Re: [LM_NET] Bias in Dewey

[Mary Peterson <MPeterson@CRANBROOK.EDU>]

I haven't read the archives, but isn't it just as important to make sure the 
subject headings (which are updated on a regular basis) are correct.  For example, 
in our library, our Head Librarian and cataloger have agreed (more or less) to 
classify all Native American historical material under 970.004, with Native 
American art, dance, mythology, religion, etc. in their particular categories.  
Most of our religion titles are in the 200s, but we also have them in the 800s 
(e.g., the Bible as literature) and Fiction.  The important point is that the 
subject cataloging is correct.
 
Dewey Classification may have been biased in its day, but continual updates help to 
clarify these issues.  Regular review of the collection and subject headings are 
just as important, if not more so, than the individual numbers.


 
 
 
Mary L. Peterson, MLIS
Cranbrook Campus Library
Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School
Bloomfield Hills, MI  48304
mpeterson@cranbrook.edu 

Cranbrook: more than 100 years of excellence in education, science and art

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