025.431: The Dewey blog

International Dewey Users Meeting at IFLA 2012

Forty-two librarians from fifteen countries attended the International Dewey Users Meeting held in conjunction with the World Library and Information Conference (IFLA) in Helsinki on Tuesday, 14 August 2012.  I kicked the session off with a presentation on four topics loosely coupled under the heading of "new views of the DDC": Dewey linked data, the virtual 200 Religion browser, new proposed notation for expressing an archaeological viewpoint (comments are due on the proposal by 15 September), and the new user contribution / number building module in WebDewey (the beta version of the module is scheduled to be installed in the English-language version of WebDewey in late September).  Juli Beall followed with a presentation on recent and proposed updates to Islam and Islamic Law (comments are due on the proposal by 15 September).  Elise Conradi (National Library of Norway) discussed the history and challenges associated with the development of the new Norwegian translation.  Ingrid Berg (National Library of Sweden) demonstrated WebDewey Search, an end-user browsing tool based on the look and feel of WebDewey and funded by Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, National Library of Norway, and National Library of Sweden with the permission of OCLC.  Finally, Karin Kleiber (Austrian National Library) gave an update on the activities of the European DDC Users’ Group (EDUG).  Karin is the current chair of EDUG.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time before she could link to the rich store of information on the EDUG web site—here is the link.  It is important to note here that the proposal for explicit notation to express the archaeological viewpoint in Dewey was a direct result of a recommendation from the EDUG 930 Working Group.

As it turns out, this happened to be the 10^th annual meeting of Dewey users held in conjunction with IFLA.  At the time of the first meeting (then known as the Dewey Translators Meeting and held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin in conjunction with IFLA 2003), the German team had recently started using the Pansoft translation system that is now used by most translation teams, we were just introducing an XML distribution format based on our proprietary data markup (ESS XML), WebDewey only ran on the OCLC Connexion platform, and what we call "linked open data" today didn’t exist.  I managed to find the agenda for that first meeting in Berlin (thank you, OCLC data cloud!)  and was immediately struck (even with the level of technological change over the last ten years) by the similarities between the topics of interest back then and today.  At the time of the 2003 meeting, we were getting ready to publish DDC 22;  I gave an update on the status of the English-language standard editions.  Juli followed with a discussion of the translation guidelines for DDC 22 and Abridged Edition 14.  The late Magda Heiner-Freiling discussed the German model for the use of Dewey in national bibliographies.  Diane Vizine-Goetz (OCLC Research) discussed ESS XML (the predecessor to our current MARCXML distribution format).  There were also two roundtables: one on methodologies for terminology association between Dewey and controlled vocabularies, and another consisting of short reports from the Arabic, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, and Russian translation teams (with the exception of the Greek translation, representatives from each of the aforementioned teams plus the Swedish team were present at this year’s meeting in Helsinki). 

We are looking forward with excitement to the next ten years of working together with the worldwide Dewey community—see you in Singapore next August at IFLA 2013!

Interdisciplinary Numbers and WebDewey

What is the most efficient way to find the interdisciplinary number for a topic in WebDewey? 

Usually, the most efficient way is to browse the Relative Index for that topic.  Why?  In the Relative Index the interdisciplinary number for a topic appears as an unsubdivided entry at the top of the list of entries for that topic (line 2 in the browse display, right after the immediately preceding line given for context in browse displays).  For example, here is the start of the Relative Index browse display for "marriage":

By contrast, a simple search for "marriage" yields 74 records.  The results are arranged in DDC number order, and the record for the interdisciplinary number (306.81 Marriage and marital status) is number 46 in the list; it will not appear on the first page unless you have raised the number of records to be displayed on the first page above the usual 30 records. 

If you search instead for "marriage and interdisciplinary" you will get just the one record you want, with its class-here note "Class here . . . . interdisciplinary works on marriage . . . . ."  That specific search is efficient enough to be useful; however, that kind of search works well only when "interdisciplinary works on [the sought topic]" appears in a class-here note or including note—and many records for interdisciplinary numbers have no such note.

For an example of another topic, here is the start of the Relative Index browse display for "pollution":

In this display, the entry for the interdisciplinary number (363.73 Pollution) is followed immediately by links to two Manual notes that can help you determine the best number for complex works about pollution.

By contrast, a simple search for "pollution" yields 135 records, and the record for the interdisciplinary number (363.73) is number 32 in the list.  A simple search for "pollution and interdisciplinary" yields twelve records—not including the record for 363.73.  If you display the full records, you will find that the second record (304.28 Environmental abuse) has the class-elsewhere note: "Class interdisciplinary works on pollution in 363.73."  In this case, browsing the Relative Index is the more efficient way to find the interdisciplinary number.

