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School Libraries Caught in the Genrefication Craze: RIP Melvil!

Sarah Pavey, our Schools Librarian representative, explores the debate around library classification systems in schools, asking the immortal question: to Dewey, or not to Dewey?

Over the last few weeks there has been an interesting debate on a school librarian’s forum concerning arranging resources by topic, theme or genre rather than using a classic classification system such as the Dewey Decimal System (DDC). While this has been a contentious issue in fiction shelving for many years with arguments and viewpoints posed on both sides, it is only relatively recently that this idea has spilled into the area of non-fiction for secondary schools. Certainly, abandoning classical classification has been a growing trend in public libraries and DDC has rarely been used in bookshops so why does it continue to be used in schools? Let’s explore the pros and cons of this approach, drawing on evidence from recent studies and expert opinions.

The Case for Topic/Genre Classification:

Improved User Experience

One of the primary arguments in favour of organising non-fiction books by topic or genre is the potential for an improved user experience. Outhouse (2017) suggests that:

“Because people today know more or different information than people 141 years ago, this generation thinks about organisation in a different way than earlier generations did or could”.

This finding suggests that a more intuitive organisation system could potentially increase library usage and encourage students to explore a wider range of materials. When we consider that Melvil Dewey’s cataloguing guide was published in 1876, it is hardly surprising just thinking of innovations in the last 10 years. that it seems increasingly irrelevant to modern information needs and yet it continues to be the most internationally used cataloguing system in the world. There is also the whole issue of colonialism associated with its construction making use of it a political issue in recent times. 

The first notions of a breakaway from Dewey to enhance user experience related to fiction books. When this cataloguing system was introduced most books in a library were non-fiction but soon novels began to be published exponentially and became dominant in school and public libraries (Coyle 2015). Fiction then simply had to be removed from the 800 series and reclassified so they could be discovered and read. In the mid-1990s, I inherited a school library with the fiction section distributed amongst the 800 shelves and could never find anything myself – it was one of the first changes I introduced to that library!  

Alignment with Modern Information-Seeking Behaviours

In the digital age, students are accustomed to keyword searches and topic-based navigation. Baxter et al (2021) show in their research how academic libraries, in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, have shifted dramatically to a more digital environment. Hence many higher education librarians in a quick poll gave answers such as: 

“We have no problems with the students moving from FE to HE in our own colleges. We teach them immediately how the books in the HE areas are shelved in Dewey order and how to find them. I don’t think it causes a problem”.

“The amount of electronic to print will vary from subject to subject but here we have around 80% electronic and 20% print overall. This is a bigger hurdle than the classification of print stock to be honest.  Students who haven’t experienced electronic journals, don’t understand what a database [is] or how to navigate it, is more challenging. University libraries have library assistants / student helpers who can help students find a book on the shelf if they struggle with numbers, or don’t understand the system.  Many universities have resource management systems too.  I’m not sure what % of schools would have this but the students are able to quickly navigate their way around this (and lots of other new systems too)”.

By adopting a topic/genre-based system, school libraries could better prepare students for the information-seeking behaviours they’re likely to encounter in higher education and beyond contrary to the assumed belief of many qualified school librarians that this might disadvantage new undergraduates. It can also be argued that this arrangement of non-fiction allows for a more immediate response for any new emerging topics rather than decisions being made about how they should squeeze into a more rigid and dated structure. 

The Case for Traditional Classification

Information Literacy Skills

Despite the shift towards digital resources, many advocates argue that understanding traditional classification systems remains a crucial information literacy skill. Thomas et al. (2020) report in their book that students with experience with physical library collections and traditional classification systems demonstrate superior information literacy skills across both digital and physical resources. One respondent from a LIS school at a university in my quick poll underpins this saying:

“Understanding how information is organised in a physical library is an important aspect of information literacy, especially as more attention is paid to IL for the digital environment.  I ran an IL  session for a charity who support state school kids from the North of England to apply for Oxbridge and Russell group universities, earlier in the year and the majority of them hadn’t heard of Dewey.  It didn’t take long for them to grasp the concept, but it’s the kind of thing that could really prevent a nervous new UG student from accessing resources in a physical library”.

