025.431: The Dewey blog

Computational Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, and Pragmatics

A significant part of my Dewey life these past three years has been spent in Table 4 and the 400s.  In that period of time, eight—count then, eight!—EPC exhibits (most developed with my colleague Juli Beall) have focused on aspects of Table 4 and the 400s.  Work done in these two contexts (or maybe it’s just one context) has also spawned three blog entries during the same period.  One, named Language, Language Everywhere, commented on the underlying importance of language to much of what we do.  The other two solicited feedback on discussion papers in computational linguistics and language variations. 

A number of changes in Table 4 and the 400s have recently been incorporated into WebDewey, some of which were announced in the September 2009 New and Changed Entries (in Word and PDF formats); some of which were announced in the December 2009 New and Changed Entries (in Word and PDF formats); and, as previously announced, some of which (changes with respect to language variations) will not be implemented until the publication of DDC 23.  This entry will address changes in the September New and Changed Entries posting; a subsequent entry will address changes in the December New and Changed Entries posting.

The September 2009 New and Changed Entries posting included significant changes with respect to computational linguistics, corpus linguistics, and pragmatics.  As indicated in the previous blog entry on computational linguistics, we have relocated computational linguistics from 410.285 Linguistics computer applications to 006.35 Natural language processing, where computational linguistics now appears in the class-here note.  This (006.35) is now the number in which general works on computational linguistics should be classed.  Examples of such works include Speech and language processing: an introduction to natural language processing, computational linguistics, and speech recognition and Survey of the state of the art in human language technology.  According to the rule of application, works about the application of one subject (in this case, computational linguistics) to another subject, should be classed with the second subject.  The relocation opens up the possibility of expressing computational linguistics applications through the addition of standard subdivision notation T1–0285635 Computational linguistic applications (built with T1—0285 Computer applications plus notation 635 from 006.35 Natural language processing, following instructions at T1—0285).   Two such built numbers are given in the New and Changed Entries:  025.410285635 Automatic abstracting / automatic text summarization (built with 025.41 Abstracting plus notation 0285635 from Table 1, as analyzed above) and 401.430285635 Word sense disambiguation (built with 401.43 Semantics plus notation 0285635 from Table 1, as analyzed above).

We have expanded for corpus linguistics at 410.188 Corpus linguistics (under 410.18 Schools, theories, methodologies of linguistics, which itself is a previous expansion under 410.1 Philosophy and theory of linguistics).  In the past, many works on corpus linguistics have been classed with works on computational linguistics, since much of the research in corpus linguistics is done automatically, using computational linguistics techniques.  But this is not optimal, for multiple reasons.  For example, corpus linguistics is a methodology (not a set of techniques), based on the premise that linguistic study should be carried out on language as actually used rather than on language as generated introspectively (“arm-chair linguistics”).  Moreover, corpus linguistics includes aspects (e.g., selection of the language samples that will comprise the corpus) that may have nothing to do with computational linguistics.  Comprehensive works on corpus linguistics (like Corpus linguistics and the web) should now be classed in 410.188.  As a methodology, corpus linguistics is also subject to the rule of application.  Hence a work on corpus linguistics applied to a specific topic in linguistics would be classed with the topic; for example, Discourse on the move: using corpus analysis to describe discourse structure should be classed in 401.41 Discourse analysis.  And a work on corpus linguistics applied to a specific work or the works of a specific author should be classed with the work or author; for example, e-Lears: a Corpus Approach to Shakespeare and Tate should be classed in 822.33 William Shakespeare.  (The Tate adaptation of King Lear would be classed in 822.4 Drama of Restoration period, 1625-1702; as the work treats Shakespeare and Tate equally, it is the first-of-two rule that tips the balance in favor of the Shakespeare number, which comes earlier in the schedules.)

We have also expanded at 401.45 for Pragmatics, with subdivisions under it for 401.452 Speech acts (“Class here illocutionary acts”), 401.454 Presupposition (“Class here implication, entailment”), and 401.456 Reference (“Class here anaphora, deixis”).  In the past, the interdisciplinary number for pragmatics has been 306.44 Language (as an aspect of culture), because of the association between pragmatics and sociolinguistics.  An analysis of interdisciplinary works on pragmatics revealed that the better home for such works is in linguistics.  Therefore, 401.45 has now been designated as the appropriate number for interdisciplinary works on pragmatics.  (In addition to the association of pragmatics with sociolinguistics, there is a strong association of some of the subtopics of pragmatics with philosophy.  Class-elsewhere notes in the subdivisions of 401.45 remind the classifier to consider discipline first.)  Examples of works that should class in 401.45 and its subdivisions are:  Pragmatics and natural language understanding in 401.45 Pragmatics, Using language: The structures of speech acts in 401.452 Speech acts,   Presupposition and implicature in compositional semantics in 401.454 Presupposition, and Studies in anaphora in 401.456 Reference.

Comparable changes, as appropriate, have been made in Table 4.

Translations, Translations, Translations

Over the last three weeks, we’ve had that “If it’s Tuesday, it must be Arabic” feeling (with apologies to the movie title). We’ve had visits from members of the Arabic and Swedish translation teams, plus discussions with the Norwegian and Spanish translation teams (by e-mail and teleconference, respectively).

Ann Tobin, a member of the translation team at the National Library of Sweden, paid a working visit to the Dewey Editorial Office at the Library of Congress November 30-December 4. The Swedish translation will employ a mixed approach. The Introduction, Glossary, and Tables 1-6 will be translated into Swedish. The top levels of the schedules plus the full hierarchy of classes down to and including classes with a defined level of literary warrant will be translated into Swedish; the rest of the classes will be ingested directly into the translation as English-language records. Manual records will be translated if associated with classes in Swedish; otherwise, they will be included in English. The translation will be accompanied by separate indexes in Swedish and English. (For more information on the mixed translation model, see here; for more information about the adoption of the DDC in Sweden, see here.) During Ann’s visit, we reviewed the Swedish versions of the Introduction; Glossary; and Table 1, 4, and 6. We also discussed proposals and issues related to geographic areas, education, animal husbandry (yes, a new provision for reindeer farming will be coming to the DDC soon!), sports, literature, and historical periods. Additional topics of discussion included training, translation workflows, and WebDewey 2.0. Lest you think it was all work and no play, we managed to have many interesting meals together (and helped Ann execute her plan of trying a variety of hamburgers across the city) and even caught a world premiere of a new piano concerto by U.S. composer Jennifer Higdon at the Kennedy Center (see here for a review of the performance we attended together).

