The Talented Mr. Dewey

Ahhhh the Dewey Decimal system...  It has really been a love-hate relationship with Mr. Dewey.  Most days I think it’s the greatest thing ever invented in the library.  However some days, when I’m cataloguing, I’m not having such happy thoughts about Dewey.  I’m still finding it difficult to work with all the categories and decimals.  Obviously the 9 classes are not difficult to understand but how to assign decimals within each class is confusing for me.  Luckily I have been consulting other libraries to see how they classify books before I do.  I’m not even sure if my library has a DDC manual, if not I definitely need to buy one and soon!

Teaching the DDC is something that can be a fun activity to do in the library.  I really enjoyed reading everyone’s ideas and suggestions on how to teach the DDC.  There is a lot of stuff online so there is no excuse for not making the lessons on DDC interesting and hands-on.  I was really happy to find all the great activities that are made for the Smartboard.  I just got one set-up in my library so hopefully I can start using it soon.

Before I can teach the DDC to all the students, I need to make some improvement s in the library.  As mentioned in the Stauffer article, there needs to be generous signage in the library and even more in the non-fiction section.  I can see how important it is since at my library there is no signage at all! My goal is to increase signage throughout the third term.  I think for my school the best way is with a picture and simple wording.  I think this will make a big difference in helping students find what they are looking for and also to encourage them to browse the non-fiction shelves.  They will surely find books and topics that they didn’t even know we had in the library.

In the readings for this lesson it was suggested that librarians find the subject headings first and that will help with assigning a Dewey number.  I have been doing the opposite.  I can see the value in starting with the subject headings, it will really make it clear to find the right Dewey class.  I also think that putting it in the section where students will notice the book more easily is also important.  I have noticed some books in my library in some sections that I would not have put it in but after looking through the book I can understand the logic of the previous librarian. 

There are so many things to take into consideration when cataloguing a book, it’s a little overwhelming!  I’m glad that there is a clear system such as the DDC that keeps things simple and organized…once you’ve figured out the DDC of course!