A Library in New Zealand Replaces Dewey with System Rooted in Māori Tradition

Summary

How do we even begin engaging with the vast stores of knowledge and wonder in a library? For many of us, the Dewey Decimal System gives us an entry point, breaking the library catalogue into more manageable groups. However, this system was developed in the 1870s and designed for American libraries. In today’s modern, global society, it can feel a little outdated.This is why one library in Aotearoa/New Zealand is trying something a little different. The team at Te Awe Library in Wellington is trialling an alternative way to organize and classify the Māori literature on their shelves, and bringing more readers into contact with great writers and great works from this culture.The Project at Te AweFor Bridget Jennings, Senior Cataloguing Specialist at Wellington City Libraries, the way books are organised is a big deal. Organisation is our first point of contact with the library, and the grouping and placement of books feed both our practical discovery of them and our psychological response to the resources we encounter.This is why it’s so important to use a system designed for the books it categorises. While reviewing the cataloguing at Wellington, Bridget became concerned that the existing system did not serve works from the Māori tradition, so she and her team began to consider an alternative method.Photo Credit: Wellington City CouncilThey began planning groupings based on the Te Ao Māori classification system. This system reflects Māori atua (Māori gods), and the sections of knowledge, activity, and thought associated with each of these atua.A More Suitable SystemThe team at Te Awe did not build this system by themselves, nor were they the first to consider this. Māori have used the domains of specific atua to classify knowledge for generation upon generation, and these structures of wisdom are greatly influential on the Māori worldview.The Ngā Upoko Tukutuku project was designed to achieve the same ends, and Bridget and the team drew upon this tool as they built t...