Our colleagues on the Spanish translation team in Colombia have just completed work on a local translation support system that produces DDC data in an XML format (one compatible with our current format). We expect to start reviewing parts of the new full Spanish translation in early 2010.

Meanwhile, our colleagues at the National Library of Norway are busy planning for a new Norwegian translation of the full DDC (previous Norwegian translations have been customized abridgments of the DDC). Work will begin in early 2010.

Finally, yesterday (yes, Arabic on Tuesday) we had a visit from Dr. Sohair Wastawy (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) to discuss progress on the Arabic translation of the full DDC. We reviewed the translation timetable, plus the latest version of the proposed expansion for Islam.

Holiday Cookies

At this time of year many newspapers and web sites have recipes for holiday cookies (or outside of North America, holiday biscuits), e.g., “Holiday Cookie Recipes from Newspaper Food Sections,” “Our Favorite Holiday Cookies,” “12 Days of Cookies,” and “Christmas Recipes: Gingerbread Snowflake Biscuits.”

The Relative Index entries “Biscuits (Cookies)—home preparation” and “Cookies—home preparation” both lead to 641.8654 Cookies.  The entry for 641.8654 has the note “Variant name: biscuits (United Kingdom).” 

The Relative Index entry “Holidays—cooking” leads to 641.568 Cooking for special occasions, and the Relative Index entry “Christmas—cooking” leads to 641.5686 Christmas cooking. 

Most cookies are baked.  The Relative Index entry “Baking—home cooking” leads to 641.71 Baking and roasting.

Which number has preference, 641.8654 or 641.568+ or 641.71? The see references at 641.5 Cooking have hierarchical force: “For specific cooking processes and techniques, see 641.7; for cooking specific kinds of dishes, preparing beverages, see 641.8.”  The class-elsewhere note at 641.7 Specific cooking processes and techniques has hierarchical force: “Class specific processes applied to specific kinds of dishes, preparing beverages in 641.8.” Hence 641.8654 has preference, because of the notes above 641.568+ and 641.71 that lead away from 641.5 and 641.7 and their subdivisions and toward 641.8 and its subdivisions. Works on baking holiday cookies are classed in 641.8654, e.g., Baking with Bill: Fancy Holiday Cookies: 17 Video Baking Lessons, A Baker's Field Guide to Christmas Cookies, Christmas Cookies: 50 Recipes to Treasure for the Holiday Season, and Santa's Favourite Biscuits.

Traffic Safety

Recently National Public Radio has run a series entitled “On the Road to Safety,” exploring various aspects of traffic safety.

The interdisciplinary number for traffic safety is 363.125 Highway and urban vehicular transportation, a number that has 363.1 Public safety programs and 363.12 Transportation hazards in its upward hierarchy. The number 363.125 has unsubdivided Relative Index entries “Road safety” and “Traffic safety,” among others.  An example of a work classed in 363.125 is the World Health Organization’s Global Status Report on Road Safety (WorldCat record for summary here, full report available here). 

Works on safety engineering of roads are classed in appropriate subdivisions of 625.7 Roads, which has the Relative Index entry “Roads—engineering,” among others.  For example, works on protective roadside barriers are classed in 625.795 Protective roadside barriers.  An example of a work classed in 625.795 is Guardrail and Median Barrier Crashworthiness.  (The entry 625.795 has the note “Including dividers, fences.”)

The Relative Index entry “Safety engineering” leads to 620.86 Safety engineering.  The entry 620.86 has the note “For safety engineering of a specific technology, see the technology, plus notation T1—0289 from Table 1, e.g., safety in machine engineering 621.80289.”  The standard subdivision T1—0289 Safety measures is not added for topics in including notes, because those topics do not approximate the whole of a number; nor is T1—0289 added where redundant, as when the caption specifies safety. 

Works on safety engineering of motor land vehicles are classed in appropriate subdivisions of 629.2 Motor land vehicles, cycles.  For example, engineering works on safety design of motor land vehicles are classed in 629.231 Analysis and design (the entry has the note “Including . . . safety design” and the Relative Index entry “Safety engineering—automotive—design”).  An example of a work classed in 629.231 is Design for Safety & Quality: Lessons Learned from the Analysis of Crashed Daimler-Benz/Mercedes Automobiles: An Interview with Miklos F. Ranky.  (The entry 629.22 Types of vehicles has the class-elsewhere note “Class design, materials, construction of a specific type of vehicle in 629.23.”)  Engineering works on safety accessories in motor land vehicles are classed in 629.276 Safety accessories (the entry has the note “Including air bags, bumpers, mirrors, seat belts, windshield wipers and washers”).  An example of a work classed in 629.276 is Air Bags and Occupant Restraints.   The number 629.276 has the Relative Index entry “Air bags—automobile,” among others.  The Library of Congress subject heading “Automobiles—Occupant restraint systems” has been editorially mapped to 629.276 (in WebDewey).

EPC Meeting 132

Giles Martin took the photo of EPC at LC on November 17, 2009. From left to right: Karl Debus-López (Library of Congress, standing in for Beacher Wiggins), Jonathan Furner (UCLA), Welna van Eeden (University of South Africa), Lyn McKinney (Billings [MT] Senior High School), Deborah Rose-Lefmann (Northwestern University), Sandra Singh (University of British Columbia), EPC Vice-Chair Anne Robertson (Australian Committee on Cataloguing), EPC Chair Caroline Kent (British Library), Andrea Kappler (Evansville Vanderburgh [IN] Public Library), and David Farris (Library and Archives Canada).

Meeting 132 of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) was held November 16-17 at the Library of Congress. EPC Chair Caroline Kent (British Library) was re-elected for a second two-year term as chair.

In Table 1 (Standard Subdivisions), EPC approved a proposal to recast T1—0286 Waste technology as T1—0286 Green technology (Environmental technology). In Table 2 (Geographic Areas, Historical Periods, Persons), EPC gave provisional approval to the revision of Asia Minor and Turkey, and requested additional literary warrant information before approving the expansion for Switzerland.

