[Web4lib] RE: [lita-l] Innovation: NYTarticleon Dewey-lessArizonapublic library

[K.G. Schneider]

> The irony is that Dewey and LC are themselves classification systems, as
> opposed to simple inventory control systems, 

N.b. I trip triggers every time I say Dewey is an inventory system (and got
quite the scolding today about trivializing DDC etc etc), but this is what I
mean:

* Dewey is intended as a classification system, but due to its failings
(some inherent, some as applied),

* It functions as an inventory system.

For many users, you might as well organize books by barcodes and retrieve
them with robots-and in fact at least one library is doing that (name
escapes me).

I have been doing research for a talk I'm giving, and was reminded that
Ranganathan didn't think Dewey worked well either. I'm not suggesting he
replaced it with a better system, nor am I comparing myself to Ranganathan
(hallowed be his name), but it was a funny and timely coincidence. 

> By the way, I think that the theme of browsing and its importance
> re-appears in a different form in Karen Schneider's concerns about the
> disappearance of the journal as such in aggregated article databases.
> 
> Larry Campbell

All roads lead to London. ;-)

Incidentally, a plan is in work among Some Who Care to survey journal
readers about their preferences... 

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at freerangelibrarian.com