[CASL-L] [EXTERNAL] Genrefication question

[Rocca, Jen]

Correction to what I wrote earlier. I said:

   - We kept the call numbers the same but changed the publication of the
   book in Follett.

What I *meant* was:

   - We kept the call numbers the same but changed the SUBLOCATION of the
   book in Follett.


On Wed, Jun 2, 2021 at 10:13 AM Rocca, Jen <Roccaj at brookfieldps.org> wrote:

> We genrefied our fiction collection a few years back. We are a 9-12 high
> school of about 900 students. I don't regret doing it but it is absolutely
> an imperfect process.
>
> How long will it take? The physical moving of books and updating the
> catalog is doable for a single person over the course of, say, a week. If
> they know what they're doing it can go pretty fast. The harder part is
> choosing the genres. We, as librarians, needed to identify the genres; then
> our clerk did the physical moving work over the summer. Genres are
> frequently not cut and dry. Is it dystopia or action? Is it mystery or
> realistic fiction? If it was a book published in 1980 about a story set in
> 1980, is it historical fiction or realistic fiction?
>
> We kept the call numbers the same but changed the publication of the book
> in Follett. The genres we used in the end (not that this is ideal - just
> the best we could do at the time):
>
>    - action / adventure
>    - historical fiction
>    - humor (later deleted)
>    - mystery / horror
>    - realistic fiction
>    - romance
>    - sci-fi / dystopia / fantasy
>    - sports (thinking of removing)
>
> Each genre has a color. The color label covers the call number on the
> spine and matching colored signs above the shelves indicate what section
> they are in.
>
> Many kids really like this when they're browsing. It leads to hiccups
> sometimes. If a kid asks me where *Divergent* is I know it's by
> Veronica Roth but do I remember the genre? (turns out I put that in
> action/adventure instead of sci-fi/dystopia because the sci/fi dystopia
> section is MASSIVE - so not always cut and dry)
>
> I'd say you could start picking away at it by adding sublocations in the
> catalogs now. Or just physically tagging or stacking the books by genres.
> That way the physical movement can happen over the summer.
>
> And it's ongoing. We just found The Monstrumologist in realistic fiction.
> Pretty clearly horror. Sometimes the book description alone isn't enough to
> determine its genre. So every new book that gets added needs a
> determination.
>
> I hope that helps. At least a little. I don't think we mastered a system
> for doing it - but we did manage it so... that's something!
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 2, 2021 at 9:18 AM Cyndi Hansard <cyndi at aya.yale.edu> wrote:
>
>> Good morning, all.
>>
>> I am getting ready to genrefy my school library, and I have questions. My
>> school serves grades 7-12, and we have approximately 3700 fiction
>> titles/graphic novels.
>>
>> My first question is -- approximately how long will it take to label and
>> move that many books? For the most part, they do not already have
>> genre labels. My assistant is hoping to pick up some summer hours to work
>> on this project, but we need to provide an idea of how many hours it might
>> take. I'm thinking about 5,467,892. Maybe one of you can give me a more
>> hopeful number?
>>
>> Also, for grades 7-12, what categories do you use? Do any of you simply
>> color code the spines rather than use specific labels? For example, I'm
>> thinking it would be nice to put mystery, thriller, and horror all
>> together, so maybe they could all just have a green sticker with a green
>> sign that clearly labels the section. Thoughts?
>>
>> Thank you all in advance for your help!
>> Cyndi Hansard
>> Parish Hill Middle/High School
>> Chaplin, CT
>> _______________________________________________
>> CASL-L mailing list
>> CASL-L at mylist.net
>> https://mylist.net/listinfo/casl-l
>>
>
>
> --
>
> Jennifer Rocca (she/her)
> BHS Teacher Librarian
> 203-775-7725 x-7775
>
> "We are a learning community committed to fostering intellect, respect,
> and integrity."
>


-- 

Jennifer Rocca (she/her)
BHS Teacher Librarian
203-775-7725 x-7775

"We are a learning community committed to fostering intellect, respect, and
integrity."
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