EPC approved selected updates in the following schedules: 004-006 Computer science; 320 Political science; 361-365 Social problems and services; 390 Customs, etiquette, folklore; 400 Language; 569 Fossil mammals and 599 Mammals; 636 Animal husbandry; 646 Sewing, clothing; 690 Buildings; 720 Architecture; 800 Literature and rhetoric; and various historical periods in 900. EPC also reviewed and approved the full schedules for 670 Manufacturing and 680 Manufacture of products for special uses.

Several discussion papers were considered by the committee. One discussion paper addressed current and proposed practices related to representation and use of standard subdivisions with extended or narrowed meanings, and displaced standard subdivisions. Our investigation of such subdivisions was prompted by two streams of inquiry—a set of questions posed by a group of Dewey Section classifiers preparing training materials (Michael Cantlon, Carolyn Turner, and Ruby Woodard), and our ongoing review of practices related to the representation of standard subdivisions in add tables. EPC approved the discussion paper on 281 Eastern churches for external review. We are seeking advice immediately from the Arabic, Greek, and Russian translation teams; we will also be seeking advice from other experts in Orthodox Christianity. Yvonne Jahns (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek), chair of the European DDC Users’ Group (EDUG) 340 Law Working Group, was a guest attendee at the meeting. She participated in the extensive discussion of various 340 Law discussion papers; the full 340 Law schedule will be considered at Meeting 133. Yvonne also presented “20 years SWD: German subject authority data prepared for the future.” EPC considered another set of discussion papers, including one from the EDUG 370 Education Working Group, focused on the 370 Education schedule. EPC reviewed revised proposals for updates to 372.3-372.8 Elementary education in specific subjects, and updates to levels of education in 372, 373, and 378. The full 370 Education schedule will also be considered at Meeting 133.

EPC also heard progress reports on Dewey linked data, mixed translation models, and ongoing efforts to use machine assistance in the development of the abridged edition. Thanks to the efforts of EPC member Welna van Eeden, a representation of the DDC Summaries in Afrikaans was added last week to dewey.info (Afrikaans is the tenth language represented in the service).

EPC scheduled a follow-up electronic Meeting 132A (to be held February 1-26, 2010), during which the committee will review the Editorial Rules for standard subdivisions; further work on the machine-assisted abridged model; updates to T1—0288 Maintenance and repair to address issues raised at Meeting 131; updates to the Table 2 provisions for Asia Minor, Turkey, and Switzerland; a possible expansion at 746.92 Costume to match similar provisions for clothing and accessories elsewhere; the updated history periods for Africa based on comments from outside reviewers; and minor updates proposed by the Swedish translation team. If necessary, we will split the meeting into two parts and schedule Electronic Meeting 132B (possibly as a webinar) at a later date. Meeting 133 will be held June 16-18, 2010, at OCLC headquarters in Dublin, Ohio.

Diets for Health

The October / November 2009  posting of New and Changed Entries draws attention to new numbers for kinds of diets in the context of personal health (613 Personal health and safety) under 613.2 Dietetics. Here are examples of new numbers with sample works that could be classed in the new numbers:

613.2622 Vegan diet
Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet

613.265 Raw food diet
12 Steps to Raw Foods:  How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food

613.2833 Low-carbohydrate diet (Carbohydrate-restricted diet)
Staying Power:  Maintaining Your Low-Carb Weight Loss for Good

613.28332 Sugar-free diet
Win the Sugar War: 100 Real-Life Stories of Conquering Cravings—and Pounds

613.2843 Low-fat diet (Fat-restricted diet)
365 Ways to Get Out the Fat: A Tip a Day to Trim the Fat Away

613.285223 Sodium-restricted diet (“Class here low-salt diet, salt-free diet”)
Get the Salt Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut Salt Out of Any Diet

The posting also contains relocations from 613.24 Weight-gaining diet and 613.25 Weight-losing diet (Reducing diet) to 613.28 Specific nutritive elements for weight gaining / weight losing diets focused on a specific nutritive element.  With the relocations, a work on using a low-carbohydrate diet to lose weight is classed in 613.2833 Low-carbohydrate diet (Carbohydrate-restricted diet), not 613.25 Weight-losing diet (Reducing diet).  An example of a work that now should be classed in 613.2833 Low-carbohydrate diet (Carbohydrate-restricted diet) is Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution: The No-Hunger, Luxurious Weight Loss Plan That Really Works! It has Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) “Low-carbohydrate diet” and “Reducing diets.”

With the relocation of diets focused on specific nutritive elements away from 613.25 Weight-losing diet (Reducing diet), which has the note “Class here . . . low-calorie diet,” the preference order for diets in the personal health context matches the preference order in the cooking for health context (641.563 Cooking for health . . . .).  The entry 641.5635 Low-calorie cooking has two notes: “Class here cooking for overweight persons” and “Class cooking with respect to low carbohydrate, fat, protein content in 641.5638.” An example of a work covered by the class-elsewhere note is The New Eat Yourself Thin Like I Did! Quick and Easy Low Carb Cookbook, a cookbook with LCSH headings “Low-carbohydrate diet—Recipes” and “Reducing diets”; it is classed in 641.56383 Low-carbohydrate cooking, not 641.5635. 

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on the night of November 9–10, 1989, has brought many news stories and reminiscences about the original event. The following sites all have multiple stories, though only one is cited here.  Deutsche Welle has “November 9, 1989 - The Day That Changed European History.”  SPIEGEL ONLINE International has “How Poland and Hungary Led the Way in 1989.” The BBC has “The Night the Berlin Wall Fell.” The Guardian has “Berlin's Moment of Freedom That Turned World History.” National Public Radio has “The Night the Wall Fell: Freedom, Fatherhood Collide.”

Historical works about the Berlin Wall can be narrow or broad with respect to both space and time.  The Berlin Wall was not limited to Berlin; it continued in East Germany in former Potsdam district (T2—43154).  The November 9 breach of the Wall, however, occurred in Berlin.  Within Berlin (T2—43155 Berlin), the wall itself was physically located in East Berlin (T2—431552 Eastern Berlin), but a full account of the fall of the wall on the night of November 9–10, 1989, involves at minimum both eastern and western Berlin.  Historical works that emphasize Berlin at the time of the fall of the wall are classed in 943.1550878 History of Berlin, 1982–1990 (built with 9 plus T2—43155, following instructions at 930–990 History of ancient world; of specific continents, countries, localities; of extraterrestrial worlds, plus 0878 from 943.0878 Germany, 1982–1990, following instructions at 01–09 Historical periods in the add table under 930–990).  An example of a work classed in 943.1550878 is When the Wall Came Tumbling Down: 50 Hours That Changed the World; here is a description of the work: “Using never-before-seen footage, this compelling film shows what really happened November 9th–11th, 1989 during the fall of the Berlin Wall.” 

