Re: [LM_NET] Dewey Decimal System eliminated in new Arizona library.

[sarah <sarah.ludwig@GMAIL.COM>]

> Someone else might say, why not put all the books on economics in one
> place, even if the specific topic is the economics of baseball, or of auto
> manufacturing, or or international trade?
>
> Someone else might say, why not put all biographies in one place, whether
> the subject of the biography is a baseball player, a writer, or a business
> executive?
>
> Someone else might say, why not put all instructional manuals (how-to
> books) in one place, whether the topic is coaching baseball, building a
> redwood deck, or designing an accounting system?

How is making these kinds of decisions any different than the kinds of
decisions being made today, under Dewey, about where a book should go?

On 5/31/07, Ken Umbach <ken@umbachconsulting.com> wrote:
> At 12:40 PM 5/31/2007 -0400, you wrote:
> >Date:    Thu, 31 May 2007 12:40:28 -0400
> >From:    sarah <sarah.ludwig@GMAIL.COM>
> >Subject: Re: Dewey Decimal System eliminated in new Arizona library.
> . . .
> >Why not put all the
> >books on baseball in one place, no matter what the *specific* topic
> >(individual players vs. how-tos vs. the economics of the game, etc.),
>
> Someone else might say, why not put all the books on economics in one
> place, even if the specific topic is the economics of baseball, or of auto
> manufacturing, or or international trade?
>
> Someone else might say, why not put all biographies in one place, whether
> the subject of the biography is a baseball player, a writer, or a business
> executive?
>
> Someone else might say, why not put all instructional manuals (how-to
> books) in one place, whether the topic is coaching baseball, building a
> redwood deck, or designing an accounting system?
>
> Interesting thought . . . but perhaps problematic, as everyone would have
> his or her own system, which is the problem that major systems like Dewey
> and Library of Congress address.  Multiple topic listings let patrons look
> up by multiple topics.  Seems reasonable.  Look up the topic of interest,
> jot down the call numbers, and find the books in their proper
> places.  Maybe some "see also" references help the patron to find some
> related books of interest that are not exactly on topic.
>
> By the way . . . a few decades ago, the California State Library switched
> from Dewey to Library of Congress. Rather than renumbering the books
> already on the shelves, the library started a new section numbered
> according to LoC.  That section of course expanded and expanded and
> expanded over the years, as the Dewey section shrank somewhat through
> weeding. The Deweys are on the lower floors (if not all in the basement
> now), but still in their own section.  The stacks are closed, so mostly it
> is the librarians and paging personnel who are affected by the layout.
>
> Ken
>
>
> 
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Ken Umbach
> Columnist, Knowledge Quest
> Policy Analyst, California Research Bureau, California State Library
> Writer, editor, researcher, consultant, www.umbachconsulting.com
> 916-733-2159 -- voice mail
> "The Pursuit of Publishing": http://www.lulu.com/content/740262
> 
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