Lesson 8: Dewey Decimal Classification

Wow. Yet another lesson with multiple links not working!

In any case, I was able to find the article with the incorrect link, as at least the library subscribes to that journal. The case for using, abbreviating, and teaching DDS in elementary schools is interesting, as recently on a tour of one of our feeder elementary schools (First Nations school on Penelekut Island), I noticed that the library has no organizational system and no way for students to check out books. Can you imagine that!

I realized that a group of students come to our school, and these students have never been allowed to take a schoolbook home, never mind know how to look up a book or find it in the library.

Another interesting connection was made with Stauffer's discussion of using an abbreviated DDS. This year I have a library helper parent who has always reshelved for one of the other feeder elementary schools. I couldn't figure out why she was putting the numbers so incoherently wrong, until I read this article. Sure enough, at the elementary school they only shelve by the first three numbers. The way she was putting them on the shelves made no sense to me at all, so now I had a student helper go through and check book order and fix the errors.

I felt really badly telling her she was doing it incorrectly, and she couldn't understand why our system is different than the elementaries. This points out yet another area to explain to new students.

It is also note worthy that in my library I have noticed the same books in two different locations, and just as the course readings state, sometimes they can fit into two locations. I do wonder why they are in two and not one, but the workings of the past librarians are still a mystery to me.

Here is my lesson idea for teaching DDS:

I've been toying with the idea of having a bunch of uncatalogued books, and doing a book sort, as you might a word sort. Then the kids would create their own system of organizing the materials and present it. This might prove to be too unwieldy.

The alternative would be to do a word/title sort, and the kids make up their own system of organizing the titles so they are easy to find. Then present it.

After we can watch this you tube video: Dewey cute....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHiUQb5xg7A

Then we'll do the scavenger hunt I have the grade 8's do. Usually we just do the scavenger hunt, but I think doing a word sort will help them to see that the system is needed, and Dewey just happened to come up with one that worked well.

Stauffer, S. (2008, Summer2008). Dewey-or Don't We-Classify? Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 6(2), 49-51. Retrieved March 10, 2011 from

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=108&sid=a3a840a3-d504-4613-9b1a-fffca204813d%40sessionmgr115&vid=3