Historical works that treat both parts of Berlin but cover the full period of the Berlin Wall are classed in 943.155087 History of Berlin, 1945–1990 (built with 9 plus T2—43155, following instructions at 930–990, plus 087 from 943.087 Germany, 1945–1990, following instructions at 01–09 in the add table under 930–990).  An example of a work classed in 943.155087 is The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961–9 November 1989. 

Historical works that emphasize East Germany at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall are classed in 943.10879 Period of East Germany, 1989–1990.  The number is one of the special period numbers for the former East Germany, a subdivision of 943.1087 Period of East Germany, 1945–1990.   An example of a work classed in 943.10879 is The Fall of the Berlin Wall.

The built number 943.1552087 History of East Berlin, 1945–1990 (built with 9 plus T2—431552 Eastern Berlin, following instructions at 930–990, plus 087 from 943.1087 Period of East Germany, 1945-1990, following instructions at 01–09 in the add table under 930–990) has limited use because of its narrow focus on East Berlin.

Historical works that treat broadly the roles of multiple central European countries, including Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia as well as Germany, are classed in 943.0009048 History of central Europe, 1980–1989 (built with 943.00090 plus 48 from T1—09048 1980–1989, following instructions at 943.000901–943.000905 Historical periods of central Europe). An example of a work classed in 943.0009048 is The Year That Changed the World: The Untold Story behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall. 

Works that emphasize the immediate effect of the fall of the Berlin Wall on world history are classed in 909.828 World history, 1980–1989.  An example of a work classed in 909.828 is The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Revolutionary Legacy of 1989.  The work treats the United States, the Soviet Union, Europe, and China.

Norman Borlaug and Wheat Stem Rust

Since his death in September, there have been news stories about Norman Borlaug, e.g., an obituary from the Telegraph that begins:

Norman Borlaug, who died on September 12 aged 95, won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his achievement in promoting the use of more productive cereal strains in order to feed the world’s vast population of the starving; his efforts to introduce hybrid cereal varieties into agricultural production in Pakistan, India, Mexico and other developing countries are estimated to have saved about a thousand million people from dying of hunger.

Borlaug spent his life on the borders of traditional agriculture and biotechnology and stood at the centre of the greatest and most dramatic success stories in world farming — the so-called “Green Revolution” of the 1960s. Perhaps more than anyone else, he was responsible for the fact that throughout the postwar era, except in sub-Saharan Africa, global food production has expanded faster than the human population, averting the mass starvations that were once widely predicted.

But Borlaug’s “Green Revolution” was not “green” in the modern sense. High yields demanded artificial fertiliser, chemical pesticides and new soil technology. As a result of this he was vilified by many in the environmental movement . . . .

Norman Borlaug spent his life in agricultural research and dealt with many aspects of technical agriculture.  His comprehensive biography number is 630.92 Agriculture—biography (built with 63 from 630 Agriculture and related technologies plus T1—092 Persons). (In the table of preference at the start of Table 1, T1—092 Persons is higher than T1—07 Education, research, related topics.)  An example of a work classed in 630.92 is The Man Who Fed the World: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug and His Battle to End World Hunger: An Authorized Biography.

There is not space in this blog entry to cover all the specific aspects of agricultural technology touched by Norman Borlaug; two closely related examples will have to suffice.  (There is also not space to consider the social, economic, and environmental aspects—fortunate and unfortunate—of the Green Revolution.)   Late in his life Borlaug was fighting a new outbreak of wheat stem rust.  The May 2009 issue of Science ran a story, “The Famine Fighter's Last Battle,” that began:

On a cold, January morning in 2005, a small plane landed outside the town of Njoro, Kenya, where a handful of scientists waited eagerly as the plane taxied. After the propellers stopped, an old man slowly climbed out and walked across the grassy airstrip. Norman Borlaug, then 91, had come from Nairobi to examine for himself the impact of a highly virulent race of stem rust, called Ug99, a plant pathogen that had recently crossed the border from Uganda and was now threatening wheat farmers around the world.

Few living people—scientists or farmers—had had any experience with outbreaks of stem rust. To Borlaug, however, it was a familiar enemy. After epidemics had devastated wheat fields in Mexico in the 1940s, Borlaug, who was working at an agricultural experiment station in Mexico, bred new varieties of wheat that could resist the disease. These varieties were a key component of the green revolution of the 1960s, helping to boost wheat yields in Mexico and avert famine in India, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Ever since, the world had seemed safe from stem rust. Now, the energetic, tenacious, Nobel Peace Prize–winner is trying once more to defeat the threat.

The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative carries on the work.  In June the Los Angeles Times ran an article entitled “A ‘Time Bomb’ for World Wheat Crop” that began:

The Ug99 fungus, called stem rust, could wipe out more than 80% of the world's wheat crops as it spreads from Africa, scientists fear. The race is on to breed resistant plants before it reaches the U.S.

The DDC number for wheat stem rust fungus is 633.119492 Wheat rusts (built with 633.11 Wheat plus 9 Injuries, diseases, pests from add table under 633–635 Specific plant crops, following footnote instruction at 633.11, plus 4 from 632.4 Fungus diseases, following add instruction at 9 in the add table, plus 92 from 579.592 Uredinales [Rusts], following the add instruction at 632.4).  An example of a work classed in 633.119492 is Stem Rust of Wheat.

The DDC number for breeding new wheat varieties based on studies of their genetics (as well as genetic engineering of new wheat varieties) is 633.11233 Agricultural genetics of wheat (built with 633.11 Wheat plus 233 from 631.5233 Agricultural genetics, following instructions at 1–6 Cultivation and harvesting from add table under 633–635).  An example of a work classed in 633.11233 is Genes for Rust Resistance in Wheat.

CENDI/NKOS Workshop 2009

Last week, Juli Beall and I attended an all-day workshop on “Knowledge Organization Systems:  Managing to the Future,” sponsored jointly by CENDI and the NKOS (Networked Knowledge Organization Systems) Working Group.  (See the blog entry from last year’s workshop for background information on CENDI and NKOS.)  This year’s workshop was hosted by the National Agricultural Library.

