Cybersecurity Project

CERT Spotlight: Mitigating Threats from Within

http://www.cert.org/

Common Sense Guide to Mitigating Insider Threats, 4th Edition

CERT advisories have become a core component of US-CERT's Technical Cyber Security Alerts

Secure systems

Our research in cyber security engineering involves analyzing how susceptible systems are to sophisticated attacks and proposing better designs for such systems. We also develop techniques that enable us to predict future threats to the internet. The results of our research contribute to our work with network situational awareness. As part of this "operational" component, we are developing tools and techniques that will improve the ability for network administrators to identify what is happening on their networks. These tools and techniques include engineering solutions and research approaches for analyzing broad network activity. The goal is to quantitatively characterize threats and targeted intruder activity.

UC Berkley Library

The University of California, Berkeley's 32 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the fourth largest university library by number of volumes in the United States, surpassed only by the libraries of Harvard, Yale, and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[1] As of 2006, Berkeley's library system contains over 10 million volumes and maintains over 70,000 serial titles.[2] The libraries together cover over 12 acres (49,000 m2) of land and compose one of the largest library complexes in the world.[3] In 2003, the Association of Research Libraries ranked it as the top public and third overall university library in North America based on various statistical measures of quality.[4]

Objective or Subjective AND Quantitative or Qualitative

Qualitative Research is primarily subjective in approach as it seeks to understand human behavior and reasons that govern such behavior. Researchers have the tendency to become subjectively immersed in the subject matter in this type of research method.

Read more: Quantitative and Qualitative Research - Objective or Subjective?

A clear vision for the future of your library

A clear vision for the future of your library
The correlation between therapy and Library 2.0 really makes sense!!!

Spicynodes!

I found this really cool tool for diagramming concepts!
I just found out that I can import and export spicynode files as .xml files!! Yippie!!
From Author's guide at Spicynodes
Creating a compelling nodemap isn’t difficult, but it does challenge writers to think and express themselves in new ways.

Welcome to the pantry.

SpicyNodes opens up new methods of organizing information. In order to create a powerful nodemap, consider that you are working in what is essentially three-dimensional space. In other words, readers do not have to proceed through a conventionally single, linear path of information flow. Instead, they are able to make their own choices and follow the paths of information that pique their interest.

Following the recipe.

This guide offers a definitive walkthrough of how to develop a nodemap, from fundamental concepts of appropriately preparing your information content for a SpicyNodes implementation, to demonstrating how you can use the SpicyNodes authoring interface to create and build your nodemap.

Thinking in Nodes

When presenting information in exploratory form, it’s best to break the information down into categories, sub-categories, and interconnections — like a Table of Contents, or branches of a tree. Even if you are trying to tell a story of sequential events, it is still possible to break the story down into units — similar to a conventional book, which has as chapters and sub-headings. Websites present a "3D space" to spread out your information, whereby users not only select from web pages that differentiate information from a central "homepage," but also go into the web site to explore embedded pages linked through other pages.

Shortcuts in the kitchen.

The craft of writing node copy is slightly different than that of writing magazine or news articles, web copy, press releases, or technical material. With traditional forms of writing, you have a high word count in which to explain a concept or expound upon a theory. When writing node copy, you want to keep it short and to the point – from a few words to several sentences. The art of writing node titles is akin to writing titles and subheads for other media, while writing node copy is similar to writing captions or sidebars.
This is the concept of a nodemap — breaking your information down into small, interconnecting units, called nodes. You can either implement a SpicyNodes nodemap to represent a structure of interconnected web pages, or as a single, interactive visualization experience.

Contrasting tastes and textures.

There are many different types of nodemaps; they can lead readers to the specific information they seek, but can also invite readers to browse and discover new information. Serving as a directory, nodes can act like a table of contents or a collapsible menu by breaking a topic into increasingly smaller pieces and swiftly leading the reader to the information he or she is seeking. When serving information content, a nodemap becomes more like a museum exhibit, inviting the reader to delve more deeply into topics of interest. Nodemaps often serve both purposes, and contain nodes that are like a directory by forming links, and nodes that are like an exhibit by displaying abstract information.
In all cases, the center node acts as a “home base." From the center, the visitor clicks on nodes to travel into the nodemap, but always has the option to return to where he or she started.

