025.431: The Dewey blog

What If I Am Using the WebDewey Number Building Tool and Click START or ADD Then--Oops!--Regret It?

Let's say I want to build a DDC number for The Texas Flower Garden: Seasonal Guide to Bloom, Height, Color, and Texture, which has the LCSH:

Plants, Ornamental--Texas
Plants, Ornamental--Texas--Pictorial works
Landscape gardening --Texas
Landscape gardening--Texas--Pictorial works
Color in gardening--Texas

I look for "Gardens" in the Relative Index, find 635 Garden crops (Horticulture), and click START in that record, without taking time to look at the main subdivisions of 635 in the hierarchy box:

635.1-635.8 Edible garden crops
635.9 Flowers and ornamental plants

Belatedly, I remember that I should have looked for flowers or ornamental plants.  When I do look, I realize that I should have started with 635.9 Flowers and ornamental plants.  The Relative Index entries "Flower gardening," "Flowers--gardening," and "Ornamental plants" all point to 635.9.  I select 635.9, but before I can use 635.9 as base number, I need to click CANCEL in the Create Built Number box, which still holds 635:

Then I can click START in the Create built number box for 635.9 Flowers and ornamental plants:

Among the standard subdivisions I see T1--09 History, geographic treatment, biography. I select it because my work has geographic treatment and click ADD.  Now I have more of the number that I want:

I find and select T2--764 Texas and click ADD; then I get an error message:

I belatedly recall that I need to find the add note in Table 1.  First I must click the X in the red circle in the Create built number box to delete + T1--09 History, geographic treatment, biography and revert to only the base number 635.9:

Now I can find and select T1--093-T1--099 Specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds, then click ADD to get the add note in the Create built number box along with T1--09:

Now when I find and select T2--764 Texas, then click ADD, I get the desired result:

The "then add further as follows" part of the add note allows me to add further to express that the book is a pictorial work.  In the add table under T1--093-T1--099 Specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds I select 022 Illustrations (also known as T1--093-T1--099:022) and click ADD:

Now the number building process is complete. I can click SAVE and go on to review / revise the user terms that index the built number.

Note: We have encountered rare circumstances where the number building tool has become confused by multiple layers of backing out.  If things go awry, you can always click CANCEL and do what you really meant to do in the first place.

For more help with using the WebDewey number building tool, see the Dewey Training Courses site.

Signs of Spring

The slideshow of signs of spring put together by NBC News makes clear that spring means different things in different places, from crocuses peeking out above the snow in Berlin, Germany (see slide 15) to beach-going  in Florida (USA; see slide 6).  In Washington, D.C., spring means cherry blossoms (slide 1, but see also slide 12). 

Last year the Library of Congress presented an exhibit on the 100^th anniversary of the city of Tokyo’s gift of 3,000 cherry trees to the city of Washington D.C.  Two of those trees are on the grounds of the Library of Congress, including this one, as seen in a shot taken last Friday:

(Or in case you want to see a full tree in bloom, catch the Library of Congress blog posting here.)

From a botanical perspective, cherry trees are classed in 583.73 Rosales, where cherries are present in the including note.  This number can be used to build several numbers in the 630s, of which the most appropriate for our purposes is 635.977373 (built from 635.977 Ornamental trees, plus notation 373 from 583.73, following the add instructions at 635.9773-635.9775).  The Relative Index terms Cherries—ornamental arboriculture and Japanese flowering cherry both lead to 635.977373.

Inflammation

A special section on inflammation in the 11 January 2013 issue of Science begins with a brief description of acute inflammation like that commonly associated with an infected cut or sprained ankle--"redness, swelling, heat, pain"--but moves quickly to the section's emphasis on chronic inflammation in relation to diseases:  "This special section in Science highlights the detrimental, but also in some cases beneficial, role of inflammation in neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome."