The program was organized into three sections, with emphasis on different facets of  knowledge organization system (KOS) management:  (1) toward shared development, (2) toward interoperability, and (3) toward ontologies and the semantic web.  (Note how the inclusion of “toward” in the title of each section echoes the workshop subtitle—managing to the future—and indicates that each of these ventures is a “work in progress.”) 

One aspect of shared development is making information about knowledge organization systems widely available.  This subject was addressed in the presentation by Marjorie Hlava on Taxonomy ShareSpace, a terminology registry for controlled vocabularies.   Only a limited number of terminologies are currently documented in the registry; developers of thesauri, subject heading lists, taxonomies, ontologies, etc., are invited to contribute information. 

Interoperability was the theme receiving the most attention during the workshop.  Marcia Lei Zeng's presentation reported on ISO standard 25964.  Part 1 of the standard, currently in Draft International Standard stage, will replace standards from the mid-1980s on monolingual and multilingual thesauri; part 2 of the standard addresses interoperability of thesauri with other vocabularies and began development over the summer.  Especial attention was given to the issue of “nonsymmetrical multilingual thesauri.”  Lack of symmetry is not limited, of course, to knowledge organization systems in different languages.  Any mapping project we engage in runs up against this same problem:  there are different ways of organizing our perceptions of the world of recorded knowledge.  Indeed, a constant concern of the editorial team is to make sure we ferret out, on the one hand, and do not introduce, on the other hand, asymmetries within the DDC itself (except that a subject may be developed more deeply in one discipline than another, or in one language than another; the expressive notation used in the DDC renders this kind of asymmetry quite manageable).  (Asymmetry between knowledge organization systems was also a key reason why Willem Robert van Hage’s presentation, given as part of the ontologies and semantic web section, emphasized the benefits of aligning, rather than merging, ontologies.) The presentation by Thomas Baker focused on a set of levels of interoperability, geared toward the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, but also applicable in other contexts.  Study of his characterization of these levels should productively inform decisions on the degree of interoperability to be sought in specific situations. 

We should also note how gratified we were that Ed Summers’ presentation [8] on the use of SKOS in id.loc.gov, a web service that makes Library of Congress Subject Headings available as linked data, also highlighted dewey.info.

Staffordshire Hoard

In September the news broke, “Huge Anglo-Saxon Gold Hoard Found”:

The UK’s largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried in a field in Staffordshire. . . . . The Staffordshire hoard contains about 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, making it far bigger than the Sutton Hoo discovery in 1939 when 1.5kg of Anglo-Saxon gold was found near Woodbridge in Suffolk.

Summary of the Hoard and Interpretation, a report by Kevin Leahy, National Finds Adviser from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, who cataloged the items, includes the following (pp. 5–6):

While much of the decorative detail on these objects remains obscured by earth it seems on present evidence that the contents of the hoard range from the later sixth to the early eighth centuries AD. . . . .

The discovery of this hoard in Staffordshire should cause no surprise; it is the heartland of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia which was militarily aggressive and expansionist during the seventh and eighth centuries under kings Penda (633–655), Wulfhere (658–675), Aethelred (675–704), Coenred (704–19 [–709]), Ceolred (709–716) or Aethelbald (716–757). This material could have been collected by any of these men during their wars with Northumbria and East Anglia or indeed, by someone whose name is lost to history.

The deposit is “unbalanced”, consisting, in the main, of fittings from swords. Other, related objects, such as baldric fittings and large triangular buckles are absent, as are feminine dress fittings. Some fragments may represent helmet fragments but more work needs to be done on them. . . . .

The Staffordshire find might be interpreted as a ‘trophy hoard’ in the original sense of the word: material collected from vanquished enemies, the sword blades perhaps re-used but stripped of their valuable fittings.

Many kinds of works could be written about the Staffordshire hoard.  One kind could study what the hoard plus other sources reveal about the general history of Staffordshire in the seventh or eighth centuries.  Where should such a work be classed?  If one browses in the Relative Index for “Archaeology,” one finds (among other entries):
Archaeology                          930.1
Archaeology—ancient places    931–939
Archaeology—modern places    940–990

If one browses the Relative Index for “England,” one finds:
England                                942
England                                T2—42

If one browses the Relative Index for “England—ancient,” one finds:
England—ancient                    936.2
England—ancient                    T2—362

What is the dividing line in DDC between ancient and modern England?  The caption for 936.2 has the answer: 936.2     Southern Britain to 410    England.  Clearly the seventh and eighth centuries are too late for ancient England.  The comprehensive history number for England in the seventh and eighth centuries is 942.015—a number with two subdivisions that reflect the struggles of Northumbria and Mercia:
942.015      Period of Heptarchy, ca. 600–829
942.0153         Supremacy of Northumbria, 603–685
942.0157         Supremacy of Mercia, 757–796
The Table 2 number for Staffordshire (England) after 410 is T2—4246. The history number for Staffordshire in the seventh and eighth centuries is 942.46015 Staffordshire, ca. 600–829 (built with 9 plus T2—4246, following instructions at 930–990 History of ancient world; of specific continents, countries, localities; of extraterrestrial worlds, plus 0 plus 15 from 942.015, following instructions at 01–09 Historical periods in the add table under 930–990).

The work Sutton Hoo and Its Landscape: The Context of Monuments, which treats the historical context of the Sutton Hoo archaeological site in Suffolk Coastal District, is classed in 942.646015 Suffolk Coastal District, ca. 600–829 (built with 9 plus T2—42646 Suffolk Coastal District, following instructions at 930–990, plus 0 plus 15 from 942.015, following instructions at 01–09 in the add table under 930–990).

Dewey at AASL 2009

Are you going to the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 14th National Conference in Charlotte November 5-8?  If yes, please join us for a free breakfast and chat about Dewey in school libraries at the Dewey Breakfast/Update on Saturday, November 7, 7:00–8:30 a.m., in the Magnolia Room at the Courtyard by Marriott, Charlotte City Center, 237 S. Tryon Street.

The agenda includes a lively discussion about “what does it mean to use Dewey?” plus a review of the latest proposals for changes to the 370 Education schedule.  We have discussed possible changes to 370 Education at the last two AASL conferences; at this year’s meeting, we’ll review proposals for updates to specific subjects in primary education and specific levels of education.  We’ve incorporated suggestions from AASL members and other groups in the latest version of the 370 Education and are anxious for feedback from school librarians before finalizing the content for inclusion in the print version of DDC 23.  The meeting will also include a general Dewey update and open discussion period—bring those burning Dewey questions and suggestions!