Start with the finest ingredients

A useful and engaging nodemap begins with a single ingredient: information. Whether you are creating morsels from the copy on an existing web site, using nodemaps as a vehicle for creative expression, or researching a topic and compiling information from a variety of sources, start by having your information close at hand. This makes it exponentially easier to organize your information into a structure appropriate to the purpose, and allows you to prepare your nodemap content and structure before creating a nodemap within the SpicyNodes interface.

Quotation Marks: Where Do the Commas and Periods Go--and Why?

I found this quite entertaining  :-)
byTina Blue
March 17, 2002

    Whenever we have to use a question mark or an exclamation point with a sentence that ends in a quotation, we follow the dictates of logic in determining where the question mark or exclamation point goes.  If it is part of the quotation itself, we put it inside the quotation marks, and if it governs the sentence as a whole but not the material being quoted, we put it outside the quotation marks.

    ~Have you read the assigned short story, "Flowering Judas"?

    ~No, but I did finally get around to reading last week's assignment,  "Where Are They Now?"

    When it comes to commas and periods, though, logic doesn't enter into the equation, at least not in the United States.  Universal American usage places commas and periods inside the quotation marks, regardless of logic.

~"Diane," she said, "put the book down and go outside for a little while."

~"I will in a minute," she replied, "as soon as I finish this chapter."

    This rule applies even when the unit enclosed at the end of the sentence is just a single word rather than an actual quotation:

~To get to the next page, just press the little button marked "Enter."

    The only exception is when that last little item enclosed in quotation marks is just a letter or a number, in which case the period or comma will go outside the closing quotation marks:

~The buried treasure was marked on the map with a large "X".

~The only grade that will satisfy her is an "A".

~On this scale, the highest ranking is a "1", not a "10".

    Of course, if another set of words or a parenthetical citation gets between the quoted material and the end of a sentence, then the comma or period will follow the intervening elements:

    ~"Diane, put the book down and go outside" was what her mother said, but what Diane heard was "Blahblahblahblah" or something even less meaningful.

    ~The question is whether the persona is expressing a death wish in those identical final lines, "And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep" (15-16).

    Now, keep in mind that this comma and period inside the quotation marks business is strictly American usage.  The British don't do it that way.  They are inclined to place commas and periods logically rather than conventionally, depending on whether the punctuation belongs to the quotation or to the sentence that contains the quotation, just as we do with question marks and exclamation points.

Since most of my international students were taught in schools that followed the British system, I tell them to continue placing their commas and periods as they were taught.  In the first place, most of them will soon return to their home countries, so it would be silly to force them to switch to our style for the few years that they are here.

    But even more important is the matter of consistency.  If we try to force international students to adopt the American style, they will end up mixing the two styles, sometimes placing commas and periods inside, sometimes outside quotation marks.  It is far better for them to continue using the British style than to incongruously blend the two.

    My American students, though, don't get to choose.  They have to do it the American way, just as they have to drive on the right side of the street, even though the British drive on the left side. (Of course, the British also drive on the right side when they are in this country, so maybe that's not such a good comparison.)

    Anyway, the point is that if you are an American, you need to keep your commas and periods inside your closing quotation marks, where they belong.*

________________________

* And just why, you may ask, do they belong there?  Well, it seems to be the result of historical accident.   When type was handset, a period or comma outside of quotation marks at the end of a sentence tended to get knocked out of position, so the printers tucked the little devils inside the quotation marks to keep them safe and out of trouble.  But apparently only American printers were more attached to convenience than logic, since British printers continued to risk the misalignment of their periods and commas.

Memories!!

Loved turning the crank on the ditto machine and the mimeograph machine!!
Loved the purple mimeograph's too!!

Someone else blogged about their memory too   :-)
http://verbmall.blogspot.com/2009/12/copycat.html

All about brackets

• ( ) — round brackets, open brackets, soft brackets, close brackets (UK), or parentheses
• [ ] — square brackets, closed brackets, hard brackets, or brackets (US)
• { } — French brackets, curly brackets, definite brackets, swirly brackets, curly braces, birdie brackets, Scottish brackets, squirrelly brackets, braces, gullwings, seagull, or fancy brackets
• ⟨ ⟩ — pointy brackets, angle brackets, triangular brackets, diamond brackets, tuples, or chevrons
• < > — inequality signs, pointy brackets, or brackets. Sometimes referred to as angle brackets, in such cases as HTML markup. Occasionally known as broken brackets or brokets.
• ‹ ›; « » — angular quote brackets, or guillemets
• ⸤ ⸥; ｢ ｣ — corner brackets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket

Dyes

This is so random, but I couldn't help sharing the information!  High-end Curaçaos, like Grand Marnier, are based on cognac (or other aged spirits), gives Curaçao a natural rust-orange color.  However the blue color of Blue Curaçao's is achieved by adding of food colorant, most often E133 Brilliant Blue.  This is not to be confused with Brilliant Blue G.  Like the average person would do this!!

