Educators and learners have diverse thinking style preferences. Recognition of this difference in preferences is very important in the design of a curriculum and the way it is taught. Educators are often unaware of the way learners think and learn. Cataloging and classification can only be taught effectively if the diversity in thinking style is taken into account. Innovative teaching practices should be used to facilitate creative problem solving by learners. Cataloging and classification require both systematic and logical thinking in the creation of bibliographic data and wider interpretative skills when assigning classification numbers and subject headings. The thinking style preferences of a group of second year learners in cataloging and classification at the University of Pretoria (South Africa) was determined by means of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), resulting in a profile indicating potential competency. A variety of teaching strategies should be used to give learners insight into their own way of thinking and to apply this knowledge for self development. Taking the diversity of learning styles of the group of learners into consideration, the curriculum and teaching style should be adapted and the ensuing results evaluated in the third year of study to establish whether the thinking preferences of the same group of learners have changed. (MES)