[WEB4LIB] From what point of view is a library chaotic?

[David P. Miller]

A very interesting question, Nick. I'll answer this on the list, though
if the consensus is that it's out of bounds, we could continue it offlist.

I don't immediately have an idea about specific clienteles, so that version
of your question is harder for me. But my first response is that libraries
are chaotic for people who expect their organization of materials to be
congruent with their own personal understandings of how materials "ought"
to be organized. So, the film studies professor wants everything touching
on film studies shelved together -- otherwise, it's scattered all over the
place. My own background is in performing arts, and "performing arts"
doesn't exist as a unified concept in LCSH -- this I came to understand as
an undergraduate. It's a unified concept in practice, particularly for
multimedia artists. But dance, music, theater practice, dramatic texts --
they're all over the classification.

This probably -is- offtopic, isn't it? At least my response is.

Last comment: I believe that one measure of maturity in library users is
that they come to understand that libraries (general libraries, at least)
reflect a kind of consensus compromise about organization between vast
numbers of people over time. They get steadily less upset by this.

David Miller
Levin Library, Curry College
Milton, MA
dmiller at curry.edu