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

By:  English poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,   
And sorry I could not travel both   
And be one traveler, long I stood   
And looked down one as far as I could   
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,   
And having perhaps the better claim,   
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;   
Though as for that the passing there   
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay   
In leaves no step had trodden black.   
Oh, I kept the first for another day!   
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,   
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh   
Somewhere ages and ages hence:   
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—   
I took the one less traveled by,   
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost (1874–1963). 
Mountain Interval.  1920.

My Raven Wordle

Libr 285 Social Research Methods

Wonderful articles -- great subjects!!

Carmichael, James. "`They Sure Got to Prove It on Me': Millennial Thoughts on Gay Archives, Gay Biography, and Gay..." Libraries & Culture, 35.1 (2000): 88-102.


The American Library Association’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Task Force (GLBTRT)* justly takes pride of place as the first professional gay organization in the world.1 While the ALA itself ended discrimination based on sexual orientation in 1974, antipathy to gay issues within the profession is by no means dormant. At the same time, the growth in gay archives and gay studies in the past twenty-five years has been phenomenal. Gay librarians and archivists can continue to play an increasingly important role in promoting these collections and their use, but only if they understand the full range of historical problems that gay history and biography present. Where appropriate, library historians should also chronicle the achievements of gay library worthies.

Dochterman, M. A., & Stamp, G. H. (2010). Part 1: The determination of web credibility: A thematic analysis of web user's [sic] judgments. Qualitative Research Reports In Communication, 11(1), 37-43. doi:10.1080/17459430903514791

Saad, M., & Zainab, A. N. (2009). An investigation of information seeking behavior of Computer Science and Information Technology undergraduates: a qualitative approach. Malaysian Journal Of Library & Information Science, 14(3), 15-34.

Mehra, B., Black, K., Singh, V., & Nolt, J. (2011). What is the Value of LIS Education? A Qualitative Study of the Perspectives of Tennessee's Rural Librarians. Journal of Education for Library & Information Science, 52(4), 265-278.

Mosaic

"We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic.
Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams."
---Jimmy Carter, 39th US President (1977-81).
Nobel Prize for Peace, 2002.





http://www.unr.edu/stsv/cscd/contact/

http://www.unr.edu/stsv/cscd/mosaic/

Learning Commons LIBR 250

Tonight is the first night of a long 16 weeks in the deep end of the pool  :-)
https://sites.google.com/site/schoollearningcommons/
I believe I have to create a reading plan and later a personal learning page.  Dr. Loertscher said we need to document everything we do.  This is after all my journal of my library journey.

Impact Calculator

 “The impact calculator is potentially a very strong tool to provide comparative costs information in a clear and helpful way to demonstrate savings, and could easily be reproduced for summary reports”  
Oxford University, Bodleian Library Pilot Project

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/records-management/measuring-impact/impact-calculator/index_html

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/records-management/measuring-impact

Records management futurewatch

Steve Bailey

Record & Information Manager

Senior Advisor, JISC InfoNet

Steve currently acts as senior advisor on records management issues for JISC infoNet (Joint Information Systems Committee), an advisory service for managers within the Higher Education and Further Education sectors. He is responsible for preparing and disseminating a range of guidance material and tools to help support the development of records management within the sector and is a well known speaker and writer on records management issues, including the thought-provoking book, “Managing the crowd: Rethinking records management for the web 2.0 world.” Prior to moving to JISC infoNet in February 2007 Steve spent five years leading JISC’s own internal records & information management activities and its successful program of innovative records management and information governance development projects. Since obtaining his Masters with Distinction in Archives and Records Management from University College London (UCL) in 1997, Steve has worked as Assistant Records Manager for the global pharmaceutical company Pfizer and Team Leader (Archives and Records Management) for the University of Gloucestershire.

