Libraries Offer Plenty For Storms To Stew Over

The economy is a shambles. State revenue is in a free-fall. House leaders in both parties stand accused of misusing their political powers.

This week, state Sen. Ronda Storms identified another menace:

The Dewey Decimal System.

Storms, R-Valrico, railed against the book-cataloging system during a budget hearing on state library aid, calling the Dewey Decimal System “anachronistic,” costly and just plain frustrating.

The system requires training for both staff and users, she complained. If Barnes & Noble organizes its books more simply, why can’t libraries?

“A lot of little old librarians are going to have a heart attack that I even said that out loud,” Storms said during Wednesday’s hearing. “But it really is ridiculous.”

Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who oversees state support of libraries, told the committee that Dewey Decimal is the national standard, set by the Library of Congress.

“The Library of Congress can do what the Library of Congress wants,” Storms said. “If it’s costing us money … it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee.”

Source: Tampa Tribune

This entry was posted on Friday, December 19th, 2008 and is filed under Information Science, Libraries and Librarianship, Search News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.