Many libraries are looking for alternatives to the Dewey Decimal Classification System to something that is a bit more patron-friendly and intuitive. If you’re looking or even just thinking about it, come hear from a solo librarian who switched her entire library over from Dewey to an in-house adapted version of BISAC. During the same process, the library also genre-fied their fiction sections. This session will include tips, tricks, and notes to remember when ditching Dewey and genre-fying. Learn from someone who’s done it before instead of re-inventing the wheel.
Learning Outcomes:
- Make an informed decision of whether or not they think they'd like to definitively ditch Dewey in their library, and
- Form an idea of the next steps and processes involved.
Who Should Attend: Decision makers in the technical services and circulation areas of a library.
Presenter:
Jennifer Garden is a lifelong user of libraries. After re-learning in her mid-teens that washing machines like to eat library books, she did some volunteering at her local library. That went so well that they hired her to work part-time and she was off! Picking up books here and there, attending webinars, and reading websites and research papers when needed, she learned everything she needed to know from acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, and readers' advisory on the job. She didn’t think to make libraries her focus in college, so she studied modern languages instead. During several jobs in the book distribution and publishing industries, she maintained her work at that first small town public library. Eventually, when the opportunity presented itself, she took a job as a three-quarter-time library director/solo librarian at the Milledgeville Public Library in rural northwest Illinois. After 5 years, she finally feels like she’s gaining her footing and learning how to do things (and how not to do them!). About 3 years into the job, she decided that the Dewey system wasn’t working for her library and did some research. Her library has been Dewey free for several years now and the patrons and staff love it.
Tech Requirements
Registration
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