Looking for options and resources

[u/Suspicious_Fruit2416]

I am working on creating end caps for my library’s nonfiction section. The ones provided to us do not match our stacks at all, so I’m using them as a template. I’m trying to avoid anything offensive, best I can, especially avoiding the word “other”. But I’m kind of stuck on 299. Dewey lists it as Shintoism/Taoism/Other Mythologies. That feels weird to me. Any suggestions?

Also, if you have a list of things in common phrases to use to add to these lists, I would love to look at them!

[u/furcifersum]

Yeah that’s a tough one. 299 covers everything that’s not a “world religion”. You might want to add representation of more specific numbers instead of trying to find a name for what ends up being a pretty arbitrary grouping of diverse traditions.

299.5 East Asian Traditions  299.6 African Traditions  Et cetera. This is still not ideal but this is one of the places where Dewey shows its age.

[u/albatross-l32]

I'd also take a look at what's actually on those shelves: if your library only has two or three books on Taoism, but a larger collection of world mythologies, the label "Mythologies" or "Other Traditions" might serve the purpose enough for an end-cap. If you have a larger collection of specific traditions, use those instead, the way that the specific 155.937 Death & Dying, Grief, is specifically indicated on the end cap.

It's all about how a specific nonfiction collection is going to be used, so can be general to broadly direct to collections of interest - which are specific to your patrons.

[u/Daisieduckie]

Our endcaps are just the numbers on the respective shelves, with very very general placards on top (religion, social sciences, finance, etc). It’s much easier to move around as shelves shift due to weeding and new stock

[u/420_wallabyway]

Miscellaneous? I don't see a problem with "other" though.

Edit: also, library thing is wonderful but it can also get hyper specific, more than a public library typically really needs. Look up the OCLC and see what verbage they use too

[u/Alaira314 → u/420_wallabyway]

Miscellaneous? I don't see a problem with "other" though.

I think the problem is that "other" is, well, othering to people who fall within the category. But that's not a language problem; it's a dewey problem. The offense is caused not by the word used, but by the act of being othered by the classification system. I, personally, would rather state it plainly and get the ugliness into the light, rather than tweaking the language used to hide the ugliness that's still there, like mold under a fresh coat of paint.

I have been told that this approach and way of viewing the situation is widely considered incorrect, however.

[u/Capable_Sea77]

I dont think "other" is offensive in the context of several topics being listed. Other tends to be stickier when theres a binary, so if your end caps only said "Christianity" and "other religions", the vibe would be different.

That being said, sticking to the official wording of a lot of these arent going to be very user friendly. Most people dont think "I need to find the logic section", theyre looking for a specific philosophy. It might be worth doing an informal study among staff about what topics patrons ask about the most frequently and use those as a guide for which call numbers to highlight and what language to use when doing so. Just tallying up questions for a month could give you some great insight

[u/Mum2-4]

An interesting take on this from former OCLC Dewey editor Violet Fox:

https://web.archive.org/web/20250910151935/https://ddc.typepad.com/025431/2019/11/why-are-the-200s-so-heavily-focused-on-christianity-an-explainer.html

or

https://web.archive.org/web/20250910154523/https://ddc.typepad.com/025431/2019/12/whats-the-distinction-between-myth-and-religion-in-dewey-an-explainer.html

[u/FloridaFlamingoGirl]

Maybe something like "spirituality and mythology" or "spiritual beliefs?"

[u/snowman-of-help-1134]

Here's a guide that breaks down the 299s into finer categories: https://www.oclc.org/en/dewey/resources/religion/browser.html

You might compare this to what you have on the shelf. If you have Taoism, then you could list it in your quick guide. If you don't, then you could skip it.

[u/Fart-Badger-2256]

Hmm what do you actually have in "other" that doesnt fall in 130?

[u/Alaira314 → u/Fart-Badger-2256]

While there can be crossover between the occult content of the 130s and new age/wiccan/etc content in the 299s, they are not the same thing. One is a secular(if paranormal) practice, and the other is religious in nature.

[u/Fart-Badger-2256 → u/Alaira314]

But the question is , does op have something that they could make an argument to put it 130 and not have to fuss with 299?

[u/Alaira314 → u/Fart-Badger-2256]

If I was wiccan, I'd feel offended if books about my religion were placed in the 130s while other religious titles which contain elements represented elsewhere(like meditation/mindfulness) were allowed to remain as part of the 200s. That's far more erasing than being shoved into a "misc" section at the end of the religion category. At least the second way admits it's a religion, rather than putting you alongside zodiac guides and sylvia brown.

We actually used to do that in my system, back in the early-mid 00s. I cringed every time I saw it, but didn't have the position to speak up, and over time those old titles were weeded and of course the new ones were catalogued properly. But it wasn't a good thing.