The Organization of Information

 Chapter 3:  Development of Organization of Information in Western Civilization

            In Chapter 3, we learn how people from around the world, for what seems like the beginning of time, have sought to be organized.  It is interesting to see how individuals from various walks of life have tried to make sense of what needed to be organized. Equally important to them was finding the best system of getting small and large scale organizing done.

            I must say that because his system is the one used to organize the books in my school’s library and because it took me no time to memorize his 10 main classes and many of the subsequent divisions and sections, I declare Melvil Dewey’s decimal system my favorite classification system, (so far).  What I like about the Dewey Decimal Classification, or DDC, is that library patrons can be at relative ease as they navigate solo through (school) libraries because subjects are chunked in related, recognizable groups.  As a lover of literature, I get enamored by the 800’s whereas my best friend who is passionate about pets can find out about her other best friend in the 600’s—636 in particular—as she learns all about dogs. I was recently given the 19^th edition of Anne Price’s Children’s Catalog.  Part One is entitled Classified Catalog, and it is arranged with the nonfiction books first, classified by the DDC.  I am excited to read through this part of the catalog to find new literature to add to my collection!

The Organization of Information

Chapter 2:  Retrieval Tools

            There are retrieval tools that make it easy to search for recorded information, to find information within information and to access metadata.  Two of the tools that interest me most are the pathfinder and the online catalog. I am becoming increasingly familiar with them, as I use both tools with my students on a daily basis as school librarian.

            After creating a pathfinder, a bibliography used to help research a particular subject, in a Reference course, I realized how useful the retrieval tool can be for the 6^th graders at my school.  These students spend a considerable amount of time learning about the Civil Rights Movement, Ancient Rome, China and Greece and the Holocaust. We do not have enough printed materials, like books, encyclopedia or journals, in our library for students to check out or do adequate research during class time. Pathfinders, with lists of the aforementioned materials, as well as links to museums, libraries and websites, have proven to be quite helpful to my students in school and at home.

            S.O.A.R., Seeking Online Access to Resources, is Chicago Public School’s OPAC, online public access catalog. Students can find what has been cataloged in our school’s library and in the libraries of all of CPS’s schools who currently participate in the S.O.A.R. program. No longer do students have to wait until their weekly library visit to find out what (new) literature awaits them.  No class time has to be wasted searching for books that may not be available. Each child can use access points, terms like author’s name, book title or subject through which records in the catalog can be found, to look for his or her favorite book and to see whether it is in or if it has been checked out. By using S.O.A.R., an excellent retrieval tool that can be accessed anywhere Internet service is available, students can save precious, irretrievable class time.

The Organization of Informaton

Chapter 1:  Organization of Recorded Information

According to Taylor and Joudrey in The Organization of Information, there seems to be a basic need to organize 1.  to group things,  2.  to understand the world around us, 3.  to save time, and 4. to retrieve what we are looking for.  I can see how intertwined all of the reasons for organization are in my own life.  Organization is important to me when I am looking for where I put my purple, not red socks; wondering how many people will use forks, not chopsticks, at my party; or deciding what students I can enroll in a library contest that wants participants who are 10 years old, whether they are in 4^th or 5^th grade.  Recorded information which has similar basic characteristics—title, creator and topic—known as metadata, or data about data, has been organized in a variety of locations, including libraries, museums and archives as well as on the Internet. This information is managed in ways particular to the institution in which it is housed to maximize successful retrieval.