the do-we-do-Dewey hat

the do-we-do-Dewey hat

To Dewey or not to Dewey?  Or even modify or simplify this scheme developed by American librarian Melvil Dewey in the late 19th  century that is still used in libraries around the world today.
In an age where there is a belief that “everything is available on the internet” so non fiction print collections are being discarded at worst, and reduced at best, this is a question that has vexed teacher librarians, particularly, for some time.  Even with the access to records that are already catalogued and just there to be downloaded through service like the Australian
Schools Catalogue Information Service
(SCIS) so that time that was spent on original cataloguing can be used for other essential tasks, there are still those who grapple with this issue.
There are some who feel that it is not a problem because their non fiction collections are so small that finding what is required is easy, but it bothers me that non fiction collections have shrunk so much particularly in the primary school. Others say that they have just completed post-grad tertiary studies and didn’t consult a print non fiction text once, perhaps forgetting that they had sophisticated search skills that littlies don’t, and one would have to question whether that is a reasonable reason to deprive students of access to their first source of information after asking their parents.
Some years ago, lead by publishers such as Dorling Kindersley and Usborne, the format of non fiction became much more user-friendly particularly for young readers, and today, publishers have this age group firmly in mind because they understand that
not everything is available on the internet
what is there is not necessarily aimed at the curious minds of the very young and so is not accessible to them
not all young readers have easy access to internet-enabled devices and don’t have the knowledge or skills to search for what they want
young readers get as much from looking at the illustrations as they do from reading the text and so an attractive, graphic-laden layout is essential
young readers like to look, think and return to the same topic or title over and over and the static nature of a print resource allows this
that not everyone prefers to read from a screen, that print is the preferred medium of many, and there is research that shows that many prefer to print onscreen articles so they can absorb them better
that
research
by people like Dr Barbara Combes shows that screen-reading and information -seeking on the internet requires a different set of skills and those most able are those with a strong foundation built on the traditional skills developed through print
young readers need support to navigate texts so they offer contents pages, indices, glossaries and a host of other cues and clues that allow and encourage the development of information literacy skills, and again, the static nature of a book enables the young reader to flip between pages more easily
the price of…