YIPPEE I am finally done activity 3! I now fully understand what my fellow course participants were talking about when they said that this activity was time consuming and difficult. This activity was a dousy and took about 4 hours from start to finish. Having no prior experience with library cataloguing I felt that I was learning a new language by looking at the Dewey Decimal Numbers and the Library of Congress Classification Numbers.
The first few books that I looked up were difficult to catalogue. Partially it was difficult as I was navigating my way through unfamiliar websites and search engines trying to find the best resources to complete this activity. However by the fourth book I really felt that I had got "the hang of it" and I was able to understand the "language" and I had a basic understanding of the cataloging process.
I don't really have a preference of either the Dewey Decimal system or the Library of Congress cataloging system they both have their advantages and disadvantages. The Library of Congress system appears to have more sub categories so books are in specific areas. For example a book about Education in Europe has its own category in the Library of Congress. In the Dewey decimal system the same book would end up in the category of either elementary or secondary education. A typical School library does not require a cataloguing system that in-depth. I can understand why schools tend to use the Dewey Decimal system. It is more user friendly for the student and for the librarian who has do all of the back of the house duties. Upon completing this activity I do however have a greater appreciation for cataloguing and for the people who fully understand how to do it. It is a very time consuming complicated process that requires a lot of information and knowledge to complete.
Websites I found useful:
To look up the Library of Congress Information, under the full listing you can find the Dewey Decimal Classification number
www.catalog.loc.gov/webvoy.htm
To find the Library of Congress Headings
www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/
To understand the Dewey Decimal Classification
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dewey_Decimal_classes
