[Publib] Re: Good-bye to Dewey

[MWilliams at kearneygov.org]

>As librarians, we're attached to DDC. We want our patrons to learn it.>
>They come into our libraries and we expect them to learn our way of
>ordering things. Frankly, I think that makes us assholes.

Of course they don't care.  But that doesn't mean it doesn't work.  We 
don't expect our customers to learn dewey, we just expect them to be able 
to count.  They look up the book, or we look up the book.  The number is 
given and you go to the spot.  It doesn't require in-depth knowledge of 
Dewey, just an ability to numerize.  I'm not married to DDC, but there's 
not much out there better.  What really helps is signage of the subject 
areas that let's people know what types of books are there.

As for bookstores, I used to work in one and it sucked.  The public could 
not find what they needed and the staff was, for the most part, not as 
knowledgeable as the average librarian.  Books were a product, period. The 
could have just as easily been selling shoes.


Matthew R. Williams
Library Director 
Kearney Public Library
2020 1st Ave.
Kearney, NE 68847
(308) 233-3280
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