Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Decline of Western Civilization Continues Apace

Libraries replace Dewey with bookstore merchandising - chicagotribune.com: "A handful of pioneering suburban libraries are transitioning from the librarian-loved but misunderstood Dewey to the type of organization system used by booksellers. The new layout groups books by subject rather than number, uses signs to highlight contemporary, popular categories, and displays books by their covers.

Critics say the new system is a nightmare for anyone trying to find a specific book that doesn't fit into an obvious category. Supporters counter that the system does what libraries should be doing: encourage people to read more books."

3 comments:

Bud said...

When in doubt, dumb down!

Deb said...

I guess it's just too hard to look for, say, 647.84 between 647.83 and 647.85.

Gerard said...

In today's mail: Several libraries have found success by replacing the Dewey Decimal System with a more customer-friendly system. Learn their tips and pitfalls to avoid in LVN's latest training DVD.