This month's column by Manitowoc (WI) Public Library Youth Librarian and YSS Board Member Susie Menk lands at an interesting time. Dec 10 is National Dewey Decimal System Day. Susie explores questions about how we address the use of Dewey Decimal System (which originated in the 1870's) in our more modern times.. And she's wondering....what do you think?
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At the recent Wisconsin Library Association Fall Conference, I attended a session about libraries moving away from Dewey Decimal Classification. The primary reason they cited for this shift is the growing trend in libraries to make our collections more browsable—like a bookstore setup. Since this is a newer trend in libraries it’s hard to determine how effective it is.
My library reorganized the picture book section of the youth department a few years back. While I don’t have absolute numbers on circulation, plus we have to factor in COVID-19 into our data, it appears that our picture books are circulating more than ever. We recently have re-cataloged the fairy tale (398.2) and graphic novel (741.5973) collections as well. I can say that the fairy tale collection circulations are definitely increasing and graphic novels are as popular as ever.
The question I’m struggling with is does that make it right to overhaul ALL of our collections—fiction and non-fiction? When other libraries first shared the idea of a picture book city it excited me. I was a strong advocate for making this change. I see adults and children making use of the categories and finding books on their own—by the color coding used or by knowing where we shelve their favorite books. After an initial resistance to the new system, most of our patrons like it. Teachers love it, since they usually are looking for books on various topics to match up with their lessons. Watching our patrons, I can see a definite increase in browsing. Will this browsing concept translate to fiction and non-fiction sections though?
From my experience, when patrons come in looking for fiction books (like chapter books, paperbacks, and longer youth novels) they either know what they want or they are looking for suggestions. Whenever I work the desk, I find myself doing more reader’s advisory for the fiction and non-fiction sections than any other collections in our department. We put up displays with fiction and non-fiction books. We have signage for series in our fiction section and signage for topics in our non-fiction sections. So what would be the benefit of changing these collections from DDC to a more browsable BISAC based classification?
One of the concerns raised at the WLA session was the fact that DDC doesn’t have enough categories for current topics. As I look through our new non-fiction books, I agree that it is a valid concern. After all, Melvin Dewey published this system in the late 1870s. It’s definitely an older system and would not have been set up to encompass all the modern technology and issues of our day. Would cataloging the non-fiction section by BISAC instead of DDC make much difference? If I were to change the way we catalog non-fiction, I would probably catalog it by book series instead of subject matter. Would that actually be helpful?
Many libraries have the Who Was…? series. How do you catalog this series? Do you have the books in the 921 biography section under each person or do you catalog the books under a series title like 921 Who? We have the You Choose interactive history books in our library as well. I recommend these titles to patrons often. They are not easy to find since we put them under the DDC system. But, I use this as an opportunity to teach patrons how to search for non-fiction series in our online catalog. Personally, I like keeping series together, but when does the series trump the classification system? Since many books can fall into many different subject matters, how is its location determined? Does classifying books by series help with browsability when patrons are looking for books on specific topics?
In the Dewey Decimal classification system, the 921 biography section is an example of how librarians have adapted the system to help users find the books they want. We classify biographies within the 921s BUT then we keep the books about the same person together.
So which is better? Do we change our classification system to accommodate users or help our patrons learn how to navigate the system we already use? Is there a way to combine the DDC and BISAC to make the system both user friendly and still stay true to library classifications? Is it necessary to ditch the DDC completely, or can we compromise?
What do you think?
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