[Publib] Dewey Decimal Classification

[Alana Abbott]

Mary,
This may be one of those cases of system familiarity. As someone who worked
at a big box (whose initials might be B&N *g*) for five years, I find titles
that I'm looking for a large percentage of the time. (I'd hazard to put an
exact number on it.) The only real advantage I have in finding things at my
library is that I (and our patrons) have access to the computer catalog that
lets us know if we actually *own* the book we're looking for. Since a
portion of our patrons are disinclined to use the computer catalog to look
books up for themselves, they come to ask the librarians for help--the same
scenario you're describing at the bookstore.

In short, knowing the system is what allows you to get to the location where
you should find the books--and having someone help you who knows their
system and provides you with excellent customer service is pretty important
in either the bookstore or the library.

-Alana (who learned LC as a college library worker, B&N's system as a young
professional, and returned to DDC as a reference assistant)



On Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 6:24 PM, Mary Soucie
<mjsoucie at wilmingtonlibrary.org>wrote:

> Judith,
> I so agree with you about the chasing after the staff member. The last time
> I went to a big box bookstore (whose initials might be B&N) looking for
> specific titles, I had to ask for help. After trotting me around to many
> different locations, the staff member couldn't find one of the titles. So
> back to the computer we went. There were many in stock but where were they?
> Finally, I found them with no help from the staff member, stacked under a
> table displaying several of the same type of books. I haven't gone to a
> bookstore since looking for a specific book.
>

-- 
Alana Joli Abbott, Freelance Writer and Editor (
http://www.virgilandbeatrice.com)
Author of "Nomi's Wish" (
http://coyotewildmag.com/2008/august/abbott_nomis_wish.html), featured in
Coyote Wild Magazine
Contributor to Serenity Adventures: http://tinyurl.com/serenity-adventures
Contributor to Ransom: The Anthology: http://tinyurl.com/ransombook
--
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