Steve’s RMfuturewatch blog is available from http://rmfuturewatch.blogspot.com/
And he can be followed on twitter at @sjbailey

25 Great Thinkers Every College Student Should Read

By Donna Scott

College is for expanding one’s intellectual horizons. Unfortunately, drinking and having fun can distract from learning about history’s great thinkers. From Mark Twain to Confucius, an educated individual should posses some knowledge of certain philosophers, artists and thinkers. Here are 25 great thinkers every college student should read, even if professors don’t assign them.

Western Philosophers

Western universities understandably tend to focus on Western philosophers and thinkers. Check out the works from these masters of Western philosophical thought.

1. Ralph Waldo Emerson: Emerson was an influential figure in the first recognized American school of philosophical thought. After marrying a wealthy widow, Emerson lived in relative comfort for most of his life, supporting other famous writes such as Henry David Thoreau.
2. John Stuart Mill: One of Britain’s most famous political philosophers, Mill was a member of Parliament who endlessly debated the nature of liberty and freedom.
3. Immanuel Kant: Kant’s work on the limitations and structure of reason shaped and influenced philosophical thought throughout the twentieth century. His "Critique of Pure Reason" remains a classic of philosophy and is taught in universities around the world.
4. Soren Kierkegaard: This Danish philosopher is one of the leading thinkers responsible for existentialism.
5. Niccolo Machiavelli: A must for aspiring politicians and wannabe despots, Machiavelli’s "The Prince" is the original guide to ruling an empire or corporate boardroom.

Eastern Thinkers

Eastern philosophies have proven influential on figures throughout history from Marco Polo to the Beatles. The sage wisdom offered by these Eastern thinkers still resonates with audiences separate by culture and time.

6. Confucius: A Chinese thinker and social philosopher, Confucius emphasized personal and institutional morality as well as justice and proper social relationships.
7. Avicenna: This Persian mathematician is perhaps one of the most widely known Muslim philosophers. His works discuss topics ranging from medical ethics to metaphysics.
8. Laozi: The philosophy espoused by this ancient Chinese philosopher eventually became the Taoist religion. Laozi has often influenced and served as inspiration for anti-authoritarian movements.
9. Siddhartha Gautama: Siddhartha was a price who gave away all his possessions to find a deeper meaning from life. After extensive fasting and meditation he achieved enlightenment becoming known as the Buddha. The teachings of this humble price have changed the course of history and philosophical thought.
10. D.T. Suzuki: One of the few modern members on this list, Suzuki is largely responsible for introducing Western audiences to Eastern religions such as Zen Buddhism.

Statesman

Polls show few people trust politicians. History tells a different story as great statesmen inspire courage and selfless action. These politicians are some of history’s great thinkers, speakers and individuals.

11. Winston Churchill: In his nation’s darkest hour, Winston Churchill served as a beacon of inspiration and support. Churchill’s writings and speeches are true testaments to the power of words.
12. Thomas Jefferson: Despite many hypocrisies from his actual life, Jefferson’s writings are beautiful tributes to the power of freedom. (Thomas Jefferson Biography)
13. Ataturk: The powerful, infamous Turkish leader responsible for ushering his nation into a modern era, Ataturk is a highly regarded figure from Muslim and Turkish history.
14. Mao Zedong: The leader of the Communist revolution in China, Chairman Mao’s impact on history is on increasing with time.
15. Nelson Mandela: After surviving 27 years as a political prisoner, Mandela became South Africa’s first black president beginning the healing process from decades of apartheid.

Writers and Artists

The creative representation of life presented by artists can be more truthful than anything presented by real life. These master writers and artists use characters, brilliant technique and artistic vision to boldly explore timeless questions.

