LIASA IGBIS hosts Dewey Shelving Workshop

The Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) Interest Group for Bibliographic Standards (IGBIS) presented an online Dewey Shelving workshop that was held on 22 November 2022. The workshop was attended by twenty (20) delegates who came from different libraries around South Africa. There were representatives from the Iziko Museum, the University of Pretoria, the University of Venda, and the Vaal University of Technology, among others. Six of our UP libraries’ Information Assistants: Shelving were present at the workshop.

The purpose of this workshop was to provide basic knowledge and understanding of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), enabling attendees to achieve customer-ready library shelves and be able to maintain them in good order.

This workshop was planned in response to a request from some of our staff who indicated that they would be interested in DDC/Shelving training. As IGBIS, we felt that it is appropriate to host this session to meet our members' needs. Shelvers, paraprofessionals, and general library assistants in most cases believe that there are no workshops or training sessions designed specifically for them, and they too need to be empowered with training for their jobs.

The programme of the day was divided into two sessions. The first session focused on the theory of the Dewey Decimal Classification System, and it was presented by Dr. Gert de Jager, who is a cataloguer at the UNISA library. He has been representing South Africa on the Dewey Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee since 2012. The second session was dedicated to shelving arrangements, and it was presented by Ms. Ingrid Nieuwoudt, who is the supervisor for the shelving team at the UNISA library. The attendees were given practical exercises to do to measure their competency. It was, indeed, a fruitful workshop.

UP Information Assistants @ the LIASA IGBIS Dewey Shelving Workshop 

LIASA IGBIS Dewey Shelving Workshop attendees