More on Rangeview Library District

Adams County libraries shelving Dewey Decimal
by: Monte Whaley

THORNTON — Clunky. Out of touch. Ready for the dustbin.

Plenty would say that about General Motors or other American icons badly in need of retooling.

But officials at the Rangeview Library District in Adams County are calling out another cultural institution, saying it no longer meets the needs of a new generation of readers.

Say goodbye to the 133-year-old Dewey Decimal Classification.

By the end of the year, all six Rangeview branches and the district's outreach office will dump the iconic Dewey and its numeric organizing system for one that relies on word categories such as "history" and "science."

The district will be the first in the U.S. to go this route, which is controversial among some librarians.

But it mirrors what customers see at Barnes & Noble and other chain bookstores, Rangeview officials say.

The retail-based system — called WordThink — encourages browsing and helps customers find exactly what they need quickly and intuitively, said Rangeview director Pam Sandlian Smith.

"For years, we've had focus groups and people consistently tell us, 'I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how this library works,' " Sandlian Smith said. "So we decided to turn things upside down, and so far it seems to work well."

While other library districts — including the Arapahoe Library District — are experimenting with a retail- based system, Rangeview will be the first one in the nation to adopt Word Think for every building, said Sand lian Smith.

The Perl Mack and Bennett branches have already implemented the word- based system and booted Dewey. The Perl Mack branch closed for about five days in mid-May to make the switch, and reviews have been excellent, said branch manager Annette Martinez.

"It's just a different way of thinking and probably a little more user- friendly," Martinez said.

At Perl Mack, books are now broken down into about 45 alphabetical categories, ranging from antique, cooking, humor and poetry to self-help, sports and travel.

Each section also has a subcategory for more specialized subjects. For instance, under cooking, readers can also find titles for baking or French fare. Children's books also have subcategories, Martinez said.

Ken Neely, a 17-year patron of the Perl Mack branch, said he's happy with the new system.

"I think it's a good idea, especially if you are new to the library and don't know the system. You don't have to go to one of the librarians and ask for help," Neely said. "That means they can spend more time helping people and doing research for you."

But there are plenty of Dewey disciples who say the time-honored and reliable system isn't going away. In fact, Dewey is growing internationally.

Developed by American librarian Melvil Dewey, the classification system is used in more than 200,000 libraries throughout the world and has been translated into 35 languages. Dewey, using numbers and letters, coordinates materials on the same subject and on related subjects to make materials easy to find on library shelves.

It's so simple, say Dewey experts, all knowledge is divided into 10 main classes: generalities; philosophy and psychology; religion; social science; language; natural science and mathematics; technology and applied sciences; arts; literature; geography and history. The classes and their subdivisions all have corresponding numbers.

"I guess I can't entirely see the reason for switching over to anything else," said K.R. Roberto, serials and electronic-resources librarian at the University of Denver. "This idea of grouping items by subject matter, it's already being done — it's just numerically."

Dewey translates well overseas for print and electronic formats, said Joan Mitchell, editor in chief, Dewey Decimal Classification for the Online Computer Library Center in Ohio. "I spend a lot of time talking to users around the world, and we are looking at developing Dewey in all different formats. It's very exciting."

However, Mitchell can see how smaller library systems could put a word-based plan to good use.
"Maybe it's sufficient to turn your collection into more of a bookstore format," Mitchell said. "It's entirely up to local authorities to see what works best for their customers."

Sandlian Smith understands the reluctance of many in the field to let go of Dewey.

"Sometimes, when you try and do something differently, it makes people uncomfortable," she said. "But I think Melvil will understand."

How does it look on the shelves?

Timothy Egan's "The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl," as it might appear under three cataloging systems. Compiled by Barry Osborne; photo by Reza A. Marvashti, The Denver Post

WORDTHINK
Currently in use at the Perl Mack and Bennett branches of the Rangeview Library District

Collection: Adult Nonfiction

Call No.: HISTORY US20TH

Under WordThink, the call number appears in a plain, perhaps more intuitive language that might appeal to library users. Here it shows the book shelved under history, in the subcategory of U.S. 20th-century history.

DEWEY DECIMAL

Collection: Adult Nonfiction

Call No.: 978.032 EGA

Dewey uses a mix of numbers to classify items. Though confusing to some, Dewey offers flexibility for growing and larger systems and is common in many public libraries. The number 978 stands for Western U.S. history, with the numbers that follow placing it into more specific context. In this case, 032 may stand for an era or an event, such as the Dust Bowl. EGA stands for the author's last name, Egan.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Collection: University of Colorado at Boulder's Norlin Library, home of the humanities and social-sciences collections

Call No.: F595.E38 2006

The system of choice for many research-university libraries, Library of Congress uses a letter-and-number scheme to classify items and is perhaps the most complex of the three. In this catalog, F stands for History of the Americas; 595 stands for the Western United States; E stands for the author's name, Egan; and the following numbers help place it among similar titles.
Sources: CU-Boulder, Dewey Decimal Classification, Library of Congress, Rangeview Library District

From: the Denver Post