16. Mark Twain: A genuinely clever wit, Mark Twain is best known for penning the classic, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Go beyond Twain’s best known works to discover a thinker centuries ahead of his Victorian time.  (Mark Twain Biography)
17. George Orwell: Modern audiences are often frightened by the remarkable foresight Orwell demonstrates in his writing. Indispensible phrases such as "big brother" and "doublespeak" were created by Orwell and are perfectly suited to modern society.
18. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: This Colombian writer focuses on themes of third world poverty and fantasy. His work is often based in history with elements of the fantastic brilliantly incorporated in the story telling.
19. Albert Camus: This French author brilliantly executed complicated existential philosophies into compelling narratives.
20. Khalil Gibran: This Lebanese philosopher, writer and painter was educated in the US before returning to his native land. Gibran’s 1923 book, "The Prophet" was extremely influential on 1960s counterculture. (yes it was)
21. Kurt Vonnegut: Zany, sharp and always funny, Vonnegut was one of the truly great science fiction writers of the 20th century. Even better, his works are extremely accessible and easy to read despite being a little whacky.
22. Gunter Grass: A German writer who won the 1999 Noble prize for literature, Grass writes literature exploring complex moral issues.
23. Marcel Proust: A brilliant French novelist, Proust’s most famous work contains over 2,000 characters over some 3,000 pages. No one could blame you for skimming the volume but the words from this genius are worth enduring.
24. Issac Asimov: One of the reasons for the popularity of science fiction during the 20th century, Asimov is best known for writing the "I, Robot" series.
25. Arthur Rimbaud: Rimbaud was a French philosopher that influenced the Beat Generation of American writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Something of a prodigy, Rimbaud produced his best known works in his late teens before giving up writing all together at 21.

Citation

Everything Is Miscellaneous

Libraries sans Dewey

October 2nd, 2009 by davidw

Barbara Fister has a terrific article in Library Journal about libraries who have moved away from the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system, many in favor of some version of the BISAC system that arranges books alphabetically by topic. This is a more bookstore-like approach. The article presents the multiple sides of this discussion, with lots of examples.
The disagreement among librarians is, to my mind, itself evidence that there is no one right way to organize physical objects. Classification is pragmatic. You classify in a way that works, but what works depends upon what you’re trying to do. Libraries serve multiple purposes, so librarians have to make hard decisions. If the DDC isn’t the safe and obvious choice, then libraries have to confront the question of their mission. The classification question quickly becomes existential in the JP Sartre sense.
At the end, she quotes from Everything Is Miscellaneous where I say that the Dewey system “can’t be fixed.” I still think that’s right in its context: No single classification system can work for everyone or for every purpose, although they can be better or worse at what they’re trying to do. In that sense, the DDC can be improved, and the OCLC has continuously improved it. But because it’s premised on assigning a single main category to each book, it is repeating the limitations of the physical world that require physical books each to go on a single shelf. Any single classification is going to be inapt for some purposes, and is going to embody biases constitutive of its culture. It’s the job of a library and of a book store to decide which single way of classifying works best for its patrons, with the obvious recognition that no single way works best for all. Books are miscellaneous. Libraries, bookstores, and the shelves over your desk are not.

