Experiments in Life Because Sometimes Science Screws Up!

A Matter of Classification

Lately, I have been using the public library here in town a great deal more since I discovered that I could request inter-library loans over the Internet. That has helped to alleviate the aggravation of our branch's meager selection. But, there is something to be said for simply browsing the aisles and picking up books that interest me. This has led to a whole new set of frustrations with our library system.

First, let us imagine an author that you are interested in. For the sake of argument, let us say that author's name is Dan Simmons. Now, I have read several of his books and would like to find some new ones. In most libraries, I would just head to the fiction section and look in the 'S' section for the last name 'Simmons' an, lo, there would be books by the author that I want to read. Sure enough, if I do that at my local library, I can find a few books. However, I could also check the Mystery section — apparently, mysteries are not fiction after all. Look, there are a couple of Dan Simmons books over in the Mystery section. Oops, watch out, he has also written some Science Fiction novels; we had better check the Science Fiction section as well. Wait a minute... there are two Science Fiction sections, one for hard-cover and one for paper-back. I guess I have to check them both to see if he has any books. Oh wait, seeing the paper-back Science Fiction section reminds me, there is also a paper-back Fiction section! So, let us count them up: Fiction, Packet-back Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, and Paper-back Science Fiction! There are five different places I have to check to browse and see if this author has books in this library.

"Wait," you may be thinking, "this is the age of computers. Surely you can just use the same website that you used to reserve books to find what sections books by your favorite author are in!" If you have thought that, you and I are of like mind. That does narrow down the search to just one section when I find a book I want. However, this raises another issue. While searching the library's website for King Solomon's Mines, I saw that my branch of the library had the book, listed under F HAG. That tells me to look in the Fiction section under the 'H' section and I should be able to find books by H. Rider Haggard. So, I look and look and look, to no avail. Finally, I give up and just put the book on hold, expecting the library to pull the book for me and send me an email when they find it. Weeks go by and I do not get an email. Finally, by random chance on Saturday, I happen to walk by a self labeled "Classics." I think to myself, "Well, King Solomon's Mines is pretty old. Maybe it is in the Classics." Sure enough, I find it. I look at the code, and it is F HAG. So, not only do I have to look in five different sections to find books by authors that I like, I also have to know whether a book is considered a classic or not to know whether a Fiction book is located in the Fiction section or the Classics section. Before you say "That should be obvious," remember this: I found Crime and Punishment
in the Classics section, but War and Peace
was in the Fiction section.