[LM_NET] Doing without Dewey?

[Anne Oelke <anne@OELKE.COM>]

I've been uneasy about doing away with Dewey since the first articles 
appeared about this.  I don't for a moment believe that Dewey or LC 
is the only way.  However, I do think that there needs to be 
organization--and I'm sure all of you agree with that.  Elizabeth 
Dumas brought up some very good points.  I also do LOTS of subject 
labeling, especially in the elementary library.  It does work very 
well in helping students find things they want in the non fiction 
sections.  I use pictures along with Dewey numbers, and my students 
seem to be pleased with it.  After reading Elizabeth's post, I do 
think I need to do something similar in the Middle/High School 
library.  I'm not sure that substituting BSIG for Dewey has any 
advantage.  The advantage to Dewey and to LC is that there are 
logical numerical and alphabetical progressions.  Thus if you know 
what you are looking for (by number etc) then no matter where you 
enter the shelving area, you can easily figure out which way to go 
and know if you need to take big leaps through the shelves or tiny 
steps.  I see a similarity in this to using an index in a book as 
opposed to a table of contents.

I also think that Elizabeth is absolutely correct in reassigning the 
DDC numbers for some books.  We all need to make our collections 
responsive to our patrons.  Cataloging and classification is an art, 
not an exact science.  What I do like is that any library with DDC 
will allow me to find the quilting books near the other craft books 
at 746.  And I know that if I'm at the science books in the 500's I 
need to go forward, and if I'm in the 900's of history, I need to 
back up.  At a book store I never have a clue where these sections 
are in relation to one another.  It drives me nuts.

Anne C. Oelke  Library Media Specialist
Cambria-Friesland School District
Cambria, WI. US  53923
mailto:anne@oelke.com
http://www.cf.k12.wi.us/library/library.htm  

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