Today LIS News asked “Do we Dewey?”, which was originally from a New York Times blog called Papercuts.
It’s a small thing, I know. And I still love libraries. But isn’t it time to replace Dewey with something more usefully up to date?
Papercuts blogger Gregory Cowels wonders if something like the bookstore model would be more effective. That sort of idea isn’t new. Remember Maricopa County Library District’s bold move to drop Dewey last year? It caused quite a stir.
Of course, that’s not feasible for every collection, nor is it the best answer for helping the greastest number of patrons. Naturally I’m biased- I work in a small academic library and love Library of Congress call numbers. (In fact, when I first came to college LCCN made sense like Dewey never did.) It’s odd because a couple of student employees were just randomly talking about using the bookstore method of classification and how that seems like a bad idea.
“How would you find a specific book you’re looking for?”
“You couldn’t, but shelving would be easier.”
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