Teaching cataloguing and classification at the University of Pretoria: Thinking preferences of second year students

The information profession has changed drastically in the last few years. T he core requirements for information workers have also changed because the workplace needs specific qualities and skills. The necessity of continuing to teach cataloguing and classification is questioned, and many library sch ools have discontinued teaching these subjects. Many experts, however, beli eve that cataloguing and classification are still among the basics of infor mation work. The subject still forms part of the curriculum at the Universi ty of Preturia. At the beginning of 2000, funds were obtained to use the He rrmann Brain Dominance Instrument to establish the preferences of the secon d year Library Science students taking cataloguing. The result showed that their preferences do not really correspond to those of cataloguers. They sp ecifically do not like the analysing and mastering the technical details re quired in cataloguing. As these skills are required for cataloguing, teachi ng methods will have to be adapted to equip students for the workplace.