For a third example, here is the Relative Index browse display for "garlic" (given in full because it is short):

A simple search for "garlic" yields six records:

With this search display in DDC number order, it is not obvious which number is the interdisciplinary number.  To identify the interdisciplinary number record, you could display the full records to find the record with the Relative Index entry "Garlic" unsubdivided; that would be record number 5 in the list, the record for the built number 641.3526Alliaceae—edible bulbs. A search for "garlic and interdisciplinary" yields no record.  In this case also, browsing the Relative Index is the more efficient way to identify the interdisciplinary number.

Here are examples of works for which the above-mentioned interdisciplinary numbers can be used:

A History of Marriage:  From Same Sex Unions to Private Vows and Common Law, the Surprising Diversity of a Tradition (classed in 306.8109 History of marriage and marital status, built with 306.81 plus T1—09 History)

Pollution: Opposing Viewpoints (classed in 363.73 Pollution)

Growing and Using Garlic (classed in 641.3526Alliaceae—edible bulbs)

 

 

Proposed expansions for Islamic law in 340 Law and related changes: Draft for Comment

As noted in earlier discussion papers (2010, 2010rev, 2011) and in earlier blog entries (2010 and 2011), we have been working with Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), home of the Arabic DDC translation team, on expansions and revisions for Islam. Iman Khairy (formerly at BA) and Ossama Mahmoud have been especially helpful.

In the discussion paper that has just been posted on the Dewey discussion page, we focus on expansions for Islamic law in 340 Law—and on a few topics that came to our attention because of our work on Islamic law, especially religious activities and religious groups in 341 Law of nations and 342 Constitutional law. Outside of 340 Law, the affected numbers are 211.4 Rationalism (Free thought) and 239 [Christian] Apologetics and polemics.

We seek comments:
• Does the proposed draft provide a general framework that can be used for organization of and access to diverse collections throughout the world?
• Can you help us improve the English descriptions for Arabic terms?
• Do the Relative Index entries provide appropriate access to the development?

Please comment directly to this blog entry or by one of the alternative methods given with the draft by September 15, 2012.

Special notation for archaeology: Draft for comment

At the request of the European DDC Users’ Group (EDUG) 930 Archaeology Working Group, we have studied the provision for special notation to represent treatment of topics and places from an archaeological viewpoint.  We have always intended that the archaeology of a specific subject outside of 900 go with the subject (plus the appropriate subdivision of Table 1—09 if applicable), but we realize that there are currently no specific instructions to this end beyond standard Dewey practice.  We propose to make this instruction specific, and to extend it through the addition of specific notation in Table 1 and under 930-990.  We also propose small adjustments to existing instructions under 930.1, 609, and 338.09.

A draft outlining the specific proposals is available on the discussion paper page of the Dewey web site.  Please comment directly to this blog entry or by one of the alternative methods given with the draft by 15 September 2012.

International Dewey Users Meeting at IFLA 2012

OCLC will sponsor the annual International Dewey Users Meeting (formerly known as the Dewey Translators Meeting) in conjunction with the World Library and Information Conference (IFLA) in Helsinki on Tuesday, 14 August, 8:00–9:30 a.m., Wintergarden Room, Helsinki Convention Centre. The agenda includes updates on Islam and Islamic law, data provenance, Dewey linked data, the Norwegian translation, and European DDC Users’ Group (EDUG) activities. There will also be demonstrations of the virtual Dewey religion browser, WebDewey Search, and upcoming enhancements to WebDewey.  Please register here by 8 August if you plan to attend the meeting.

Dewey Breakfast/Update at ALA Annual 2012

Eighty-seven librarians joined us for the Dewey Breakfast/Update at ALA.  Libbie Crawford kicked things off with an update on Dewey products plus a discussion on how we plan to produce an “abridged view” within WebDewey.  Abridged edition users in the audience gave us a thumbs up on the approach—they particularly liked the proposals to show segmentation in Dewey numbers associated with Relative Index entries and to make links to static PDFs from the print version of Abridged Edition 15 available.  Michael Panzer continued the WebDewey theme in his first presentation by giving an update on the user contribution / number building assistance feature currently under development and set to be installed in WebDewey within the next three months. 

Diane Vizine-Goetz (OCLC Research) gave an update on two of her research projects: Classify (now a service that can be launched from the Connexion command menu) and Kindred Works (the demo version will be out later this month). 

