Next generation catalogs for libraries <NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu> wrote on
05/31/2007 04:13:35 PM:
> I'm interested in how this works out, too. I am assuming this is a
> small branch of the library. Our cookbook section, for one example)
> takes up an awful lot of real estate - I would hate to be looking
> for one particular book without a good identifier. I am very
> curious about how shelving and paging will work. It's great for
> browsing, but it seems like it will cause difficulties with getting
> the one book you are actually looking for. Still, if the branch is
> small enough that their sections aren't any bigger than those at
> Borders, it may work well for them.
My first thought when I read that (about a public library abandoning
formal classification for a bookstore arrangement) is that it will be a
disaster for them. That's not because I'm in love with Dewey. That's
because when I go to Borders or Barnes & Noble looking for anything in
particular, I often have trouble finding it. (Although the last time I had
a big problem, it's because someone told me the wrong title and I had no
idea who wrote it.) So I hunt for a clerk--not necessarily easy to find,
either--and s/he looks it up in the computer. Usually that's good enough
for the clerk to find the item. But a couple of times it hasn't been. Oh
well, maybe that library has discovered a way to get people to ask the
librarian questions.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
David Guion
Music Cataloger
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Jackson Library
320 College Ave.
Greensboro, NC 27412
(336) 334-5781
dmguion_at_uncg.edu
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Received on Fri Jun 01 2007 - 06:43:13 EDT