How does one calculate an optional e?

By figuring out the difference in your Dewey numbers, that's how!  Thanks to Renee of the inner librarian for bringing this johnson to my attention.  

Here is with an E:

Kristie's Dewey Decimal Section:
103 Dictionaries & encyclopedias
Kristie = 1899095 = 189+909+5 = 1103

Class:
100 Philosophy & Psychology

Contains:
Books on metaphysics, logic, ethics and philosophy.

What it says about you:
You're a careful thinker, but your life can be complicated and hard for others to understand at times. You try to explain things and strive to express yourself.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

And here it is without: 

Kristi's Dewey Decimal Section:
098 Prohibited works, forgeries & hoaxes
Kristi = 189909 = 189+909 = 1098

Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works

Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.

What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

Please note: I find both of these to be extremely accurate.  This further suggests that my E is actually optional.  Score!  

Also note:  The incorrect spelling of my name (Kristi) is the Dewey number for forgeries & hoaxes.  Figure that.

Death of Dewey?

This just in (okay, not really... this article was published in July):

According to a post on The Chronicle of Higher Education, there are a select few public libraries in Arizona forgoing the traditional Dewey Decimal system. And while the comments are littered with several librarians whose reactions might suggest that such a move is blasphemy, there are a few points in support of it.

The article argues from an academic standpoint, which is understandable when considering the source, but the libraries in question are public libraries. Personally, I think it might be a good move, depending on the patrons. One of the comments suggested that better library instruction is called for, not an overhaul of the entire classification system. That is just plain silly. Anyone familiar with CISSL or the campaign for school libraries led by names like Carol Kuhlthau and Ross Todd would know that we are already attempting better instruction. Despite our best efforts, children are still not grasping Dewey. How can they when dogs are separated from other animals? Kids don't strategize their searches thinking, hmmm... I bet dogs would be located under applied technology because they are domesticated. And raising pets is probably referred to as animal husbandry. Yeah, that's the ticket... Not!

There is a growing body of academic research pertaining to children and their understanding of categorization. (Trust me, I had to read pretty much all of it for a paper last semester. If you're interested, here is a large portion of my bibliography. Knock yourselves out). Liz Cooper's findings were especially interesting in light of this article, because when children were asked to come up with categories for their own libraries, they came up with suggestions rather similar to those found at a store like Barnes and Noble. So, perhaps it is the library that needs to change, since children's cognition and understanding is a tad harder to mold.

NJASL

So, it has been a few days since the NJASL conference and therefore, probably a good idea to finally mash out my findings here. Unfortunately, my friend's roommates are far too loud to have allowed me proper sleep to go on Friday, so I can only report my findings from Thursday. First of all, I heart free pamphlets and these people, they know that. I have more pamphlets than I think I will ever be able to read in my life, let alone my career, sitting in two bags in the backseat of my car. Joy. I only got to three programs, and two of them were practically the same! Those tricksters.

The first version was with Kevin Kammeraad and his puppet Jacob (coloring-book-tastic version shown here). First of all, his puppet is fantastic and can do the best one handed handstand I have ever seen. Five points. Kevin's presentation was lively and filled with singing and dancing. I even got to perform one of his poems (And got to be the bad guy!! Which fits because, well, I'm pretty much hardcore). Seven points. He provided excellent materials to expand all of his texts and worked through a bunch of them to showcase the enthusiasm that should explode from one when doing said activities. Two points. Overall, excellent workshop and definitely worth checking out if you get a chance. Unless, of course, you don't give a ---- for the whole state of Michigan; in which case, he insults the Buckeyes and is probably worth -99 points to you.

Kevin ended his presentation with a video reading of Dan and Kim Adlerman's Oh No Domino! The very next presentation that I went to was given by the Adlermans. And they read Oh No Domino! They also sang songs and had a gay ole' time, just like Kevin. And while I was nervous that I had chosen to go into the same program twice, it worked out in my favor. The differences were subtle at first, but very enjoyable. For one, being read the actual book gave a completely different feel than the video. Don't get me wrong, the video was totally cool, but there is just something about the actual text and pages that gets my heart fluttering (reason 8756 why I should have always known I was destined to become a librarian). The Adlermans passed out musical instruments and I had the delight of morracking out with my bad self. In the latter half of the presentation it became even more evident that they had their own awesome agenda. I learned how to make a harmonica out of tongue depressors and a rubber band. You're jealous-- it's okay, I would be too. They also demonstrated how various different small items placed in plastic eggs can make excellent storytime supplements. I am sold.

Lastly, I attended a workshop on religious books in schools. Ordinarily I would have forgone the theology debate for something with a bit more jazz; but we just recently discussed Dewey and his inane religious categorizations in my Materials for Children course. When I returned my books to the library for my portion of the Dewey assignment, I realized that the Milltown Public Library doesn't even have a religious section. It jumps from the 100's over to the 300's! Clearly there was something to this "God books" debate that I didn't realize. I just assumed that as long as it didn't promote that religion as the one and only way to save one's soul from eternal damnation, you're set. Clearly I am more enlightened than some. One woman in attendance removed all of the books on witchcraft before even having a challenge! What the? I may not be entirely up to code on my ALA ethics, but that seems like censorship to me.

A Series of Unfortunate Supplements

A list of Dewey Decimal classifications that would prove very handy indeed if the curious reader were to happen upon The Penultimate Peril: Book the Twelfth from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. If you notice I left a classification of note off the list, please let me know! Also, much thanks to Thompson-Nicola Regional District Library System for painstakingly listing all of the Dewey classifications, making this post possible.

000 Generalities
020 Library and Information Science
025 Library operations
100 Psychology and Philosphy
101 Theory of philosophy
118 Force & Energy
121 Epistemology (Theory of knowledge)
123 Determinism & indeterminism
128 Humankind
131 Occult methods for achieving well-being
135 Dreams & mysteries
152 Perception, movement, emotions, drives
Fallacies & sources of error
168 Argument & persuasion
174 Economic & professional ethics
175 Ethics of recreation & leisure
176 Ethics of sex & reproduction
178 Ethics of consumption
200 Religion296 Judaism
300 Social Sciences
371 School management; special education
400 Languages
469 Portugese
500 Math and Science
547 Organic chemistry
594 Mollusca & Molluscoidea
613 Promotion of health
621 Applied physics
674 Lumber processing, wood products, cork
697 Heating, ventilating, air-conditioning
786 Keyboard & other instruments
792 Stage presentations
800 Literature and Rhetoric
831 German poetry
954 General history of Asia South Asia India
999 Extraterrestrial worlds


I checked online to see if this list was previously made, and came up with nada. What I did find, however, was this excellent Lemony Snicket resource concerning literary allusions in the final book. If you check out the main page, you will find some fancy delights--including Lemony Snicket's ipod playlist.

EDIT: I stand corrected. My very own professor Jill Ratzan created a list of her own, as you can view in the comments section of this post. I have added a few of the classifications I seemed to have glossed over after looking over her collection. If you are interested in a more detailed list relating the classifications to the relevant places in the book, I highly recommend Jill's list.