Lesson 7: Subject Cataloguing

I typed cars into the Kelly Road Catalogue search box and 32 records came up; I typed car and 92 records came up; I typed automobile and 60 records came up; I typed automobiles and 58 records came up; I typed auto and 13 records came up; I typed autos and autoes and 0 records came up. In addition, some of the results had nothing to do with cars/automobiles. Even though typing in car produced the most results, you still may have to weed out the results that have nothing to do with your topic depending on how broad or narrow a search one wants. Also, if the user wants information about cars, then, they may not want the videos and fiction books in their result list. An advanced search or using Boolean operators would be more specific. This definitely indicates why knowing subject cataloguing is important.

Another interesting note in the readings for Lesson 7 is that the user should use American spelling for such subjects as labor / labour, rather than the Canadian spelling. Although I was not aware of this, I have tried the two diferent spellings when searching for certain topics. I am not aware of a lot of American spelling compared with Canadian spelling though.

Folksononomy is an interesting concept. I can see using www.Delicious as a good way to organize web sites for teacher-librarians who are collaborating or helping teachers put together certain topics for research projects. For example, the Science teacher came into the library with his students to do a research project on gems and minerals. The students had to make a pamphlet using the information they found. I pulled books and directed students to using databases; however, many students go to Google and Wikipedia first. Selecting web sites beforehand will help students stay on task and have a more focussed search. Again, another great resource that I was not aware of before.

Ben Koning's activities sound like a fun way to learn the Dewey Decimal System. I would have to adapt it for secondary students. There are so many neat ideas out there. As Cathie noted that she almost deleted this activity from the lesson because it is like teaching a lesson in isolation: however, I think this activity should still be included. I have come across many TOC's who say that they can shelve a book, but when I go to check on them, they have made too many mistakes that need to be corrected. The other day, a TOC shelved a 971.1 book in the 971 section by using the letters, so I showed her how to read the numbers and letters for shelving. She "corrected" the mistakes by finding the books and re-shelving. I did not check on her this time, but this scenario happens quite often. I always ask the students to find their book--either I give them a call number or they find it in the catalogue--and I will come along and help them if they cannot find it.