austinkleon:

“One of my mentors said, “Never use the card catalog. Get into the stacks and you’ll make wonderful discoveries.” I took that advice, much to the chagrin of librarians.”

— Bruce Cole

This is why I support Dewey Decimal over Library of Congress: LC is a system that is built around card catalogs, about finding the single book you want as quickly as possible; DDC was about creating a better way of organizing the shelves. DDC can thus remain effective when significantly truncated, and can be learned by paying attention as you wander.