Please register here by November 2.  See you in Charlotte!

Dewey Translators Meeting at IFLA 2009

Forty-five librarians from seventeen countries attended the Dewey Translators Meeting at the World Library and Information Congress (75^th IFLA General Conference and Council) in Milan on August 25. We started the Dewey Translators Meeting in 2003 at IFLA in Berlin as a forum to discuss issues of interest to DDC translation teams (hence the name), but the focus of the meeting has broadened over the years to embrace topics of interest to a wide range of attendees beyond the core group of translation partners.

The first speaker at this year’s meeting, Marie Baliková (Czech National Library), discussed a UDC/DDC crosswalk developed by the Czech National Library for the purpose of collection assessment. The Czech National Library uses the UDC as its primary knowledge organization tool, but makes use of a UDC/DDC crosswalk to enable use of a DDC-based tool for collection assessment. Marie also touched more general issues in knowledge organization—challenges in the creation of crosswalks, identification of weaknesses in classification systems, and problems in the presentation of captions to end users.

Julianne Beall discussed the use of Dewey in the World Digital Library (WDL) project with a focus on the draft guidelines for classifying photographs for the project. We developed the guidelines in consultation with Dewey Section classifiers involved in classifying photographs for WDL. Diane Vizine-Goetz presented an update on two OCLC Office of Research initiatives, Classify, a prototype web service designed to support the assignment of classification numbers, and WorldCat work pages, a project to create rich descriptions from catalog data resulting in a page for every work. Sample WorldCat work pages are available at http://frbr.oclc.org/research/pages/000021759.html. Finally, I presented a brief update on the some changes in the representation of the DDC in MARC 21 formats, design plans for WebDewey 2.0, and the launch of DDC linked data.

We were fortunate to have the heads of all four European DDC Users’ Group (EDUG) working groups in attendance at the Dewey Translators Meeting. Yvonne Jahns (DNB) discussed the work of the EDUG 340 Law Working Group, which has been considering European Union law, theory of sources of law, juristic acts, criminal courts, criminal procedure, and legal professionals. A preliminary report is expected before the end of September, and Yvonne will attend EPC Meeting 132 in November 2009 to discuss the report. Anne-Céline Lambotte (Université de la Méditerranée) reported on the work the EDUG 370 Education Working Group has done on levels of education and subjects in primary education. The 340 and 370 working groups had enough members present in Florence the week before at “Looking at the Past and Preparing for the Future,” an IFLA satellite meeting held August 20-21, to hold a meeting on August 20. Magdalena Svanberg (National Library of Sweden) discussed the EDUG 930 Archaeology Working Group’s concerns about the interdisciplinary provisions for archaeology at 930.1, within 930 History of ancient world to ca. 499. Archaeology of a place after 499 or a place not provided for in T2—3 The ancient world is classed with the history of the place in 940-990 General history of modern world. Gordon Dunsire (University of Strathclyde) reported on the recommendation of the EDUG Technical Issues Working Group that the Dewey editorial team publish the Dewey URI specification. The Dewey URI specification is one of the underpinnings of the recently launched dewey.info service—we plan to issue a discussion paper shortly based on the version of the specification presented at EPC Meeting 131. In the open reporting session, Sohair Wastawy (Bibliotecha Alexandrina) updated the group on the progress of the Arabic translation. We are working together toward the goal of publishing the Arabic translation of DDC 23 near simultaneously with the publication of the English-language edition. By the way, the 2010 EDUG meeting will be held at Bibliotecha Alexandrina in April 2010.

Wind Power

News articles like “Wind Could Meet China's Electricity Needs by 2030: Study” and “Could Wind Power China’s Energy Future?” appeared in response to a report in the September 11 issue of Science, “Potential for Wind-Generated Electricity in China.” The Science article reports on a study that covers a range of factors, including meteorology, economics, and government policies.  The abstract reads in part:

Wind fields derived from assimilated meteorological data are used to assess the potential for wind-generated electricity in China subject to the existing government-approved bidding process for new wind farms. Assuming a guaranteed price of 0.516 RMB (7.6 U.S. cents) per kilowatt-hour for delivery of electricity to the grid over an agreed initial average period of 10 years, it is concluded that wind could accommodate all of the demand for electricity projected for 2030, about twice current consumption.

The interdisciplinary number for wind power is 333.92 Air, a subdivision of 333.9 Other natural resources.  The entry for 333.92 has the class-here note: “Class here wind energy, use of wind for generation of electricity.”  An example of a work classed in 333.92 is Wind Energy—The Facts: A Guide to the Technology, Economics and Future of Wind Power.  Because of the class-here note, wind energy approximates the whole of 333.92, and further addition is possible.  For example, Wind Power in Europe: Politics, Business and Society is classed in 333.92094 Wind energy in Europe, built with 333.92 Air plus T1—09 Geographic treatment plus T2—4 Europe (as instructed at T1—093–T1—099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds).  Because of the add footnote at 333.92 (“Add as instructed under 333.7-333.9”), it is necessary to check the entry 01–09 Standard subdivisions in the add table at 333.7–333.9 Natural resources and energy to be sure that there are no special instructions for standard subdivisions.

Works on the technology of wind-powered generation of electricity are classed in 621.312136 Wind-powered generation.  (There is a note at 621.45 Wind engines: “Class wind-powered generation of electricity in 621.312136.”)  An example of a work classed in 621.312136 is Homebrew Wind Power: A Hands-On Guide to Harnessing the Wind.

Summer Is Over, but the Memory Lingers On

In the U.S. it’s traditional to take a vacation sometime during the summer months of June, July, or August.  And so it was as friends would mention where they had just returned from that they would in turn ask if I were going somewhere interesting.  I had to admit that my only plans were to take a few days off around Labor Day, the traditional end to summer in the U.S.  According to some of my friends, that just simply wasn’t a vacation at all, because it was already a holiday.  (Note:  The word “holiday” has at least two senses.  According to sense 1, holidays are vacations and represent personal leisure time; where some people [e.g., Americans] take vacations, others go on holiday.   According to sense 2, holidays are times that are fixed institutionally [e.g., by a governmental or ecclesiastical body].  My mini-vacation was a holiday in both senses.)  The short time period demanded that more be packed into a smaller amount of time.  But not to fear—I’m not going to try to convince you that that’s the case, but will highlight only two of the activities I undertook.