http://www.everythingismiscellaneous.com/

Dewey in a different class

By Barbara Fister -- Library Journal, 10/1/2009

Not long ago, a mother blogged about her visit to a newly opened public library in Darien, CT. Though she appreciated its soaring ceilings, the fireplaces and cozy nooks, the presence of a café, and state-of-the-art technology, what really excited her was the way the books were organized. “The books everywhere, but especially in the children's room, have been shelved, labeled, and organized in a way that makes me feel less like a moron and more empowered to find what I'm looking for on my own.” She went on to say, “the Library, which in my mind used to be a little intimidating and kind of like a disapproving Mother, is reaching out to ME. 'Library' is saying to ME that she wants to be like ME and doesn't expect me to be like her anymore.”
It's not often that patrons express such strong enthusiasm for shelving systems, but in recent years librarians have been embroiled in a classification struggle. The first skirmish occurred in Maricopa County, AZ, when the new Perry Branch Library, Gilbert, opened in 2007 with nonfiction books shelved using a system adapted from the book industry, BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications). Unlike Dewey, which categorizes related knowledge systematically, BISAC is an alphabetical list of categories ranging from Antiques and Collectibles to True Crime. Many librarians feel BISAC's relative simplicity and user-friendly language have an advantage over Dewey's complexity.
Self-sufficiency
The BISAC system is maintained by the Book Industry Study Group, which classifies books into 52 broad categories, each with additional levels of specificity. Categories for a book are typically determined by the publisher (a job that often falls to the editor, who knows the book best) and are used throughout the distribution chain by companies like Amazon, Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Bookscan, Bowker, Ingram, and others. In many ways, it fuses the functions of subject headings with classification. Many bookstores work with the categories to organize their shelves, but the categories and subcategories are also used to create a searchable record of a book. Though the bookseller might decide to shelve the book in one category, that book may have multiple BISAC headings assigned to it in the computer system. Unlike library classification systems, BISAC codes are invisible to the end user, enabling browsing but usually requiring customers to turn to a staffer to locate a specific title.
According to Marshall Shore, a consultant who was at the Maricopa County Library District (MCLD) at the time and played a major role in inspiring the Perry Branch Rebellion, the issue isn't which system is superior; it's about the user's experience. When interviewing nonusers, he reports, “I heard over and over 'those numbers scare me,' 'I don't understand them,' 'they make me feel stupid.' The goal of having a BISAC-based scheme is to put customers at ease and help them become more self-sufficient and comfortable using the library.”
Jennifer Miele, Perry Branch manager, says the change was prompted by annual surveys. “Over 75 percent of our customers stated that they go to the library to 'browse' for materials.” Serving the fifth fastest growing community in the country, the new branch has been so popular that MCLD plans to adopt BISAC classification in all new branches and will convert existing branches as funds permit. At the Perry Branch, circulation continues to rise. According to Miele, for FY07/08, “our average circulation was 28,693 and for [FY08/09], our average was 39,693.”
“Ease, comfort, and flexibility were important parts of the planning discussion, with taxonomy being one piece,” says Shore. “The library was designed to be customer-centric.” That emphasis included placing low shelving at the entrance to draw people into the collection, tripling the number of lounge chairs, creating reading nooks, and adding signage to help patrons navigate. Shore recalls, “On opening day, extra staff were called in to handle the presumed customer confusion. I remember approaching a woman to explain the library, when she mouthed 'gardening' and made a beeline to the area, browsed, and left with a stack of books.”
Since the Perry Branch opened, four more libraries in the Maricopa system have gone Dewey-less, with a goal of ditching Dewey in all 18 system libraries.
The rebellion catches on
The innovations at MCLD have inspired other libraries. After attending a presentation about the system's experience at the Public Library Association national conference in 2008, librarians at the Frankfort Public Library District, IL, immediately began planning a conversion. According to their Freeing Dewey blog, they are “not necessarily saying no to Dewey but, rather, slowly freeing him, something that we, as well as other libraries, had begun to do years ago with our biography and fiction collections.” They chronicled their progress on Twitter, finally posting on September 10 that “our Adults Colls r officially DEWEY FREE.”
Following a visit to the Perry Branch, librarians at the Rangeview Library District, Northglenn, CO, decided to join the revolution and in 2009 became the first library system to adopt a BISAC-based classification for all of its libraries, though with some modifications. Their “WordThink” system shelves books using words—labeling the spine of a book with a broad category such as Art and a narrower term such as Drawing. Within those subsections, books are shelved alphabetically by title. According to Director Pam Sandlian Smith, “Customers often comment that when they visit bookstores, they can find things easily and would like that ease of use in libraries.” Though it took about 1000 hours of staff time, the changeover was well received. “The elegant simplicity of the system becomes evident immediately. People love the idea of simply finding all their favorite books together under a word heading, which is so easy to navigate,” says Smith. “Librarians have visited our library and have immediately fallen in love with this organization.”
Shelve under skeptical
