ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


330 /  C&RL News

W hy we arrange books 
as we do

By Constance A. Mellon 
East Carolina University

“Why must we do these things just so?” 
Young catalogers w ant to know.

“There are good reasons,” I reply.
“So listen, and I ’ll tell you w hy.”

Old Melvil Dewey, clever lad,
Once said, “The state of things is bad.

There is no order to the way
That books are shelved. I’ll start today.”

And after days of thought and toil,
And nights of burning midnight oil,

He cried, “Oh yes! I’ve got it now!
It’s easy. Let me show you how.

You take nine hundred ninety-nine,
Then break it down. This plan of mine

Will revolutionize our w ork.”
Then Melvil, never one to shirk,

Created, in a careful frame,
The system th at still bears his name.

But LC kept collecting books.
They sat on shelves. They hung on hooks.

They covered tables, chairs, the floor— 
Arranging them was quite a bore.

So LC said, “I guess it’s true.
Nine hundred ninety-nine won’t do.

These categories cannot grow
As we expand the things we know.

Though once the decimal was fine,
The numbers can’t fit on the spine.

It’s all those numbers—th at’s the worst.
So let’s use letters. They’ll come first.

We’ll use this way in every college 
To classify the world of knowledge.”

Said OCLC, “Hold the phone!
Why do we always work alone?

We work through winters, summers, springs, 
To catalog the same darn things.

And though we’re working day and night, 
Our backlogs still are out of sight.

If we could just communicate,
Then we could all stop working late.

And, since we have computers now,
Let’s work together. Here is how:

We’ll catalog from east to west,
From north to south. It’s really best

To let us guide you.” So they did.
We still are doing as they bid.

“And so you see, there is no mystery.
It’s simply cataloging history.”

calling for single fact information or short answers. 
It is a type of ready reference which doesn’t  strictly 
adhere to the definition of ready or quick refer­
ence. Some questions are not readily answerable 
and must be researched extensively, and the pa­
trons don’t receive a quick answer in the sense th at 
they receive the answer im m ediately...they must 
w ait for the answer to be posted. Since new ques­
tions and answers are posted every two weeks, it 
could be a w ait of two days or two weeks depend­
ing on when the question was submitted.

Finally, despite everyone’s best efforts, it is vir­
tually impossible to answer every question submit­
ted. As one staff member pu t it, “The more we an­
swer, the more they ask.” G raduate assistants and a 
librarian spend a combined total of thirty hours per 
week answering questions, probably the maximum 
num ber of hours this library can afford to devote to 
the service at this time. In order to alert users there 
is a sign posted on the Board which explains th at 
due to the num ber of questions received we have 
been unable to answer every question, and encour­
ages use of the services available at the reference 
desk should the answer not appear w ithin two 
weeks time. It may be w orth noting th at our goal is 
to answer or at least respond to every question sub­
mitted.

Conclusion
It is apparent th at students and other users of the 

library prize this service th at has become some­
thing of an institution since its inception in the 
early 1970s. One can observe students continually 
perusing the Board. The campus newspaper has 
featured the Question Board in a num ber of arti­
cles; at one tim e it ran a series featuring interesting 
questions answered each week on the Board. Stu­
dents often write their own comments or sugges­
tions on posted questions and answers. As one p a­
tro n , a visiting public lib ra ria n , noted, “T he 
questions and answers are interesting, but it is the 
interaction between staff and students and among 
students themselves th at is especially appealing.” 
P erh a p s b ecause of th e  an o n y m ity , th e  
interaction—like the questions—tends to be lively 
and uninhibited. Students don’t  hesitate to critique 
or expand on answers or give their own suggestions. 
It may be this aspect more than any other th a t li­
brary users find the most captivating. While not a 
service which is typical of academic libraries, it has 
proven to fit in well in the academic setting, espe­
cially in a library designed for and used prim arily 
by undergraduates. Despite its limitations, provi­
sion of this service in conjunction with conven­
tional reference service meets a broader spectrum 
of needs than would the reference desk alone. The 
Question Board provides students w ith a place to 
ask silly, curious, trivial, consuming, nagging, im­
portant questions...and provides the answers as 
well.

■ ■