1876 |
Melvil Dewey first published a guide to Dewey classification after its initial development in 1873 and subsequent testing. He explained, "practical usefulness has been esteemed the most important thing. The effort has been to put each book under the subject to the student of which it would be most useful" (Dewey, 1876, p. 6).
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Late 1890s-
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Multiple articles cite the need for further classifying fiction, including E. A. Baker's (1989) "The Classification of Fiction," Frances L. Rathbone's (1901) "Colored Covers for Special Subjects," and Josephine Adams Rathbone's (1902) "The Classification of Fiction" (Baker & Shepherd, 1987, p. 246).
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1909 |
William Borden published findings that "classifying fiction," essentially early genrefication, within a public library resulted in a significant increase in circulation (Borden, 1909, p. 264-265).
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1973 |
Betty S. Briggs briefly reported evidence that 88% of her junior high school students found classified fiction "easier to use than the previous arrangement of fiction in one alphabetically arranged section" (Baker & Shepherd, 1987, p. 247, 251).
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Early 1980s |
Several reports focused on the organization of fiction collections: David Spiller's (1980) "The Provision of Fiction for Public Libraries," Patricia Ainley and Barry Totterdell's (1982) Alternative Arrangement: New Approaches to Public Library Stock, Annelise M. Pejtersen and Jutta Austin's (1983) "Fiction Retrieval: Experimental Design and Evaluation of a Search System Based on Users' Value Criteria (Part 1)," and Gail Harrell's (1985) "The Classification and Organization of Adult Fiction in Large American Public Libraries" (Baker & Shepherd, 1987, p. 247-249)
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1987-1988 |
Sharon L. Baker published articles regarding fiction classification suggesting fiction classification seems to help users find books. She identified the need for further research (Baker & Shepherd, 1987; Baker, 1988).
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July 2007 |
The Perry Branch (joint-use with the Chandler Unified School District) of the Maricopa County Library District opened as one of the first Dewey-free libraries. Within 6 years, the entire district would be using the BISAC-based system known as ShelfLogic. (Bateman, 2013, p. 16)
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January 2009 |
Darien Library reorganized its collection using a Dewey-hybrid classification system they call Glades (Bateman, 2013, p. 9).
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December 2009 |
By the end of 2009, all Anythink (Rangeview Library District) libraries adopted the WordThink classification system, marking the first system-wide adoption of a BISAC-based model (Charles, 2012).
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October 2010 |
Library Journal featured "The Dewey Dilemma" article highlighting the trend of emerging alternative classification systems.
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November 2011 |
Metis classification system developed by librarians at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City (Kaplan, Dolloff, Giffard, & Still-Schiff, 2012, p. 25).
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April 2012 |
St. Vrain Valley School District submitted and later secured a copyright on the Buchter Classification System, a word-based classification system developed by district librarian Holli Buchter and first implemented at Erie's Red Hawk Elementary School in fall 2011 (Wegrzyn, 2012).
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June 2012 |
At the American Association of School Librarian's Affiliate Assembly meeting at the American Library Association's Annual conference, the Kansas Association of School Librarians presented a Statement of Concern regarding genrefication (Weisburg, 2013, p. 8).
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October 2012 |
School Library Journal cover featured the article "Are Dewey's Days Numbered?" featuring Metis system and prompting continued discussion regarding genrefication among school librarians.
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January 2013 |
Prompted by June 2012 Statement of Concern, "Dewey vs. Genre Shelving in School Libraries Discussion Group" held at American Library Association Midwinter Meeting (Weisburg, 2013, p. 8).
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August 2013 |
The Nyack Library reinstated use of Dewey after debate regarding the Dewey-free system.
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November 2013 |
The American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) 16th National Conference featured a session on "Ditching Dewey: Genrefication in Your Library." AASL also devoted its entire November/December issue of KnowledgeQuest to the theme of "Dewey or Don't We?"
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