Doesn't this look like fun???
So you know what is seriously not enjoyable? Having to reclassify your entire library collection from Dewey Decimal to Library of Congress. Yep. Not much fun at all.
I found this out over the past week, as all the books in my college's library have now been changed to Library of Congress (I didn't even realize that some smaller academic and research libraries still use Dewey... interesting...) Anyways, talk about tedious and time-consuming. Now, the collection at the library that I oversee only has around 1,200 books-- which is enough for our campus since we are a satellite branch of a larger college--and that was definitely plenty for me!
Last Wednesday the Library Director visited with a couple other librarians and we re-labeled every single book with new LC classifying stickers. However, I had to leave early for another job that day and the project couldn't be finished by the time campus closed at 5pm, so guess what I got to do for 5 hours yesterday and 3 hours today? Re-shelve 1,000+ books that were stacked-up (out-of-order) on all the library tables! I am proud to say that I finished, but am now slightly cross-eyed from looking at all those freaking LC decimals (ex. HG 2551.S38.2009-- ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?)
The only slight problem is that I misjudged the amount of shelf space I would need and now I'll have to go back and shift everything to fill the 4 empty shelves I have left...
But you know what? That can wait for another day :)
That sounds horrible. I feel for you. It seems like big jobs like that never end.
ReplyDeleteAlthough that seems like a lot of work lol, your job seems amazing! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWow! That does not sound fun at all. I've recently accepted a middle school librarian position and will be shifting/integrating books and that stresses me out...I can't imagine doing something like this.
ReplyDeleteAt least you have a do-over.
ReplyDeleteAnna~ Luckily because the collection on our campus is so small it didn't take me any more than 7-8 hours between 2 days to finish re-shelving everything, but my legs are killing me from all the bending up and down!
ReplyDeleteNatalie~ It can be pretty amazing at times ;)
Jessica~ Congrats on the new position! But ugh, shifting is seriously the ickiest job ever. You'll do fine though! There's always a great community of librarians willing to help when you ask.
Jeff~ Thank goodness I don't have to do the whole thing over! Everything is in the correct order, just needs to be moved around a little bit.
That's hardcore. The community college I interned at while in grad school still used Dewey and I don't think they had any plans to switch to LOC. One plus of being a distance learning librarian-no actual books...
ReplyDeleteRed Headed Traveler~ I have decided to delegate the task of shifting the collection to our other librarian here, since I think if I have to do it I just might go crazy... don't get me wrong, I love my books, but I've had quite enough of rearranging for awhile!
ReplyDeleteA Blog for Librarians :) Im a Community Librarian- Childrens and Teens Services at a Public Library in New Zealand. We use Dewey, one of our branches trialed the Living Room Layout but it didnt really click and work -was a nightmare trying to ease the shelves. So they have gone back to Dewey. Had to do a bit about the LC Classification in my Library Studies - it seems so confusing , so many extra numbers. Glad Dewey only goes up to .4 numbers after the decimal point.
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