Competency 7

Competency 7: understand the system of standards and methods used to control and create information structures and apply basic principles involved in the organization and representation of knowledge

Organizing and safeguarding information is only as good as the ability to access it in relation to the goals of an organization. At the core of information service and gatekeeping is the idea that librarians provide a service to society. That service should encapsulate two ideas: Protecting and organizing society's information and protecting a society's right and ability to that information. In order to meet this core idea, a librarian must be able to understand the principles of cataloging in order to represent a body of information (which is in actuality our society's past, present, and future in varying formats). Furthermore one must be able to create structures that represent those holdings in a way that the directed user can access it.

First one has to look at the way in which we catalog information. The most common form of cataloging can be seen in public libraries across the country. Melvil Dewey, (born Mellville Dewey) 1851-1931, created the Dewey Decimal System in response to the University Library where he was educated and worked as a result of the inability to thoroughly access information in the best way possible.

At Amherst's Library, Dewey was hired to reclassify the dysfunctional library's classification system. Building on european ideas (such as those of Sir Francis Bacon), and the ingenious idea of the never ending idea of the decimal, he began to revolutionize the way we organize and access information. The success of the DDS (Dewey Decimal System) illustrates two key points in the classification of information. One, the decimal illustrates the ever growing nature of information. Without the decimal information could not comfortably be fit within sub topics and beyond. It speaks to the future for even now subjects like computers and technology have been easily added to the DDS. Second, It illustrates the importance of access in a collection. What good would a collection be in nobody could find a colllection. Dewey himself was interested in the idea of simplicity and best practice. His life work and inventions go beyond just the DDS. He believed in simplifying the English language and simpler spellings that actually and truly represented it sounds (hence his own name change showed above). He was a founding member of both The Library Journal and the American Library Association naming him a pioneer in modern Library Science. Along with other key figures such as Charles A. Cutter who is credited with creating the Cutter Expansive Classification scheme which greatly influenced practices at the Library of Congress although not to be confused with Library of Congress Subject Headings or Control Headings. This is the other most widely used form of classification and is a wonderful illustration of how an institution can and should change their classification system in order to serve their purpose. Herbert Putnum (with advice from Cutter) devised the Library's classification scheme in order to expressly serve the Congress and the special collections of The United States of America. This system was the first official classification scheme that replaces Thomas Jefferson's original scheme of the congressional (and at that time, Jefferson's personal) collection's organization. The key difference here was that LC is a system based on the Library's holdings not on the classification of the world's information such as the DDS.

Though today there are debates on Dewey's system that argue for or against it's existence, as well as arguments that LC classification are not sufficient and should be revised, it is absolutely clear that the need for a scientific and philosophical system of principles should be used when dealing with vast information and the ability to access it. So is the need to update classification principles and practices as technology changes and moves forward. Some are used in conjunction with common practices such as the DDS others such as online database and wikis branch off into exclusive territory. Consideration of the how online practices affect traditional brick and mortar (in the way of access, especially as we move forward into a technological era) ca be illustrated with MARC (MAchine Readable Cataloging) systems which are used expressly for OPACS (Online Patron ACcess System). With MARC libraries are able to translate data via electronic systems are although outdated have yet to been replaces by a more technology current technology.

Furthermore, the basic understanding of classifications and access can affect the way information is represented not only in OPACS but in pathfinders, wikis, and databases within a library system and beyond. My work at the San Jose State College covered both scientific studies of cataloging and the DDS and Database Structure as well as simple technological displays and groupings of information in the development of wikis, databases, and blogs.

In Artifact 1, I demonstrate my understanding of and ability to catalog under the Dewey Decimal System in an Exercise/Exam given in my library course 248: Introduction to Cataloging and Classification. Building up to this exercise I explored every section of the Dewey Decimal System and the history behind it. I did many practice classifications and exercises on the Angel board as well as met with a group to discuss the ideas, principles, and steps needed to work with Dewey. I was both inspired by the history of Melvil Dewey as well as how well the system still works today. I joined in many conversations for and against the system's fate and in the end was able to work on this exam comfortably and with a thorough understanding of how the system brakes down.

I included Artifact 2 because it was such a specialized field of classification and demonstrated how a library can translate hard and fast rules into a more general tool for the public to use. The same principles must be considered when creating a wiki as genre's need to be separated and classified into links and topics. The assignment was to create an all-inclusive wiki on Canadian Literature (specifically the Prairies Region) and was to include not only Literature-based information but information based on the region such as history and geography. How well a wiki is layed out is completely depended on a librarian's ability to classify based on general cataloging principles and knowledge of grouping. Furthermore is illustrates the importance one must have on the ability users will have to access the information you organize. This wiki was not only a creation and grouping of a lot of information on one region in Canada, but it was built and then connected to an entire group wiki of ALL the Canadian Regions. This illustrates how sound the classification needs to be, for when connected to the entire database everyone's information needed to be universal enough to translate across all submissions to create a single body of information. Being able to contribute to a larger body of information in a way that is general and succinct is a very important skill and crucial in a library because in most cases more then one person will contribute to cataloging and classification.

Artifact 1: Canadian Prairies Wiki Project

Artifact 2: Cataloging Exam - Dewey Decimal System