Re: [LM_NET] Dewey bias

[Teresa Aziz <taziz@QURANICACADEMY.ORG>]

I'm a long-time cataloger but new as a school librarian.  I have a few
points to add to the discussion.

(1)    Melvil Dewey first devised his system while working at Amherst
and Columbia.  The bias in Dewey reflects the state of American
scholarship of the 19th Century and the typical university collection of
the time.  Naturally, this was Eurocentric.  Remember, this was before
Margaret Mead, James Baldwin, and the development of nation-states in
Africa and Asia.  Simply put, there were no books in those libraries on
these topics to be given class numbers.  Dewey didn't even set aside
numbers in American history to cover future centuries.  Rather the whole
20th century and onward has to be classed in 973.9.

(2)    DDC has never classed the religious lore of non-Western cultures
as folklore.  The manual explains that if such lore is "presented in
terms of cultural entertainment or as representative of . . . literary
expression of a society", then use 398.2.  Use numbers in 200 for such
works "presented from a . . . theological point of view or presented as
an embodiment of the religion of a people. . . [or] that deals with the
most basic beliefs of people and with religious beliefs and practices."
Most juvenile works are presented as entertainment and folklore.  If we
are unhappy with this, we need to take this up with the publishers.

(3)    The most recent DDC revision has greatly expanded the numbers in
200 and moved the 291 group into 201-209.  Much more detail has been
provided for non-Christian religions.   Short of scrapping the whole 200
scheme and starting fresh, this represents a great improvement.

(4)    DDC has always provided options for libraries with special focus
to use an alternative scheme.  I have just started as the librarian of
an Islamic school and the mosque it is housed in.  Since I don't want
everything in our collection to start with 297, I am experimenting with
some of the alternative schemes.  I would like to share ideas with
librarians in similar circumstances, such as Jewish schools and
synagogues, to find what works best for them.

 

Thanks

 

Teresa Aziz

Librarian

IANT Quranic Academy

Richardson TX

taziz@quranicacademy.org


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