A few months ago, a local library system made headlines by announcing their plans to dump the Dewey Decimal Classification system. Librarians around the state were shocked (although some were thrilled), library patrons were puzzled, and I realized that maybe we could all use a reintroduction to Melvil Dewey and his classificationsystem. This month, and every other month or so, I'll be suggesting titles from one of Dewey's ten categories. Fiction readers, fear not; I'll try to have some books for you too.
In 1873, when he was a mere 21-years-old, librarian Melvil Dewey developed a radical for its time 10-category classification system for all of human knowledge. The first category, the "naughts" or numbers beginning with "0," contains an interesting hodgepodge of topics that don't really fit anywhere else. Here you'll find encyclopedias and booksabout journalism, computers, UFO's and other "unexplainables."
Since we're on the topic of radical ideas, let me suggest two books: What is Your Dangerous Idea? and What Have You Changed Your Mind About? both by John Brockman. Every year at his web site,
www.edge.org, Brockman proposes a question and invites some of today's leading thinkers to write about it. So we have Jordan Pollack on the fine line between separation of church and state and the religious intolerance of past regimes; Rupert Sheldrake on the inexplicability of animal navigation is terms of present-day physics; or Sam Harris onthe indifference of Mother Nature. Both books provide plenty of food for thought and discussion.
Last month, libraries celebrated Banned Books Week, a reminder not only of the dangers of censorship, but of the power of books to changelives and whole civilizations. In Books that Changed the World, Robert Downs discusses 16 books he believes had a profound effect on the world. Included are The Bible, Civil Disobedience, Das Kapital and Uncle Tom's Cabin, among others. What books do you think changed the world?
As I mentioned earlier, the 000s are home to books about "unexplainables" and a perfect introduction to the topic is Life: Strange but True: 100 of the World's Weirdest Wonders by the editors of Life magazine. Curious about Roswell, N.M.? Ever wonder what's really going at Loch Ness? You'll find the "answers" to those questions and many more.
Along with UFO's and ghosts, the 000s are home to books about conspiracy theories. To that end, may I suggest Are Conspiracy Theories Valid? by Stuart Kallen, part of the At Issue series for
students. Kallen gathers persuasive essays on both sides of the various conspiracy theories, providing the reader with ammunition to argue either viewpoint. A similar title is The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories by James McConnachie.
I hope I've piqued your curiosity for the mishmash that are the 000s and that you'll spend some time browsing the shelves. For more titles, visit the Jefferson County Public Library Web siteat www.jeffcolibrary.org) or ask your librarian for suggestions.
By Joyce Deming, Information Services Librarian, Golden Library