The DDC number 616.0473 Inflammation, a subdivision of 616.047 Symptoms and general pathological processes as problems in their own right, has much current literary warrant.  Works classed in 616.0473 Inflammation may treat both acute and chronic inflammation.  An example is Fundamentals of Inflammation. 

At 616.047 Symptoms and general pathological processes as problems in their own right are multiple class-elsewhere notes.  The notes most relevant to inflammation are these:

Class results of injuries and wounds in 617.2

Class surgical complications and sequelae in 617.919

Class symptoms and pathological processes of a specific disease or class of diseases with the disease or class of diseases, e.g., symptoms of heart diseases 616.12

Those notes have hierarchical force.  Consequently, works limited to inflammation as a result of injuries and wounds are classed in 617.22 Fever, infections, inflammation, a subdivision of 617.2 Results of injuries and wounds.  Currently, however, little monographic literature about inflammation that fits in 617.22 is being published. 

By contrast, many works are being published about inflammation in relation to specific diseases.  An example is Inflammation and Atherosclerosis, which discusses "the pathogenetic, diagnostic, preventive and possible therapeutic relevance of inflammation in atherogenesis." That work is classed with atherosclerosis in 616.136 Arteriosclerosis, which has the class-here note:  "Class here atherosclerosis."  Another example is Innate Inflammation and Stroke, which has papers from a 2010 conference entitled "Innate Inflammation as the Common Pathway of Risk Factors Leading to Transient Ischemic Attacks and Stroke: Pathophysiology and Potential Interventions."  That work is classed in 616.81 Cerebrovascular diseases, which has the class-here note "Class here stroke."

Urban Gardening

Potatoes on Rooftops:  Farming in the City—that title caught my eye in a list of books for young readers (specifically, a list of finalists for the Hands-on Science Book category for the 2013 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books). The book predominantly treats garden crops like potatoes and lettuce; the part about chicks is not large enough to put the book in a broader number.  The work has the LCSH "Urban gardening," and it is classed in the number to which that heading has been mapped:  635.091732 Urban gardening, built with 635 Garden crops (Horticulture) plus T1--091 Areas, regions, places in general plus 732 from T2—1732 Urban regions.  That number can be used for urban gardening for food, or for comprehensive works on urban gardening for food and flowers.  Most of the subdivisions of 635 Garden crops (Horticulture) are for gardening for food, as indicated by the centered entry 635.1-635.8 Edible garden crops. Gardening for flowers is limited to the last subdivision, 635.9 Flowers and ornamental plants, which has the class-here note "Class here floriculture."

Other works classed in 635.091732 Urban gardening include:

Incredible Edibles: 43 Fun Things to Grow in the City
I Garden: Urban Style
Urban Gardening for Dummies

Abridged Edition 15 and Segmentation in WebDewey

Are you interested in using WebDewey to produce Abridged Edition 15 numbers? If yes, do you have "Show" checked under Segmentation Options on the Preferences page of WebDewey?  If yes, you should be able to see the segmentation marks (/) and segmentation instructions described below.

What do the segmentation marks in WebDewey indicate?  The end of the Abridged 15 number. 

If you find a particular segmentation mark or instruction confusing, look to the bottom of the WebDewey screen at the box labeled Abridged Edition 15 and click the appropriate link to see the relevant portion of the PDF. The explanation of segmentation that follows is intended to reduce the number of times that you will need to consult the PDFs—especially since, as the blog entry "WebDewey's New [Abridged] Look" said, "One caveat: the PDFs contain static content, and will not be updated as changes to DDC 23 are introduced."

Let's consider some examples of segmentation.  If you browse the Relative Index for "supercomputers" you will find as the first entry:

Supercomputers 004.1/1

If you click to see the full record, you will see the same segmentation mark in 004.1/1 in the hierarchy box.  If you click the span 004.11-004.16 Digital computers in the hierarchy box to see that full record, you will see that the subdivisions for mainframe computers (004.1/2) and midrange computers (004.1/4) similarly have a segmentation mark after the 1, but the subdivision for personal computers (004.16) has no segmentation mark.