As a cultural institution, vacations are classed in 306.48125 Vacations (Holidays).  Labor Day is classed in 394.264 Holidays of September, October, November, where it is in standing room.  In contrast, some holidays, e.g., Halloween and Thanksgiving, approximate the whole of their respective classes and thus permit the addition of standard subdivisions and other number building techniques.   Note:  Sense 1 of “holiday” shows up in the context of 306.48125 Vacations (Holidays), while sense 2 of “holiday” shows up in the context of 394.26 Holidays. 

Activity one:  hiking in the Shenandoah National Park.  One hike, on a path “less traveled by,” brought us in near proximity to the local wildlife in the form of an American black bear.  Fortunately the bear was no more eager to make our acquaintance than we were to make his (or maybe it was hers).  By the time I spotted the bear, it had climbed a tree about 15 yards/meters away; it then scampered back down the tree and took off in the opposite direction from us.  We went singing on our way to let the bear know where we were, so it could continue to stay away!

General works on hiking are classed in 796.51 Walking; works on hiking the part of the Shenandoah National Park we were in are classed in 796.5220975594 (796.522 Walking and exploring mountains, hills, rocks plus T1—09 Geographic treatment plus T2—75594 Page County as instructed at T1—093–T1—099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds; comprehensive works on Shenandoah National Park use T2—7559 Northwestern region of Virginia; works on the specific area of the park that we hiked in use T2—75594 Page County).  The interdisciplinary number for the Ursus americanus (American black bear) is 599.785.

Activity two:  visiting the other LC--the first is the Library of Congress; the second is Luray Caverns.  The caverns contain a one-of-a-kind musical instrument, built after Leland Sprinkle had the idea of using the tones created by tapping the stalactites in the caverns in the operation of an organ.  The resulting instrument, the Great Stalacpipe Organ, is said to be the largest musical instrument in the world:  the organ’s keyboards control mallets that strike stalactites spread out over an area of 3.5 acres (ca. 15,000 meters square).

The Luray Caverns are classed in 551.4470975594 (551.447 Caves and related features plus T1—09 Geographic treatment plus T2—75594 Page County as instructed at T1—093–T1—099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds).  While the prototypical organ is classed in 786.5 Keyboard wind instruments, the Great Stalacpipe Organ is, in contrast, a lithophone, which classes with other percussion instruments in 786.83 Keyboard idiophones.

A sanitarium named “Limair” was built over the caverns.  Air from the caverns circulated through the sanitarium, with a complete exchange of air taking place every four minutes.  It is claimed that Limair was the first (1901) air-conditioned home in the United States. (It may seem odd to speak of this as air-conditioning.  The “conditioning” takes place as air is filtered naturally through the limestone walls of the caverns; no additional filtering took place as the shaft-and-fan system drew the air into the sanitarium.) 

Air conditioning in sanatoriums (“sanitarium” and “sanatorium” are alternate spellings of the same word) is classed in 697.93551 (697.93 Air conditioning + 551 General hospital and sanatorium buildings from 725.51, following instructions at 697.935-697.938).

Forest Fires

The Station fire—a forest fire in the Angeles National Forest near Los Angeles, California—has been in the news since it began August 26, 2009.  Fire officials expect it to be contained soon.

Browsing the Relative Index for “Forest fires” yields the following:

Forest fires                                    363.379
Forest fires—forestry                  634.9618
Forest fires—social services      363.379

Since a Relative Index entry with no subdivision identifies the interdisciplinary number for a topic, interdisciplinary works on forest fires are classed in 363.379 Fire hazards in specific situations.  Social services aspects of forest fires are also classed in 363.379. Since “forest fires” are named in an including note at 363.379 (“Including fire hazards in high-rise buildings, schools, transportation; forest fires”), nothing can be added. Examples of works classed in 363.379 are Wildfire! The 1871 Peshtigo Firestorm and The Experience of Community Residents in a Fire-Prone Ecosystem: A Case Study on the San Bernardino National Forest.

Works on the forestry technology aspects of forest fires are classed in 634.9618 Forest fire technology (built with 634.96 Injury, diseases, pests in forestry plus 18 from 632.18 Fire damage to plants, as instructed at 634.96).  For example, Ecological Foundations for Fire Management in North American Forest and Shrubland Ecosystems is classed in 634.9618097 Forest fire technology in North America (634.9618 plus T1—09 Geographic treatment plus T2—7 North America as instructed at T1—093–T1—099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds).

Travelling Pants

On my last visit to Australia, I learned about a project of the Gosford City Library to promote youth services in public libraries in New South Wales, Australia.  It’s the Jean Genies - Travelling Pants! program (PDF file in that last link).  As that document says, “this program has 4 pairs of jeans travelling around NSW public libraries in 2009.  Participating libraries will be decorating the jeans and holding programs or displays based around the theme before sending the jeans on to the next library.”

What Dewey number would we assign to such a program?

• That for jeans (391 Costume and personal appearance being the interdisciplinary number)? – no, you are taken out of there by the reference “For a specific aspect of costume and clothing, see the aspect, e.g., stage costuming 792.026, clothing construction 646.4.”
• That for public libraries (027.4)? – no, you are taken out of that by the reference at 026-027 Specific kinds of institutions, which has hierarchical force at 027.4 Public libraries: “Class a specific operation in a specific kind of institution with the operation.”
• That for public relations (659.2)? – no, you are taken out of there by the reference at 659.29001-659.29999 Subdivisions for organizations producing specific kinds of products and services, or pursuing specific objectives: “however, for public relations in libraries, see 021.7.”

So the Dewey number for the Jean Genies project is 021.7 Promotion of libraries, archives, information centers, where the specific aspects of the use of jeans and of promotion of public libraries are in standing room, so that you cannot add standard subdivisions or the Table 2 number for New South Wales.