This suggests that exposure to traditional classification methods in school libraries may have long-term benefits for students’ overall information literacy rather than just “finding something on the shelves” and this would indeed impact on their ability to navigate digital resources too.

Standardisation and Transferability

One of the key advantages of traditional classification systems is their standardisation across libraries. While topic-based systems may seem more intuitive, they lack the universality of DDC or Library of Congress Classification. This can make it challenging for students to transfer their skills between institutions or to public libraries. However, if institutions such as universities and public libraries are also moving away from the traditional then this argument falls flat. Crouse (2023) illustrates the variety of classification systems that exist from a universal to a personal level and Furner (2020) suggests that “linked data” may direct future pathways. However, it should be noted in the current transition period that a system that uses universal standardisation is particularly important for students who may move between schools or need to use multiple libraries for their research.

Precision and Specificity

Traditional classification systems offer a level of precision and specificity that can be difficult to replicate in a topic/genre-based system. This suggests that while topic-based systems may be more user-friendly for casual browsing, they might not serve the needs of students engaged in more in-depth research.

The Digital Dilemma

The argument that students no longer need to understand classification systems due to the prevalence of digital resources is a contentious one. While it’s true that many university libraries are predominantly digital, this perspective overlooks several important factors:

  • Varied Resource Availability: Not all institutions have equal access to digital resources. 
  • Digital Literacy vs. Information Literacy: While students may be adept at using digital interfaces, this doesn’t necessarily translate to strong information literacy skills. 
  • The Importance of Browsing: Physical collections offer opportunities for serendipitous discoveries that can be harder to replicate in digital environments. 
  • Hierarchy: Physical collections can be arranged from broad topics to the specific and offer an understanding of indexing which is an important skill to learn especially when conducting in depth research. 

Conclusion: The Path Forward

The debate over non-fiction classification in school libraries is far from settled. While topic/genre-based systems offer clear advantages in terms of user experience and alignment with modern information-seeking behaviours, traditional classification systems continue to provide important benefits in terms of information literacy skills and research precision.

As we move forward, it’s crucial that decisions about library organisation are made with careful consideration of local needs, available resources, and long-term educational goals. Our role as information professionals is not just to make information accessible, but to equip students with the skills to navigate, evaluate, and utilise that information effectively. Whatever system we choose, it must serve this ultimate objective. As the information landscape continues to evolve, so too must our approaches to organising and accessing knowledge. The key lies in finding a balance that serves the immediate needs of students while also preparing them for the complex information ecosystems they’ll encounter in higher education and beyond. So maybe for the present we adopt hybrid approaches, maintaining traditional classification systems for some topics while also implementing subject-based signage and displays to aid browsing.

 

References

Baxter, G., Beard, L., Beattie, G., Blake, M., Greenhall, M., Lingstadt, K., Nixon, W.J. and Reimer, T. (2021) Covid-19 and the Future of the Digital Shift amongst Research Libraries: An RLUK Perspective in Context. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 27(3), 322–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2021.1976232

Coyle, K. (2015). FRBR, Before and After: A Look at Our Bibliographic Models. American Library Association.

Crouse, D. (2023) File Under ‘Et Cetera’: Non-Standard Library Classification Systems. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=classification_indexing_winter2023 

Furner, J. (2020) New Formats, Shifting Fortunes: Late-Twentieth-Century KO in the Wild. In Knowledge Organization at the Interface (142-150). Ergon-Verlag.

Outhouse, R. (2017) Genrefication: Introducing and Explaining the Exponential Trend. https://doi.org/10.17615/j1hv-kq77

Thomas, N. P., Crow, S. R., Henning, J. A.and Donham, J. (2020) Information Literacy and Information Skills Instruction: New Directions for School Libraries. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

 

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