Juli Beall presented our latest proposals for the treatment of Islamic law in 340 Law.  EPC recently approved distribution of a discussion paper on the proposed extensions—watch this space for an announcement when the paper is posted for comment. 

I discussed the history, implementation, and next steps associated with the virtual chronological/regional browser of the Bible and specific religions (the browser is now available on the Dewey web site here, and includes links to Dewey-classified resources in WorldCat.org).  We’ve been talking about this alternate view of religion for a long time (see a 2006 post here, and a more recent one here).  We encourage users to try out the browser and give us feedback.

Michael closed the program with a quick talk on DDC 23 as linked data, including the relationship between Dewey linked data and the schema.org descriptive mark-up version of WorldCat as linked data (see Roy Tennant’s excellent overview on OCLC’s linked data announcements last week, plus Michael’s and my recent blog posts on Dewey linked data).  Once again, we are very interested in use cases for Dewey linked data—let us know about your experiments and ideas!

EPC Meeting 135

Joan is off in Florence (yes, Florence, Italy, not Florence, Nebraska) speaking at the Global Interoperability and Linked Data in Libraries Seminar, so I’m stepping in to report on last week’s meeting of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC)—Meeting 135—held in Dublin (yes, Dublin, Ohio, not Dublin, Ireland—hmm, that just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?).   Stay tuned for a report from Joan on the Florence meeting later this week.

This EPC meeting had a strong people component to it—and we’re not talking Table 1—08 Groups of people here.  

• EPC welcomed two new committee members:   Pat Riva, Coordinator of the Monographs Section in the Cataloguing Directorate for Heritage Collections (Direction du traitement documentaire des collections patrimoniales) at Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) in Montreal, Canada, and Gert de Jager,  Subject Cataloguer, Unisa Library, University of South Africa in Pretoria, South Africa.  Incidentally, Pat is also speaking at the Florence seminar.
• EPC celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee by re-electing Caroline Kent (British Library) as chair and electing Jonathan Furner (UCLA, but, as you may recall, formerly an assistant editor of the DDC) as vice-chair (you can take the Englishman out of the British Isles, but fortunately the accent lingers on).  Jonathan replaces Anne Robertson (Australian Committee on Cataloguing), who had served the maximum number of years as vice-chair.
• EPC passed a resolution congratulating and offering best wishes to Jay Jordan, outgoing president and CEO of OCLC.  As the resolution noted, Jay has “unfailingly [advocated] and [supported] the mission of the Dewey Decimal Classification;” we trust he will remain “a Friend of Dewey.”
• Where’s the picture of all these people? you ask.   Remember our trusty photographer Giles Martin, who retired from his position as assistant editor of the DDC last year and returned home to Australia?   The lack of an official photograph of the EPC meeting is only one of the more visible losses (pun intended) we have suffered with Giles’ relocation to Australia.   (But note that we have not discontinued him!  Giles is still contributing to DDC maintenance and development.)

The agenda included proposals related to modifications to EPC work methods and DDC development (for example, how can data from WorldCat be used to inform development of the DDC?), new editorial rules for segmentation and for oceans and seas, and updates to the classification.   More particularly, a new standard subdivision for archaeology is coming; small updates to the classification in Table 2 Geographic Areas were approved, as were updates in 004-006 Computer science and 330 Economics.  The committee considered discussion papers on Islamic law; the treatment of marriage, partnerships, and unions in the DDC; and the possible adoption of a new taxonomic basis for 583-584 Angiosperms. The committee approved follow-up discussion and consultation on all but the last.

The committee had a wide-ranging discussion on engaging with Dewey users and the role of social media. The agenda also included presentations on modeling topics in the DDC, DDC research, DDC training, edition-level metadata, Dewey linked data, data provenance, upcoming enhancements to WebDewey 2.0, and the virtual chronological/regional religion browser.

Two follow-up electronic meetings have been scheduled:  Meeting 135A will take place the first week in October and will focus on Islamic law, while Meeting 135B has been scheduled for the first week in November to consider a revised proposal on marriage, partnerships, and unions.   The next face-to-face meeting of EPC—Meeting 136—will be held at OCLC headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, 13–14 May 2013.

Dewey at the ALA Annual Conference

The ALA Annual Conference is just three weeks away!  Register here for the Dewey Breakfast/Update on Saturday, 23 June, 7:00–8:30 am, Sheraton Park Hotel, Plaza Rooms A/B. The program will feature presentations on upcoming enhancements to WebDewey 2.0, updates for Islam and Islamic law, the new virtual Dewey religion browser, DDC translations and editions, and Dewey research activities. The ALCTS Public Libraries Technical Services Interest Group will meet in the same room directly following the Dewey Breakfast/Update.

