how do you organize your books?
Being a librarian, I am somewhat obliged to use a standard system. So I settled on Library of Congress, mostly because more books have LC numbers than Dewey numbers so I could just look them up rather than create them. Although the elegant simplicity and beauty of the Dewey system made me long to use it. And fiction is alphabetical by author.
Most recently bought books live in my bedroom piled on my dresser or next to my bed, althought they eventually wind up catalogued and on the library shelves until I am hit with the urge to read one. My favorite books in life live on my bedroom mantel, and my favorite grown-up authors' books live in the living room bookcase. So now that I am building bookshelves for my library, I started thinking of how other people organize their collection.
Henry Petroski wrote a very interesting book called The Book on the Bookshelf about the function and history of *bookshelves* but the best part is the last chapter about how people organize their books. Worth a look if you get your hands on the book. I had to read it for a class my last term in library school.
What do you guys do?
posted by BabelBabe @ 9:54 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Oh, and I should probably mention that all of my books are logged in an Access database searchable by author, title, or LC number.
I know, I know, but it's what I do for a living....
I used to do everything just like a bookstore: Everything was separated by subject and then alphabetizing by author.
Since I've moved, however, things are a mess. "Helpful" people reshelved for me; the books are not only wildly out of order (with books by the same authors not only on different shelves but on different FLOORS), but some are actually UPSIDE DOWN on the shelves!
I need to get them organized, but...I have to admit that sometimes I have a good time staring at all the disarray. I feel like a rebel.
I thought that too. But probably best to ignore him. Maybe email the blog people to warn them what he's up to. Can they yank his blog privileges?
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