INTERNET: SEARCH: TECHNIQUE:
Can An Obscure Classification Number Make Library Users Dewey Eyed About
the Existence of a Book
When I was knee high to a grass hopper in the library field and used the card
catalog and print subject field indexes to journal article literature like
Business Periodicals Index and Social Science Index and had never used a
computer in my life, I became very unhappy about the subject heading used for a
book. The book was a handbook or directory of a state government and the
catalogers had used a heading that included the word registers rather than a
word like directory. This was the year 1976. I lost because the cataloger for
serials at that time informed me that we followed Library of Congress
cataloging in such matters and uniformity amongst libraries in the subject
description of a book was important.
I lost the battle, but won the war. Some major corporations heard of my
problem and were moved to invent the personal computer, the online catalog, the
internet and the internet search engine, all because of my problem with
esoteric subject headings and call number assignments for books and serials.
This leads me to a response I sent today to a list on which a librarian was
concerned about the cataloging decision about a biographical book given a
specialized Dewey Decimal classification number.
In this discussion list post this librarian expressed concern that an obscure
Dewey Decimal classification of a book rather than the book being shelved with
the biographies would keep this book from seeing the light of day of readers
eager hands and eyes.
Ishmael Beah -
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Publisher: New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
ISBN: 0374105235 9780374105235
I am not entirely certain that a Dewey call number, even if repeated in many
libraries, can do much in today's information economy to contribute to a book
becoming unknown and hidden.
Enter the Sherlock Holmes of the computer age to ferret out this hidden
treasure:
Read more here:
BOOKS :
LIBRARY: CATALOGING AND CLASSIFICATION :
INTERNET: SEARCH: TECHNIQUE:
Can An Obscure Classification Number Make Library Users Dewey
Eyed About the Existence of a Book
<http://groups.google.com/group/net-gold/browse_thread/thread/fde6def61f48781>
or here
<http://net-gold.jiglu.com/discussion/threads/1739468>
More on library classification electronic books from Net-Gold
<http://www.google.com/search?q=(%22electronic+books%22+OR+ebooks+
OR+%22library+classification%22+OR+%22subject+headings%22)+and+%
22net-gold%22+and+%22temple.edu%22+&hl=en&filter=0>
A shorter URL for the above link:
as well as a few Net-Gold thoughts regarding search engines and libraries:
<http://www.google.com/search?q=%22search+engines%22+and+
(library+OR+libraries+OR+books)+and+%22net-gold%
22+and+%22temple.edu%22+&hl=en&filter=0>
A shorter URL for the above link:
Also of possible interest:
LAW: CASES :
EDUCATION: K-12: TEACHERS :
EDUCATION: TECHNOLOGY :
COMPUTER: MALWARE:
The Julie Amero Case: Will It Ever End?
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/24233>
TOURISM AND TRAVEL: RESOURCES :
ENVIRONMENT: GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
Links to Literature Files Regarding Climate Change and Tourism
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/24230>
PUBLISHERS PUBLISHING AND PUBLICATIONS: OPEN ACCESS :
COPYRIGHT:
Understanding Open Access in The Academic Environment: A Guide For Authors
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/24228>
GOVERNMENT: DOCUMENTS :
GOVERNMENT: PUBLICATIONS :
WRITING AND WRITERS: CITATION FORMAT FOOTNOTES ENDNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY :
WRITING AND WRITERS: STYLE AND WRITING MANUALS:
Citing Government Documents and Publications:
Selected Web Guides and Resource Lists
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/24210>
DICTIONARIES :
LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS: ENGLISH LANGUAGE: WORDS AND VOCABULARY:
100 New Terms Make the Cut for Merriam-Webster Dictionary
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/24209>
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@temple.edu
<http://daviddillard.businesscard2.com>
Net-Gold
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/net-gold>
<http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/net-gold.html>
<http://groups.google.com/group/net-gold?hl=en>
<http://net-gold.jiglu.com/>
General Internet & Print Resources
<http://guides.temple.edu/general-internet>
<http://guides.temple.edu/general-country-info>
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/20309>
<http://guides.temple.edu/tourism>
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/davidd.html>
Educator-Gold
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Educator-Gold/>
K12ADMINLIFE
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K12AdminLIFE/>
Nina Dillard's Photographs on Net-Gold
<http://tinyurl.com/36qd2o>
Net-Gold Membership Required to View Photos
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