[Web4lib] RE: [lita-l] Innovation: NYT article on Dewey-lessArizona public library

[Benjamin Daeuber]

Quote:
	It was disappointing to me that most of the reaction on the
PUBLIB 	list was about how it was not going to work... before the
project even 	launched. The general trend of most posts are now,
"Well, it would 	work under very limited circumstances,
BUHHHHHHHHHHT..." 

	I didn't know we had so much invested in Dewey. Me, I thought it
was 	an inventory system.

I must agree with most of this list that reorganizing your books does
not qualify as innovation. If you can get headlines from abandoning
Dewey, however, then more power to you.

As far as your last comment, I would argue that it's much more than an
inventory system. It's a way of tying a physical item (a book) to a
virtual item (a catalog entry). In many ways it's a precursor to the
internet of things that gets talked about so much.

I wrote a blog entry about it once:

http://bendaeuber.com/infobreaker/?p=32

Dewey=Findability



Ben Daeuber
Technology and Electronic Resources Librarian
Fargo Public Library
701-541-3287
701-241-1490


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of K.G. Schneider
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2007 10:26 PM
To: lita-l at ala.org; web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] RE: [lita-l] Innovation: NYT article on
Dewey-lessArizona public library

Librarians in general seem to come off as fuddy-duddies resistant to
change
and innovation, e.g., "On Web sites where librarians frequently post,
the
abandonment of Dewey has not been welcome. One blogger titled her entry
'Heresy!' Another called the Perry Branch's approach 'idiotic.'"

Bernie Sloan

--------

The reporter didn't make that stuff up, and you can peruse the PUBLIB
archives for more examples of the same. (I can't seem to get access to
AUTOCAT, no matter how many times I try to register, so I can't speak
for
that list.)

It was disappointing to me that most of the reaction on the PUBLIB list
was
about how it was not going to work... before the project even launched.
The
general trend of most posts are now, "Well, it would work under very
limited
circumstances, BUHHHHHHHHHHT..." 

I didn't know we had so much invested in Dewey. Me, I thought it was an
inventory system. 

Karen G. Schneider


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