I like this sketch by the Two Ronnies:
Apart from making me laugh, it reminds me of two things.
First, it reminds me that the way we’re used to doing things, and the way that initially seems to make most sense, isn’t the only way to do it. There’s nothing absolute about the labels we apply to things, nothing intrinsic. In a conventional library, we arrange books according to subject matter. In the Two Ronnies’ absurd library, colour dictates where books go. On my book shelf at home, practical restraints mean that the heaviest books must go at the bottom, and the lightest at the top. There are different ways of arranging things.
Second, it brings to light the fact that not all systems are equally valid. Arranging books according to their colour may seem to make sense to the library staff member, but he has committed the first sin of customer service by devising a system that satisfies him rather than serving his customer. What’s important with any system is that it makes sense, it’s consistent, and it solves the particular problem it was designed for. The classification system in the sketch fails to do this.
When I used to work in public libraries, I discovered an interesting dilemma. Traditionally, when you go to a library and search for life writing, you’ll find it at the end of the non-fiction, under 920. But some libraries do it differently. They put all the autobiographies and biographies away from the non-fiction, instead positioning them near the novels.
Why do they do this?
It’s because the kind of people who read novels are also the kind of people who read biographies and autobiographies. They come to the library looking for stories, and both novels and life writing satisfy that desire. The Dewey Decimal System may not do it that way, but these libraries are showing that it is acceptable to break the rules, if it makes sense to do so.
The big distinction we usually make is between books that contain facts (non-fiction) and those that contain made-up things (fiction). But I wonder if a more important distinction would be between books that tell stories (narrative) and books that don’t (non-narrative).
In the former, you have:
In the latter, there’s:
- How to Mind Map
- The Rough Guide to Devon and Cornwall
- Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour
- Vauxhall/Opel Corsa Service and Repair Manual: 1997 to 2000.
What do you think?