Which Book Cataloging System is Best? By Maxim Smirnov At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Though it might seem like fewer people are reading these days, this is far from the case. Reading, while done more often on the Internet, is still a part of our everyday lives. With this in mind, you can see how it's important to continue to treasure books and all of the knowledge they impart. Having a system in place to catalog said books will allow books to be more convenient than ever as well as accessible. But which book cataloging system is best for you and your needs?

The Dewey Decimal System

While many people grew up with the idea of the Dewey Decimal System, this is becoming less and less the case as time goes by. This numbered system doesn't quite make sense to the average library visitor, but it tried to manage the stacks of books in an orderly fashion, assigning certain numbers to the books and arranging the stacks by these numbers. However, the problem for many people with this book cataloging system is that many people aren't sure which numbers correspond to which books. And since the books are also assigned to categories within these numbers, it can be hard to objectively assign numbers. Thus many libraries today have gotten rid of the Dewey Decimal System, favoring a topic based system and alphabetized listings.

Alphabetically Cataloging

It might seem then that using the letters of the titles or the authors will be the best way to handle a book cataloging system – but even this has its challenges. First of all, do you alphabetize everything or just within categories? Do you catalog by author or title? The system of alphabetizing books can then become more troublesome if different places choose different methods of alphabetization. Plus, books fall out of order easily, so it can be difficult to find books, even when well-organized. This system can also be problematic when you have multiple participants in the organization as each may have their own ideas about where things should be placed.

Digital Organization

But with a book cataloging system that's based in a computer program, you can easily sort and arrange titles to suit your needs. You can search for titles or authors, or arrange them by either designation. This system can also be added to, subtracted from, or moved from one location to the next without missing a step. These sorts of catalogs can also be shared on the Internet or printed out for your personal reference. Digital organization can also help you have a backup inventory record should you need to file an insurance claim or locate a specific book that's missing.

There are a number of choices when it comes to a book cataloging system. But when you are making the decision, you need to ensure you are not only considering the difficulty of the organization, but also how much organization you need. After all, organizing at home is one thing, providing books to children through a library is another situation altogether.

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