Computer-Assisted Instruction in DDC

Abstract

AN EXPERIMENTAL computer-assisted instruction (CAI) program has been developed at the College of Library Science, University of Kentucky, to facilitate the teaching of the Dewey Decimal Classification in the required introductory course in cataloging and classification. A further objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CAI program to determine if educational technology might be used in other areas of the library science curriculum. Computer-assisted instruction has been applied to library science in recent years in the instruction of library use1 and in library reference courses.2* 3'4 Its application to the area of technical processing has been rather limited. At the University of Kentucky, computer-assisted instruction has been used extensively in the College of Dentistry. When the College of Library Science decided to explore the possibility of applying CAI to the library science curriculum, the experience and expertise of the learning resources staff of the College of Dentistry were called upon to assist in the development of such a program. Classification, rather than any other area of library science, was chosen for this project because its subject matter is expressed in notational symbols. The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), with its pure notation of Arabic numerals, lends itself particularly well to computer application. The abridged DDC was used because it is a basic

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