Thank you to everyone who responded. It's reassuring when you find out something
that has been gnawing at you in your library has been an issue for others as well.
My original TARGET and a HIT are below.
-------
Our nonfiction books about the Titanic are not cataloged together. I would think
they should be under 910. I'm sure some experienced LM_NETers with more cataloging
experience than I have can shed light on why they are as they are, and whether I
ought to/can move them so they're together. They are as follows:
The Titanic, lost and found - 387.2 (Transportation)
Draw the Titanic - 743 (Drawing -- well, I can see why this is here)
Exploring the Titanic - 363.1 (Social problems and services)
The Discovery of the Titanic - 622.19 (Mining and related)
The Titanic - 363.12 (Social problems)
The Titanic Sinks! - 363.12 (Social problems)
Titanic - 910 (Travel)
Finding the Titanic - 909 (World history)
------
HIT: The general consensus is to put Titanic books together (perhaps except the
drawing book). Two people favored 363.12 and five chose 910 and one voted for
leaving the books wherever the LOC says.
Specific responses:
While the cataloging rules may dictate specific placement of books based on their
primary theme...you do have the right to ignore that and place all of a more
general topic in one place. Particularly in a small collection and a school
collection, there is a case to be made for doing so.
----------
I never understood the 363.1 classification. Is the Titanic a social problem or
service? It would be more understandable to put it with 385 (ships and boats)
which I teach when I do DDS...but to me, ALL transportation should be in the 600's.
----------
I don't have my Dewey at home with me, but I think 363.1 is disasters, including
shipwrecks. But I agree, putting something in the 300's is pretty much the same as
throwing it away because no one will ever find it there. (Yes, I do teach OPAC
use, but a lot of kids just go directly to the shelves.) I keep most of my
Titanic stuff in 910.
-----------
I use the Titanic books as an example for students as to why they MUST learn to use
the OPAC. I agree with you that it would be much easier if they were together.
Sometimes I think we do aggressive recataloging to group things in the elementary
collection to make it easier for our patrons. I wish someone would design easy
little placeholders that look like books so I could leave messages for my students
like:
You will find the top ten rivers in the 900's
More of this series is in the 362's
Don't forget to check the OPAC for fiction on this topic
-----------
In Abridged Dewey 14 (don't we all have that in our home bookshelves? [giggle])
363.1 is "public safety programs". However, it has not always been that topic.
Remember what you learned in your cataloging class. These tools are periodically
updated. The 300 class was overhauled several years ago. When these things happen,
if you don't go in and correct your old cataloging and you get in new books classed
under the new scheme, your books will no longer be shelved together because you
will have some under the old numbers and some under the new.
Cataloging is a living breathing system. It's not "one and done". Yes, it takes a
lot of time to fulfill the mandate of "like materials together," but that's what
librarians do.
------------
363.12 - is the Dewey number for disasters, Titanic, Hindenburg, other general
disaster books
620's if technology - physical makeup of boats
641.57 - I have a cookbook for the last meals on the Titanic
380's - transportation systems
Classification is an art - you must analyze the main emphasis of the book.
Unfortunately most of us take the easy way out and put all the books about the many
aspects of the Titanic in one place.
Something else to ponder? Where are your pyramid books? in 932 or 726.
-------------
I end with Shannon Walters' well-written post:
I don't think that co-locating books on our shelves is taking "the easy way out."
It takes effort to make certain that our classification choices reflect both use of
the standard tools and an understanding of our library patrons. I teach in a K-5
school, and most of my students haven't been introduced to fractions yet. This
means using a decimal-based system is difficult for successful, independent
location of resources. Within reason, I think it's reflective of your patron base
to make decisions about how your patron would search for the material. My
collection has a dozen books on the Titanic disaster, all in 910.9163 (specifically
recommended by Abridged DDC, edition 14-see DDC Use Notes under 910.4 ). I do
agree that these could go in the 363s, but for my students' stage of development,
the 300s/Social Sciences are more difficult to understand. IMHO, the Titanic with
the 900s treatment as History/Geography simply makes more sense to elementary
students. As a middl!
e schoo
l or high school librarian, you may well make other choices.
To use your examples (from Frederick Muller's collection)... Most likely,
students interested in the Titanic would enjoy reading about the last meals served
on the ship. They might not think, unless doing full-blown Titanic research, to
search the OPAC, and might never find this title on your shelves. Likewise, most
patrons searching for how-to-cook books/recipes, while finding a book with Titanic
recipes in the 641.5s an interesting curiosity, will skip over it in favor of more
traditional cookbooks. In this scenario, the main audience for this book may lose
out.
The "easy way out" is accepting whatever call number is assigned by the vendor or
recommended in the CIP information. Only the librarian, with knowledge of their
patrons and the existing collection itself, can make choices about where best to
class a resource.
That's my 2 cents... feel free to disagree with me!
Shannon Walters
____________
--
Gail Brubaker, Librarian
srvca.library@comcast.net
San Ramon Valley Christian Academy
Danville, CA - www.srvca.org
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