« Barsetshire: Recovery Centres | Main | Just a matter of pride »
May 26, 2006
Social inclusion
One of the most excluding and unwelcoming habits of public libraries is their method of arranging the stock by a system that only they understand: the so-called "Dewey-Decimal" system
Of course this puts people off- especially new, younger readers who are used to a world in which shop signage is intended to be helpful, not to show how clever the owners are
At last a conference of librarians has recognised this. Let's hope it doesn't take 850 years for them to do something about it
Mrs Dumpling in Barsetshire will recognise that I made the same suggestion myself that has been made at today's conference to her in my report "Who's in Charge?" several years ago - and she took no notice at all, insisting with all her friends that I had no understanding of the idea of social inclusion, public service, local government, libraries, etc. Oh really Mrs Dumpling!
Posted by Tim Coates at May 26, 2006 7:34 PM
Comments
I grant that the Dewey classification, being an enumerative system, is flawed. But if collections of materials are to be organised to serve the serious reader, as well as the casual browser, some sort of classification is essential.
Posted by: Tom Roper at June 13, 2006 9:30 AM