[WEB4LIB] Candidates for _Beyond Bookmarks: Schemes for Organzing the

[Gerry Mckiernan]

Hi Walter/

>>> "Minkel, Walter (Cahners -NYC)" <WMinkel at cahners.com> 05/03 9:26 AM >>>
>I have a devil's advocate question in response to the request below: why is
>it a good thing to sort Web collections by Dewey or LC? Dewey or LC are
>useful for items that cannot be searched by keywords, but why is it
>necessary, other than the fact that the books have call numbers, to sort Web
>sites that way? Yeah, I know that Web sites are being assigned call numbers
>in many library catalogs, but is it necessary if keywording & assigning
>subject headings is done carefully? In a public library situation (where my
>experience lies) call numbers were a way to arrange things together on the
>shelf & that was about it. But Web sites have no "shelf" to sit on.

        Thanks for your interest in my posting!

        Classification schemes/systems provide a framework 
for browsing conceptual space and offer other benefits

See my for details

 http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/browse.htm

>This question may be so basic that it seems dumb, but I've watched students
>struggle with catalogs & call numbers for years, & when the Web came along,
>I was pleased with not having to assign Web sites a "location on the shelf."
>I'd love to see non-3D materials without call numbers & searchable by
>keywords/subject headings only. Just curious what Gerry & others have to
>say. Thanks, W


    The use of conventional and established classification schemes
for Web resources provides a frame of reference. Such schemes
are far from perfect, but offer some benefit.

     Thanks again for your interest!

/Gerry McKiernan
Science and Technology Librarian and Bibliographer
Iowa State University Library
Ames IA 50011

gerrymck at iastate.edu