When Maricopa made its move, the responses were fast and occasionally furious on library discussion lists and even on Metafilter, where a posting in 2007 about dropping Dewey attracted over 80 comments. One ongoing debate is whether turning to retail for inspiration is a betrayal of core library values. Tom Eland, a librarian at Minneapolis Community and Technical College who teaches courses on the politics of information, thinks that turning to business as a model for libraries shows an uncritical acceptance of market capitalism. “Unlike customer service, which is done by private sector corporations on behalf of the profit motive, public service to library patrons is done on behalf of the civic duty of library workers to serve the interest of citizens and residents of the community who patronize the library.” He's not surprised that libraries that drop Dewey often display materials using ideas from retailing. “Too bad for the people who are trying to do real research, or who want to explore a specific domain of knowledge by going to the shelves and browsing by classification area.”
Wayne Wiegand, professor of library and information studies and American studies at Florida State University, Tallahassee, says, “In general, bookstores do a better job of identifying newer titles relevant to their customers' interests, but that doesn't mean they understand those interests. They are mostly responding toa market demand.” While he thinks libraries should respond to what readers want rather than expecting readers to fit into the library's way of doing things, he takes a pragmatic view. “Dewey has faults but so does any other classification scheme.... To talk of changing classification systems at this time is unrealistic.”
Joan S. Mitchell, editor in chief of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), is supportive of libraries that want to experiment. “I would never criticize a library for making a decision based on the needs of the population the library serves. If you have a popular collection for whichbroad English-language categories such as those used in bookstores are adequate, then perhaps such labeling works in your local setting.” However, she points out that “if you equate 'using Dewey' to a physical shelf location device, you are missing the rich layers of access.” Dewey can sort large collections into more specific groups than BISAC can. Moreover, a system that is entirely based on English words might inadvertently send the message that the public library is for English speakers only. A web site (Dewey.info) is under development that will, among other things, provide linked DDC summaries in nine languages.
What librarians think
Librarians in the field are actively trying to figure out the right balance. In August 2009, an online survey posted to blogs, Twitter, FriendFeed, and Rusa-L was taken by over 100 public librarians. Well over half said patron difficulty in finding nonfiction is related to three factors: having trouble understanding the online catalog, feeling intimidated by a classification system they don't understand well, and wanting to go straight to the right shelf without having to look anything up. Only half believe patrons find call numbers too complicated, and a third felt shelving categories don't pull together topics in the way patrons want to browse.
There was more disagreement about the best solution. Ten percent agreed with the statement that their library would be better off if Dewey was scrapped in favor of the browsing categories used in bookstores. Almost 50 percent agreed with the idea of keeping Dewey but adjusting categories and adding words to the call number. Just over a quarter thought enhancing Dewey with better signage would satisfy patrons. Ten percent affirmed the statement, “People who want to drop Dewey don't understand the nuances of classification and are throwing away something valuable and widely used just to follow a trend.” Three respondents felt there was no compelling reason to change.
Respondents expressed everything from “it's about time” [we gave up Dewey] to “It's part of the dumbing down of our society.” Others thought nothing would satisfy patrons completely: “We shelve fiction by the authors' last names, and sometimes by genre, and people still have trouble finding books.”
A number of respondents wondered if the experiment would scale well. “So far the libraries I've seen that have implemented a BISAC-like program have all been small branches,” one respondent wrote. “When you get to the larger collections with a much greater subject range, I'm not sure how well one can divide everything into a smaller group of categories.”
Of course, there are those librarians who think libraries already do it better than bookstores. “Dewey allows for a level of 'granulation' in topic areas that general subject areas such as those in bookstores cannot duplicate,” one wrote. “I find it harder to find materials in bookstores than in the library.” But others feel it's time for a change. “It's not about what I think, it's about what the patrons think,” wrote one. “And these days, I don't think Dewey translates well for many of our patrons—the majority wouldn't miss it at all as long as they could still find books on the subject they're looking for, especially if they could find it quickly and easily without assistance.”
The mashup solution
At the new Darien Library, the staff decided to work with Dewey rather than abandon it. According to Kate Sheehan, knowledge and learning services librarian, “adult nonfiction has been rearranged in what I like to call a Dewey/bookstore mashup. We wanted to retain the findability of Dewey while encouraging and enabling browsing. We clumped similar areas of Dewey together in eight broad categories, which we call glades,” a concept similar to the innovative “neighborhoods” created in Hennepin County's, MN, Brookdale Branch. “Dewey does a decent job of organizing, for example, travel books. They get broken down by region and then country, and it's pretty easy to browse and find,” says Sheehan. “However, Dewey leaves languages on the other side of the library, which doesn't help travelers who want to browse for materials for their trip. So, we put them in one section and call it Places. It's a flexible system that we're still tweaking based on patron feedback.”
