Please note: This assignment stands on its own. All the information you need to tackle it is listed in the assignment description. Your discussion/responses need only reference readings and material to-date.
A4 is designed to get you thinking about what you already know. I’ll ask you to come back to the work you did for the assignment when we explore Classification later in the semester.
All to say, take the assignment as it is and do your best! We’ll see where the gaps in individual and shared knowledge are and discuss them later in the semester.
Write a short, substantive, and thoughtful response to the following:
Using the LCSH Classification Schedule, (Links to an external site.) select a topic (“class”) that interests you and read the pdf file for the three sections: Preface, Outline, Text.
For example: For my interest in indigenous law I would look at Class K and specifically, KI-KIL.
The Preface: (Links to an external site.)KI-KIL Preface (Links to an external site.) Law of Indigenous Peoples (PDF, 1 p., 44 KB)
The text: KI-KIL Text (Links to an external site.) Law of Indigenous Peoples (PDF, 219 p., 1.37 MB)
This particular entry does not list an introduction.
Follow these prompts for a short exercise and discussion:
What class did you select and why?
Locate the catalog record (not the MARC record but the page users see in the OPAC for the Wayne State Libraries) for a monograph that you are familiar with in that class (use the Wayne State University Libraries OPAC for this assignment). Include a screenshot of the catalog record in your submission. See this example (2 screen shots to capture all the info): catalog_record-1.jpeg and catalog_record-2.jpeg
Include a full citation for the monograph you selected.
Using the “shelf view” feature of the WSU Library OPAC examine the items that “surround” the monograph you selected. (NB: If the title you selected does not have the “shelf view” feature you will need to find one that does.)
Include a screen shot of the “shelf view” for your item
What is nearby on the shelf? Discuss and include a screen shot of the “shelf view” for the item you selected.
Are there any surprises? (If so, discuss why and relate to the readings we have explored to date; if not, discuss and relate to the readings we have explored to date. Be specific and give examples.)
Does the material on that “shelf” make sense to you given what you know about the monograph that started this search? Discuss why or why not and ground your discussion with reference to relevant readings to date for this course? Be specific and give examples.
Finally, what is the Dewey classification for the monograph you selected?
How would it be classified using Dewey?
Discuss your thought process for making this decision and be sure to reference relevant readings and resources from the course to date.
This assignment requires students to take what they know about Dewey and try to construct the Dewey classification for the item they selected.