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Keywords

Library Classification, Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), Library of Congress Classification (LCC), Perceptions, Academic Libraries, Catalogers

Abstract

Serving as a follow-up to Lund and Agbaji’s 2018 surveys of library employee preferences towards Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress Classification schemes, this study presents inferential comparisons between the responses of cataloging librarians’ and non-cataloging librarians perceptions and preferences towards DDC and LCC. The hypothesis for this research is that, based on the cataloger’s expertise in cataloging and classification relative to the average employee, they may have substantially different perceptions/preferences toward library classification schemes. The data, however, do not reflect such a difference. Instead, we find no statistically significant difference between the perceptions of catalogers and non-catalogers and only a small difference in preference exists, which can be explained by confounding variables. This suggests that although cataloging librarians have specialized knowledge about classification, their opinions about classification schemes are not distinct from their non-cataloging peers.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

References

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Lund, B. D., & Agbaji, D. A. (2018a). What scheme do we prefer? An examination of preference between Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal Classification among US-Based academic library employees. Knowledge Organization, 45(5), 380-392. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2018-5-380

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