Karen,
Very good points.
Karen Coyle wrote:
"The problem I see with Dewey as we use it
today is it is so very linear/one-dimensional that I think many persons
standing before a shelf that is classified in DDC may fail to see the
connections."
and
"I guess I'm saying that if you don't know what the numbers mean
you can still find a book but you can't really understand why it's on
the shelf it is on. And, yes, there might be some similar books near it,
but similar HOW? Couldn't we do a better job of revealing the
information in the classification system?"
____________________________
Certainly, virtual tools which increase resource findability (because one is not limited by physical space) should be utilized as much as possible. Regarding the physical limitations of Dewy or LCC, of course, the same thing could be said about Barnes and Noble's stores or anywhere physical :) As for people not understanding how books are similar by Dewey (or LC) numbers (and hence why one book is placed next to another in the system, which again occurs because we must put the item in one "best" place due to phsycial arrangements) that is a good point, and it would be great if that could be made more transparent online for those who were curious about searching in that way.
________________________________
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries on behalf of Karen Coyle
Sent: Thu 5/31/2007 4:32 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Prof. Burke's wish list
I like this educational component, and I do think that some of this is
what Burke may be seeking. The problem I see with Dewey as we use it
today is it is so very linear/one-dimensional that I think many persons
standing before a shelf that is classified in DDC may fail to see the
connections. Using DDC or LCC to allow users to explore in a
hypertextual way, so that a book on veterinary medicine could link to
books on general biology and chemistry, as well as some added "see
alsos" to pets and careers, would illuminate the interactions between
the items in the library. In fact, the numbers themselves are not the
full set of information in either of these classification systems,
because they do have vocabulary and entry vocabulary, related topics,
etc., in the schedules that we don't present to the users. And there is
a lot of information in the DDC "facets" that reveal geographical and
other information that again I don't think is obvious to the user at the
shelf. I guess I'm saying that if you don't know what the numbers mean
you can still find a book but you can't really understand why it's on
the shelf it is on. And, yes, there might be some similar books near it,
but similar HOW? Couldn't we do a better job of revealing the
information in the classification system?
kc
Rinne, Nathan (ESC) wrote:
> Sarah,
>
> What concerns me the most is that I think there is an educative component in Dewey that is being lost.
>
> It seems to me that the purpose of all libraries, in one sense or another, to one degree or another, is to
>
> -comprehensively take account of...
>
> -systematically organize...
>
> -and thereby make increasingly accessible / findable...
>
> knowledge of the world for the world - and of course doing so in a timely manner.
>
> In addition, I believe *all* of these steps, in fact, help the user to learn about the world.
>
> I think the Dewey system, though imperfect, exemplifies this.
>
> Again, LCSH classification and subject headings do the same thing. While I think Karen's musings about Prof. Burke's wish list are excellent and ought to be pursued with vigor, I wonder if in addition to the advantages of LCSH's faceted searching (now finally being exploited and appreciated by folks like Andrew Pace, Erik Hatcher, etc.), we have considered enough the "guaranteed serendipity" that results when one explores the holistic web of interconnectivity and interdisciplinarity formed by linked vocabulary-controlled subject headings.
>
> And bring on the tags as well!
>
> Nathan Rinne
> Media Cataloging Technician
> ISD 279 - Educational Service Center (ESC)
> 11200 93rd Ave. North
> Maple Grove, MN. 55369
> Work phone: 763-391-7183
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Simpson, Sarah
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 3:14 PM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Prof. Burke's wish list
>
> 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.
>
> I'm also curious about labeling/classification - it seems like they will still need some sort of system. History books run from 930 to 990 and take up a LOT of space - here at our Central Library, we have almost 12,000 items in the 900s. It seems like someone would have to still assign some sort of classification - Russian history, American history (still an immense section), and so on. I hope they put something up on the Web or publish something so we can get a look at what they are doing!
>
> Sarah Simpson
> Technical Services Manager
> Tulsa City-County Library
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Stephens Owen
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 3:02 PM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Prof. Burke's wish list
>
>
>> Nathan wrote:
>> It will be interesting to see if the following incident gives birth to
>> others:
>>
>> http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0530nodewey0530.html
>>
>> --------
>> There are a couple of things here. Firstly, it seems as if this is a public
>> library. Išve never worked in a public library, so I canšt comment from that
>> side of the counter, but I do use my local public library a lot, and I can
>> safely say that the fact the library uses Dewey is completely irrelevant to
>> me. The collection is too small to need anything more than a cursory system
>> for ordering books on the shelf, and I know the sections I use regularly so
>> well I donšt really need a guide.
>>
>>
>
>
--
-----------------------------------
Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net <http://www.kcoyle.net/>
ph.: 510-540-7596 skype: kcoylenet
fx.: 510-848-3913
mo.: 510-435-8234
------------------------------------
Received on Fri Jun 01 2007 - 11:02:38 EDT