The Dewey Decimal System is not the problem

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HERE'S WHAT I THINK

The Dewey Decimal System is not the problem

I'm not defending DDC as it stands (everyone knows it's flawed in so many ways) but I don't believe that getting rid of it is the solution. I think libraries should create better ways of labeling their shelves and displaying the collection before considering rearranging everything into some other

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The Dewey Decimal System is not the problem

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Laura the Bookgirl says:

For everyone who says shelving like a bookstore is the wave of the future - I say look at it again. Bookstores group things by subject areas from general to specific. Which is almost like... wait for it... DEWEY. It's not Dewey that's the problem, it's lack of signage that means anything to non-librarians. We need signs at the ends of ranges and over sections that say Dogs instead of 636.7, Biographies instead of 920's, Religion instead of 200's, etc...

Mike says:

Dewey works just fine for small libraries and schools. I do agree that signage does help.

bam says:

I agree...clearer signage would be much simpler and more efficient. Every system is going to have flaws...so rearranging everything would probably just profit us new and different flaws.

No way, Monkeybrain!

Beavis says:

Who ever said Dewey was the problem?

 

by TravelinLibrarian

Michael Sauers is currently the Technology Innovation Librarian for the Nebraska Library Commission in Lincoln, NE. For nine years prior to moving to... (more)

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