Learning the RC: Dewey!

Compared to the instructions of the AACR2 rules for describing a work, the rules for classifying a work using Dewey are downright heinous. I am of that opinion because it means you (the classifier) must choose one and only one place for the work to reside on the shelf, even though the work could be about multiple shared concepts.

I will admit the DDDC22: Dewey Decimal Classification ed.22 (025.431 DEW 2003 v 1-4) is beyond me. Well volumes 1-3 are beyond me. They are basically instructions on when to use which divisions and sub-divisions. The tables in v. 1 completely throw me off. I'd probably do better to see an example of one of the tables in action. Volumes 2 and 3 are the schedules, laid out in order of the numbers and the subjects in words to which the numbers correspond. For example:

 371 Schools and their activities; special education (under the 300s Social Sciences)
.001-.009 Standard subdivisions (probably as seen in v. 1)
.01-.07 specific kinds of schools
.1 Teachers and teaching, and related activities
.2 School administration; administration of student academic activities
etc

Volume 4 is the glorious index.Seriously, this thing should have a halo and light from the heavens shining upon it at all times. When people come downstairs and say they want to browse the works on Garlic. I pull the index off the shelf and invite them to enter the stacks with me. Imagine this librarian, her hair swept up, not in a bun, but a french twist, dragonfly glasses reflecting the florescent lighting, eyes twinkling in amusement as I guide the patron through the 600s, pointing out Garlic works as they pertain to cooking, gardening, and pharmacology. And then I suddenly turn, clutching the Glorious Index, with its radiant light, to my bosom and say, "but if you want Garlic as it pertains to botany, we'll have to go to 584.33."

This is not a romanticized view of librarianship. Yes, this still happens! A librarian can use something other than a computer to help people find the books on Garlic that they need!