Television Programs

We have been asked to distinguish between two parallel subdivisions of 791.45 Television, both under 791.457 Programs:

791.4572 Single programs
791.4575 Two or more programs

What is classed in 791.4572 Single programs?  Here is a guideline for regularly broadcast TV programs: a single program is a single “TV series,” to use the terminology of the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), e.g., Saturday Night Live (SNL), which began broadcasting in 1975.  Parts of Saturday Night Live—a single episode, a single season, selections from many seasons—as well as collective treatment of the whole program are all classed in 791.4572.  Examples are the videorecording SNL. The Complete First Season, 1975–1976, and the book Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live.  Also classed in 791.4572 is a single “TV mini-series” (IMDb terminology); see the previous blog entry “Motion Pictures and Television.” That same blog entry explains that a single made-for-TV movie is classed in 791.4372 Single films, a subdivision of 791.43 Motion pictures.  

Back to subdivisions of 791.45 Television: what is classed in 791.4575 Two or more programs?  Works classed in 791.4575 include more than one of what IMDb calls a “TV series,” e.g., collective treatment of the original Star Trek (1966–1969); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994); Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999); and Enterprise (2001–2005).  An example is the book Star Trek, described as an “authoritative account of the five Star Trek series.” 

Subject-oriented television programs are an important exception to the above guidelines; the scatter note at 791.457 Programs has hierarchical force and applies to both 791.4572 and 791.4575: “Class subject-oriented programs themselves with the subject, e.g., programs on flower gardening 635.9.”  An example is the videorecording A History of Britain: The Complete Collection, classed in 941 History of British Isles; it was originally produced for A History of Britain (“TV series 2000–2002”).

Dewey Summaries published as Linked Data

For a long time, we wanted to do something with Linked Data. That is, apply Linked Data principles to parts of the Dewey Decimal Classification and present the data as a small “terminology service.” The service should respond to regular HTTP requests with either a machine- or a human-readable presentation of Dewey classes. There should be a URI (and, even better, a web page that delivers a useful description) for every Dewey concept, not just single classes. The data should be presented in a format that is capable of handling rich semantic information and in a way that allows users or user agents to just follow their nose to explore the data. For more complex stuff, the service should offer an API-like query access. Finally, the data that are presented should be reusable by anyone for non-commercial purposes.

Some results of these efforts are now available as dewey.info. We had to come up with a URI pattern for the DDC that would generate persistent identifiers for DDC concepts in a distributed environment. Secondly, we wanted to test out the RDF vocabulary SKOS for creating a representational model to express some of the best nuggets of DDC data (language-independent identifiers, multilingual terminology, and semantic relationships). And finally, because Linked Open Data is not really open when you have to ask someone before you can use it, we wanted to test out a Creative Commons license for easier reuse of DDC data for non-commercial purposes.

We chose the DDC Summaries as a first data set to publish according to Linked Data principles. The latest version of the Summaries, i.e., the top three levels of DDC 22, has been available as a web document for some time. To broaden the possible applications of what now essentially is just tag soup (in only one language), every class had to be identified with a URI and the data had to be presented in a reusable way. Please give it a try at dewey.info. An extended overview of the service can be found here, a slightly more technical description is available on the OCLC Developer Network wiki.

What you see now is only the first step. The intention of dewey.info is to be a platform for Dewey data on the web; more is to come in terms of languages, deeper data, and links to other datasets. The DDC has been widely used as a knowledge organization tool, and the way the URIs have been set up should allow the construction of links based on existing metadata in resource descriptions like bibliographic records.

An example: As the World Digital Library is getting ready to deploy RDF views of its data, instead of just including the Dewey number as a literal (or pointing to some other data source), they could include URIs to dewey.info to tap into the SKOS relationships pointing to broader and narrower classes for retrieval interactions, etc. In turn, this establishes a link from a Dewey class to other vocabularies used concurrently for that resource, to Wikipedia, etc. Links can go both ways and benefit all participating data sets, establishing a graph of Linked Data.

NASKO 2009

Back in June I enjoyed meeting with colleagues at the 2009 North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization, the biennial meeting of the International Society for Knowledge Organization–Chapter for Canada and the United States, held at Syracuse University.   (Just to be clear:  NASKO refers only to the biennial meeting, while ISKO–C/US [unfortunately, we can all figure out how that acronym is going to end up being pronounced!] refers to the ISKO chapter.)

The School of Information Studies at Syracuse hosted the symposium in splendid style.  In welcoming us, Dean Liz Liddy noted that NASKO was the first conference to be held in their newly renovated building and expressed how appropriate it was that the first meeting there should be one dedicated to knowledge organization.  “Classification is really the core of every endeavor; I value your work.”  It was gratifying to be appreciated for what we collectively do.

The theme for the symposium, the first official meeting of the chapter, was Pioneering North American Contributions to Knowledge Organization.  The goal of the symposium was to serve as an “occasion . . . to take stock of our past in light of the present and with an eye to how this living heritage might be leveraged for the future.”

Several of the papers (all of which are available on dLIST) addressed themes relevant to our work with the DDC.  Through the lens of Paul Ricoeur’s distinction between language and discourse, Grant Campbell addressed the tension between global and local perspectives in knowledge organization:  how can our systems be interoperable, which would enable access to information resources on a global level, but still preserve that which is specific to the cultures and communities they serve?  Linda Hill presented a paper on geocoding in KO, a topic that editor Michael Panzer has also been exploring of late.  One of two papers presented by Tom Dousa examined evolutionary order in the theories and classificatory practices of Ernest Cushing Richardson and Charles Ammi Cutter, contemporaries of Melvil Dewey.

Lastly, I presented a paper on the notational system that Melvil Dewey devised for the DDC.  (I always love it when Dewey gets the last word!)  Just to whet your appetite, I repeat here the paper’s abstract:  “Historically, the notational system of the Dewey Decimal Classification provided for non-institution-specific, relative location shelf arrangements, thus substantially reducing bibliographic classification effort. Today its decimal notation continues to provide the classification scheme with flexible granularity, is hospitable to expansion, expresses relationships, interfaces well with modern retrieval systems, and is internationally understood.”

Dewey Translators Meeting at IFLA 2009

OCLC will host the annual Dewey Translators Meeting in conjunction with the World Library and Information Congress (75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly) on Tuesday, 25 August, 16:00-18:00, Orange 3 Meeting Room, Milano Convention Centre.  The agenda includes presentations on the UDC/DDC crosswalk developed by the Czech National Library for the purpose of collection assessment, the classification of photographs in the World Digital Library Project, Dewey research activities, and changes in the formats for the representation and distribution of the DDC.  Please register here if you wish to attend the meeting.