[Publib] RE: Good-bye to Dewey

[Iris Jones]

Another "when I was a cataloger comment" -- (I was one for 25 years, and
oddly enough worked with Tony one summer). I agree with him it would be good
to have feedback after a year to see how this experiment worked or didn't
work.


I've seen two books on identical topics given two different Dewey numbers by
LC because they were cataloged by different people on different days, so I
don't think their numbers are "carved in stone." We made it cataloging
policy to pick one of those multiple numbers (there are at least 4 Dewey
numbers for courtship, for example) and use it to the exclusion of the other
options. Yes, that meant we didn't blindly take the number LC assigned and
we had to change some cataloging, and Horrors! we weren't the same as
everybody else! but it did mean all of our books were in one place for our
patrons.

Iris I. Jones
Library Consultant
Southeast Kansas Library System
218 E. Madison
Iola, KS 66749
(620) 365-5136
(800) 279-3219
Fax (620) 365-5137
ijones at sekls.org

 -----Original Message-----
From: TNew at ci.bedford.tx.us [mailto:TNew at ci.bedford.tx.us]
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 12:03 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] RE: Good-bye to Dewey




  I've been following this topic with interest and while I think that
tossing Dewey out the door is a bit over the top, I do think that there are
some things that just don't make sense to the general public.

  Here are some examples:

  The standardized exam study guides are divided by subject.  Patrons expect
them to be all in one place and see no distinciton between the GRE, GED,
ACT, the Civil Cervice Exams, the TOEFL, the THEA, or, my personal favorite,
the exam to become a Railroad Engineer (the folks that drive trains, not the
ones that build them.)  CLEP tests

  Information on becoming a citizen is split into two chunks in the 300s.

  And the one that bugs me the most.....

  Bbooks on repairing computers are in the 600's and the books on software
are in the 000s?  Try explaining that one to the patron who comes in and
says "Where are your computer books?"  And we won't even discuss the digital
photography section in the 700s.

  So, in conclusion, for the small and mid-sized public library there are
some serious flaws in Dewey which really confuse the public, and at times
librarians :-).

  It will be interesting to see the library's report that is experimenting.
Hopefully someone on the editorial staff of Public Libraries or Library
Journal will report on the library after a year has gone by and they have a
chance to see how it has been working.

  Tony New
  Information Resources Librarian
  Bedford Public Library, Bedford Texas


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