In April the Dewey editorial team publicized a short poll in which we asked library workers to rate the importance of topics that the editors had identified as needing development. A few weeks later we distributed a longer survey designed to ask broader questions about identifying subjects which needed updates. We got hundreds of responses to these questionnaires and we're glad to be able to shape our work in accordance with your insights!
Some of the topics that came up as being high priority for libraries:
- food intolerance
- vaping
- low-income neighborhoods
We still haven't had any takers to help us move forward with updating these topics, so please let us know if you'd be willing to help.
We also asked people to identify which of the main classes were the highest priorities for potential revisions. As you can see below, survey respondents identified 000 Computer science, information & general works, 600 Technology (Applied sciences), and 300 Social sciences as areas in which revisions would be most useful to their users.
We also asked people if they'd be willing to contribute to editorial work to make the DDC better for their users—many people were on board, which is exciting! One of the things we heard most frequently is that people wouldn't be willing to contribute because they didn't have the expertise. If this is a concern you share, let me assure you that you don't need to be a subject matter expert. I mean, I'm not an expert in sewage systems but I'm working on a small update to that part of the schedules right now. Librarians are great at researching any topic—that's a skill you can use to collaborate on updating Dewey for the benefit of your users! Your expertise in how your library's users are using the DDC is incredibly valuable for proposing revisions.
To learn more about contributing, visit http://oc.lc/deweycontributors and don't hesitate to get in touch at [email protected].
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