[Web4lib] Re: [lita-l] Why don't bookstores use Dewey or LC? Was: NYT article on Dewey-less Arizona public library

[robin na]

Hi all,
I did work in a bookstore that used LC classification to organize some materials.

In college, I worked in a bookstore chain (since acquired by Borders). After checking in our shipments of books, our next step was to determine where the books would be shelved. The exceptions (new popular novels, promotions, juvenile literature, media, and periodicals) each had their own organization (primarily genre and then by either author/musician or title). However, within those organizations, we were supposed to check the call number, if we ran into questions. 

For the rest of the store stacks, we shelved by LC call number from the CIP (if no CIP, we just shelved it the best we could). There was no signage indicating such to patrons, but we had a few smart cookies and librarians, who figured out our devious plot. ;-)

I'm not sure whether this was indicative of larger corporate training or whether it came from a manager looking for shortcuts in how to teach a mostly student workforce to correctly shelve material.  We certainly weren't trained in LC classification in any detail. If a book was bound for the regular shelves, we checked the verso, wrote down the call number, and shelved it accordingly. ;-)

Robin

Karen Coyle <kcoyle at kcoyle.net> wrote: Remember, Bernie, they are selling books, not lending them. Books are 
supposed to LEAVE a bookstore, not stay on a shelf. So the individual 
item (the book) is transitory. How would you determine the level of 
classification detail needed from the context of a constantly changing 
collection? Or, actually, from a rather random non-collection, since 
bookstores carry what is available for sale, not a calculated chunk of 
knowledge that they've pulled from all time and most space. You'd have 
glaring gaps, and even more unevenness in terms of level of coverage of 
topics in a bookstore than you have in a library. Under those 
circumstances, classification beyond the broad headings of the bookstore 
just might not be useful.

kc

B.G. Sloan wrote:
>
> After hearing some people tout the advantages of library-based methods 
> of organizing collections I find myself wondering: Why don't Borders, 
> Barnes & Noble, etc., use Dewey or LC?
>
> Did bookstores start out with library classification systems and find 
> them lacking? Or did it never cross the minds of bookstore owners to 
> incorporate a tried-and-true system into their operations?
>
> Note: this is not a facetious question...I really am curious about it. 
> Why do bookstores today not use library-based methods like Dewey or LC?
>
> Bernie Sloan
>
> Get the free Yahoo! toolbar 
>  
> and rest assured with the added security of spyware protection. 

-- 
-----------------------------------
Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
ph.: 510-540-7596   skype: kcoylenet
fx.: 510-848-3913
mo.: 510-435-8234
------------------------------------

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