How exactly does this work? “In terms of process,” Sheehan explains, “we made each glade a location in our ILS, and we bought stickers the same width as our spine labels, with the glade names. We went through the stacks in the old library and marked off ranges of Dewey by glade. Every book got a glade sticker above the call number. We changed the locations by call number.” The outliers, she adds, were problematic. “The 300s [social sciences] end up everywhere. And in every range of Dewey numbers, there were exceptions.”
In the children's section, changes were even more radical. Gretchen Hams-Caserotti, head of Darien's children's services, used the questions parents asked to drive her redesign. “The most common request we hear in a children's library is 'My son is three, and he really loves trains. Can you show us where those books are?'” she says. “The common thread is always a declaration of the child's age (or reading level) and intent or interest.” So she planned around that need, using open source software to map visually color-coded categories—such as colors, nature, or transportation—making it easier to find books by the categories that interested different age groups. Even prereading children know that books about trucks can be found in the red section, but the location of a particular book can be pinpointed through the catalog.
“If you spend an afternoon at a large bookstore,” Sheehan says, “you'll see people using it in a couple of ways. The bookstore-as-destination people come in, wander around, get a stack of books, a cup of coffee, and settle in. The grab-and-go folks take a quick look around and usually hop on a computer or ask an employee, find the item they're looking for, and leave. Dewey is great for the grab-and-goers, and we didn't want to lose that. Dewey is not so great for the destination users. Cooking is in technology. Gardening is in arts and recreation. Don't those two make more sense with each other?”
With six weeks to make the switch, it wasn't easy. In spite of the challenges, Hams-Caserotti would do it again in a heartbeat. “Since we opened in January 2009, the children's book circulation has been up about 30 percent each month and still growing as we fine-tune the collection and the room.”
Other approaches
The urge to find new ways to make it easier to discover books has spread to many libraries, including the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, KS, and Anna Porter Public Library (APPL), Gatlinburg, TN, which organized a preconference for the Association for Rural & Small Libraries in September, “Dewey or Not?” As APPL director Kenton Temple explains, “We did not drop Dewey. Rather, we split up and moved Dewey catalog numbers to suit an overall shelf location design. I visited 'bookstore' libraries and many bookstores to see what subjects were usually placed together since I assumed that some market research had been conducted in the book industry to place subjects where they would sell better. If necessary, Dewey numbers were reassigned to get books shelved where they would 'sell' better but not drop Dewey altogether.” Librarians wanted to retain Dewey's precision and its ability to identify a specific shelf location.
The San José Public Library, CA, has also embraced a bookstore approach, in part to handle soaring circulation and increased funding for materials but no increase in staff. One of its timesaving innovations is a “direct shelving method” that eliminates steps in getting books back to the stacks. Books are roughly sorted from book drops right onto trucks. Lorraine Oback, director of marketing communications for the library, estimates that more than half of the books checked in are never placed in precise Dewey order because they're shelved in a “Marketplace” near the library's entrance, which features new and popular materials in general categories.
Right next to MCLD, the much larger Phoenix Public Library (PPL) has taken another approach to integrating BISAC into the library. According to Ross McLachlan, deputy director of technical services, “We didn't go the route of 'let's abandon Dewey.'” Not only would it be too costly, but Dewey is useful. “It is a living thing. There are constant changes, always attempting to be relevant to the development of human knowledge.” To complement the traditional “shelf location with a system behind it,” PPL decided to use BISAC to enrich the catalog with additional metadata and faceted browsing.
In 2005, PPL was the second in the nation after North Carolina State University, Raleigh, to choose Endeca as a replacement for its OPAC. By working with OCLC and vendors, BISAC headings were imported into MARC records. BISAC levels of specificity complement Library of Congress Subject Headings, allowing patrons to drill down into a topic in an intuitive system of guided navigation.
Though adding BISAC headings to the catalog was labor-intensive, it should be easier for libraries in future. According to DDC's Mitchell, “We have a mapping under way between BISAC and Dewey to support the association of Dewey numbers with metadata early in the publication stream.”
On the far end of the innovation spectrum, an experiment has begun at LibraryThing to build a new system from the ground up. The Open Shelves Classification project aims to create “a free, 'humble,' modern, open-source, crowd-sourced replacement for the Dewey Decimal System.” (Both Dewey and BISAC are licensed proprietary products.) As of this writing, the project seems to have hit the pause button, but the online discussion demonstrates the conceptual and practical difficulties involved in designing a classification system.
How broken is it?
There is no doubt the library world is in a dilemma about Dewey, but the system is hardly dead. In his 2007 book, Everything Is Miscellaneous, David Weinberger said bluntly, “It can't be fixed.” In spite of that, Dewey is currently the most widely used classification system in the world, employed in 138 countries by over 200,000 libraries. But the Perry Branch Rebellion and experiments in serving both browsers and “grab-and-go” patrons have spurred a spirited discussion of how to make a singular knowledge system work in a world full of miscellany.

Barbara Fister, LJ Academic Newswire's Peer to Peer Review columnist, is a librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN, a contributor to ACRLog, and an author of crime fiction. Her next mystery, Through the Cracks, will be published by Minotaur Books in 2010
 
From: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6698264.html