There are several Dewey-related activities associated with the ALA Annual Conference beyond the Dewey Breakfast/Update.  Michael Panzer is speaking on Dewey linked open data at two ALA preconferences: the RBMS Preconference on 21 June in San Diego, and Creating Library Linked Data: What Catalogers and Coders Can Build (a preconference sponsored by the LITA/ALCTS Linked Library Data Interest Group) on 22 June in Anaheim. 

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, the Library of Congress, and OCLC have jointly developed a proposal for documenting data provenance in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format—Michael will present the proposal on behalf of the three institutions at the first meeting of the MARBI Committee on 23 June.

Finally, our OCLC Research colleague Diane Vizine-Goetz will be speaking on her knowledge organization research (much of which makes use of  Dewey data) during the meeting of the ALCTS CaMMS Subject Analysis Committee, Monday, 25 June, Hyatt Regency Orange County, Grand Ballroom C.  The meeting runs 1:30–5:30 p.m.; her talk is scheduled at the beginning of the meeting.

 

Graham flour, graham bread, graham crackers

(This is the fourth in a series of posts on eponyms.)

Sylvester Graham (1794-1851) is best known today for his eponymous bread and crackers, although he would not recognize (or approve of) some of the products now known by his name.  For example, chocolate graham crackers or graham crackers with a cinnamon-and-sugar topping are substantially different from the graham crackers originally created by Graham.  Indeed, we should probably use the terms “graham bread” and “graham crackers” only in conjunction with the use of graham flour, also created by and named after Sylvester Graham, and in which the components of the wheat kernel are ground separately (the endosperm finely; the bran and germ coarsely) and then combined.  (See the description of graham flour given on the Home Cooking channel on About.com.) 

Graham flour is classed in 641.3311 Food from wheat (built with 641.3 Food plus 311 from 633.11 Wheat, following the add instructions at 641.33–.35 Specific food from plant crops.  Graham bread is classed in 641.815 Bread and bread-like foods (a see reference at 641.3 Food indicates that interdisciplinary works on specific dishes are classed in 641.8 Cooking specific kinds of dishes and preparing beverages). 

And then we come to graham crackers.   Are they really crackers?  (Sylvester Graham must have thought so.)  If so, they should be classed in the same number as graham bread (crackers are mentioned in the including note at 641.815 Bread and bread-like foods).  Or, given that modern graham crackers are often located alongside cookies on grocery store shelves, should they be classed in 641.8654 Cookies?  (A see reference at 641.815 draws off pastries to 641.865, of which 641.8654 is a subdivision.)  We could pursue these questions by exploring the relationship between graham crackers and digestive biscuits, as well as the relationship between English biscuits and American cookies.  We could look at definitions of crackers, biscuits, and cookies.  In the end, perhaps the clearest thing we could say is that graham crackers are neither the prototypical cracker nor the prototypical cookie, but the original graham cracker was more cracker-like and modern graham crackers tend to be more cookie-like.  In reality, the question is somewhat moot, because the literature on graham crackers is almost always on some aspect of graham crackers (e.g., nutrition education; the graham cracker market) that takes it outside of 641 altogether.

Sylvester Graham’s creation of graham flour, graham bread, and graham crackers was a part of the Graham Diet, which eschewed white bread, meat, and spices (as well as alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea), espousing instead a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.  A leading advocate of the healthy food movement in the 19^th century, Graham helped to establish the American Vegetarian Society.  To round out the story, early in his adult life, Sylvester Graham was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and was also associated with the Pennsylvania Temperance Society, serving as a traveling speaker.   In sum, Graham was a social reformer.

“Social reform movements” appear in the class-here note at 303.484 Purposefully induced change, where the scatter class-elsewhere note, “Class innovation and reform directed to a specific end with the end, e.g., reform of banking 332.1” also appears.   Consequently, health reform should be classed in 613 Personal health and safety, while diet reform should be classed in 613.2 Dietetics; health reformers and diet reformers would be classed in 613.092 and 613.2092, respectively.  A biography emphasizing his contributions to vegetarianism would be classed more specifically in 613.262092 Vegetarianism—biography.   A biography on Graham emphasizing that his dietary reforms were aimed at curbing alcoholism or curbing sexual urges might be classed in 613.81092 Alcohol abuse—biography or 613.95092 Sex hygiene--biography, respectively.  (Although Sylvester Graham was not formally educated in medicine, the title of Martha H. Verbrugge’s “Healthy Animals and Civic Life: Sylvester Graham's Physiology of Subsistence” [Reviews in American History 9:3 (September 1981), 359-364] is not meant ironically.  Numbers in 610 Medicine and health therefore are not inappropriate.)   

