did anyone ever noticed the bias toward biblical figures? In many cases, King David, Samuel, Sarah, Rachel, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Debra, etc... are treated as biblical figures (subject headings of books about them) not Jewish leaders and so are all the Old Testament stories (unless the book title specifies Jewish stories) If one reads about any figure from Greek Mythology, it would say so "Greek Mythology" or Greek diety. If one reads folktales, it would say "African folktale", "Chinese folktale" etc ...not so for the Old Testament which is early Jewish history. A picture book titled *Exodus, *would not have with in its subject heading anything to do with Judaism or with the holiday of Passover (which is based on the story in Exodus) For centuries the Bible (Old Testament) was purposely not treated as a Jewish book. It is the same with Dewey, not puposely but still the same. In my foundation course in library science, a student asked in which language the bible was written, I was amazed to hear students say (NYC) Greek, Latin, and no one except me said Hebrew. How sad ! Madeleine Zember Marshall School Hempstead NY drjesons@gmail.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://lm-net.info/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.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://lm-net.info/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------