I agree with Ken about the useful terminals in Borders stores. They also
allow users to search individual store inventories online, which is
enormously helpful. If they don't have what I'm looking for, I don't
bother going. "We can order it for you." Right, thanks, I can do that
for myself. It's been many years since I set foot in a Barnes & Noble
for exactly this reason.
And as Ken says, shelf labels are very useful finding aids, too. Most
libraries I patronize use them to some extent. Nothing prevents
libraries from doing this in the existing set-up.
Where I think bookstores fail is precisely in the absence of any
underlying formal system. If it's not in "Mystery" and it's not in "True
Crime" or "Sociology", where could it be? How many times have we
followed clerks around bookstores, listening to "Hmmm...It says it's
supposed to be here. Maybe it's somewhere else. Let me check in the
back"? This happens in libraries, too, but much, much less frequently
(in my experience anyway) because pages (or volunteers or subs)
occasionally read the shelves and put things back where they belong.
That's the nut: In a library, there is some place where everything
belongs. Precisely where this will be is an arbitrary decision, but
adopting a generally accepted scheme like DDC ensures it is less
arbitrary than it might otherwise be. There is a place for aimless
wandering through books and I honor that place with sincere reverence.
But it's not where I want to go if I already know what I want.
In the end, the point is findability. Even the best bookstores I have
encountered (Powell's in Seattle, Strand in New York, Kramerbooks and
Politics&Prose in DC) do not serve this end with near the efficiency of
the worst libraries I have encountered (e-mail me off list if you want
to know ;-)).
/************************************************/
/* Bob Hassett, Head Librarian */
/* Luther Jackson Middle School */
/* 3020 Gallows Road */
/* Falls Church, Virginia 22042 */
/* (703) 204-8133 */
/* Bob.Hassett@fcps.edu */
/************************************************/
See you in the Library!
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Ken Umbach
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 12:16 PM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: GEN: Finding books in bookstores (was: Re: Dewey Decimal . . .)
Interesting discussion of the DDC issue. Very interesting.
But to get to my quick point: Borders has an in-store terminal that lets
patrons look up books and that informs them of the section of the store
and the exact shelf on which a book is shelved, if it is in stock. Those
who need further help can get it from a store clerk. Barnes & Noble
(judging from my local store) does not have customer-accessible
terminals, but has helpful customer-service clerks who look up books on
request and walk the customer right to the book, pull it off the shelf,
and hand it over.
Independent bookstores (in my experience) have staff who know their
stock and likewise can take a customer right to the book (not unlike a
well informed librarian).
And of course, if your interest is a topic rather than just a specific
title, browsing is easy by topic. The bigger the store, the more
breakdown by subtopics, noted by shelf labels. I am not at all sure
that is a problem. (Libraries have a different set of needs. I am
incredulous that a library of any size could manage without a proper
classification system, whether Dewey or Library of Congress.)
That is by way of comment on:
>In any case, why are we so enamored of bookstore classification
schemes?
>Bookstores are not set up to help us find what we're looking for.
Regards,
Ken
------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
Kenneth W. Umbach, Ph.D.
Writing and research services
6966 Sunrise Blvd., #263, Citrus Heights, CA 95610 (mailing address)
916-733-2159 (this is voice mail, NOT a fax number)
www.umbachconsulting.com ken@umbachconsulting.com "The Pursuit of
Publishing": http://www.lulu.com/content/740262
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