But what would the comprehensive biography number for Sylvester Graham be?  The Manual note at T1—092 Biography instructs us, “If the person made approximately equal contributions to a number of fields”—which seems to be the case here—“use the number for the subject that provides the best common denominator.”   For this reason, we should choose a general number.  A comprehensive biography for Sylvester Graham should therefore be classed in 613.092 Personal health—biography.

Nicotine

(This is the third in a series of posts on eponyms.)

Within the nightshade family of plants is the genus Nicotiana, including more than 70 species of tobacco.  Both the genus name Nicotiana and nicotine, the alkaloid that is the principal constituent of the tobacco leaf, are derived from the name of Jean Nicot de Villemain (1530–1600), a French diplomat and scholar.   As France’s ambassador to Portugal, Nicot sent tobacco seeds that had originated in the New World to Paris in 1560; he also recommended tobacco to the queen, Catherine de Medici, for migraine headches, thus introducing medicinal use of tobacco to the French court. 

The literature on nicotine is inseparable from the literature on tobacco and has many aspects.   For example, from a social welfare perspective, tobacco abuse is classed in 362.296 Tobacco as a subdivision of 362.29 Substance abuse  (for example, Smoking.drugabuse.gov:  Nicotine addiction ... and other dangers of tobacco use); from a human toxicology persective, tobacco is classed in 615.9523952 (built with 615.952 Plant poisons, plus 3952 from 583.952 Solanaceae [the scientific name for the nightshade family], following the add instruction at 615.9523–615.9528 Specific plant poisons; for example, Toxicology:  Tobacco-specific n-nitrosamines:  Recent advances); from an agricultural perspective, tobacco is classed in 633.71 Tobacco as an alkaloidal field crop (for example, The culture of tobacco).  Other appropriate numbers can be seen by browsing the Relative Index under Tobacco, Tobacco abuse, Tobacco industry, etc.  No interdisciplinary number for nicotine or tobacco is given.

Works on Jean Nicot de Villemain as a French diplomat should be classed in 327.440092 Foreign relations of France—biography (built with 327 International relations, plus T2—44 France, plus T1—0092 Biography [the use of 00 for standard subdivisions is given in a footnote], following the add instructions at 327.3–327.9 Foreign relations of specific continents, countries, localities).  (The Manual note at T1—092 Biography indicates that for public figures, greatest weight should be given to the highest office reached, after which it specifies that 327.3–.9 should be used for ambassadors.)  While Nicot may be best known for introducing the use of tobacco to France, his most significant work was the compilation of Thresor de la langue françoyse, tant ancienne que moderne, perhaps the first modern dictionary of the French language.   Works on Jean Nicot as a French lexicographer should be classed in 443.092 French lexicographers (built with 44(0) French, plus T4—3 Dictionaries, plus T1—092 Biography).   Although lexicography is in the class-here note at T4—3028 Auxiliary techniques and procedures; apparatus, equipment, materials, in the preference table for Table 1, T1—092 Biography is higher than T1—028 Auxiliary techniques and procedures; apparatus, equipment, materials.

But what about a comprehensive biography of Jean Nicot?  The Manual note at T1—092 Biography gives the following instructions:   “Use the number for the subject of the person’s most noted contribution for the comprehensive biography of the person.   If the person made approximately equal contributions to a number of fields, use the number for the subject that provides the best common denominator, giving some extra consideration to the person’s occupation.”   The introduction of tobacco to the French court, from which the use of tobacco was further disseminated throughout Europe, was a “contribution” of significant effect, marked by the eponymous use of his surname for tobacco’s scientific name and for its chief chemical compound.  But however significant the effects of his actions with respect to tobacco, his ambassadorship was of only 2-3 years’ duration.  The remaining 40 years of his life were spent as a man of learning.  No number would seem to provide a best common denominator across the range of his contributions.  The Manual note subsequently instructs:  “Class an individual biography in the number most nearly covering the history and civilization of the place and time of the activity emphasized when a work is not clearly associated with any subject but is clearly associated with a place, even in cases when a person’s activity may not approximate the whole of the most specific period.”  Consequently, a comprehensive work on Jean Nicot is best classed in 944.029092 (built with 944.029 Historical periods of France—reigns of Francis II, Charles IX, Henry III, 1559–1589, plus T1—092 Biography).