What this means is that the abridged number for supercomputers, for mainframe computers, and for midrange computers is 004.1--but the abridged number for personal computers is 004.16.  If you click the link for 000 in the box labeled Abridged Edition 15 and go to 004.1 in the PDF, you will find that 004.1 General works on specific types of computers has no subdivisions 004.11, 004.12, or 004.14, but it does have a subdivision 004.16 Personal computers (and 004.16 has further subdivisions). Supercomputers, mainframe computers, and midrange computers are all mentioned in the including note at 004.1.

For another example, if you browse the Relative Index for "computer scientists" you will find:

Computer scientists                                    004.092
Computer scientists--collected biography       004.092/2

The segmentation mark in 004.092/2 means that the Abridged 15 number for collected biography of computer scientists is 004.092.  If you click to see the full record for 004.092/2, you will see the same segmentation mark in 004.092/2 in the hierarchy box.  The orange puzzle-piece symbol marks it as a built number that does not appear in the schedule.

Since the number was built with notation from Table 1, you can search for "t1--0922" and click to see the full record (or browse the Relative Index for "collected biography"), and you will find that T1--092/2 Collected biography also has a segmentation mark after 092.  If you check the T1 PDF in the Abridged Edition 15 box, you will find that —092 Biography has no subdivisions, and "collected biography" is mentioned in the including note under —092.  Hence the segmentation mark in 004.092/2 correctly marks the end of the abridged number.

For another example, if you browse "Mexican cooking" in the Relative Index, you will get one entry, pointing to a number with no segmentation mark:

Mexican cooking 641.5972

If you click to see the full record, you will see that the number 641.5972 is a built number that does not appear in the schedule (orange puzzle-piece), and still there is no segmentation mark.  If in the hierarchy box you click the span 641.593-641.599 Cooking characteristic of specific continents, countries, localities to see that full record, you can see the add note that was used to build the number, plus a segmentation instruction:

Add to base number 641.59 notation T2--3-T2--9 from Table 2, e.g., Southern cooking (United States) 641.5975

Segmentation Instruction: Segment as shown in Table 2

That segmentation instruction means that the instruction to add from Table 2 is present in Abridged Edition 15, and the abridged number ends after the abridged Table 2 notation.  If you browse the Relative Index for Mexico, or check the T2 PDF for Abridged Edition 15, you will find that the abridged Table 2 number for Mexico is T2--72; hence the abridged number for Mexican cooking is 641.5972.

If you browse the Relative Index for "Zanzibari cooking," you will find a number with a segmentation mark before the final 1:

Zanzibari cooking 641.59678/1

In the full record, the same segmentation mark appears in 641.59678/1 in the hierarchy box:

 

If you browse the Relative Index for "Zanzibar," you will find that the Table 2 number T2--678/1 also has a segmentation mark before the final 1:

Zanzibar T2--678/1

Hence the correct Abridged Edition 15 number for Zanzibari cooking is 641.59678.

One more example.  If you browse the Relative Index for "roses" you will find:

Roses                     635.9/33734
Roses—arts             T3C--3643734
Roses—botany         583/.734
Roses—floriculture    635.9/33734

The floriculture number for roses in Abridged Edition 15 is 635.9, because the segmentation mark follows the 9 in 635.9/33734.  The botany number for roses in Abridged Edition 15 is 583, because the segmentation mark follows the first 3 in 583/.734.  Why does the Table 3C number for roses have no segmentation mark?  Abridged Edition 15 has no Table 3C; none of T3C--3643734 is included in any abridged number.

If you click to see the full record for 635.9/33734, you will find a segmentation mark after 635.9 in all the numbers below 635.9 in the hierarchy, including the span 635.9/33-635.9/38 Taxonomic groupings--except for 635.93-635.97 Groupings of plants.

Why does the span 635.93-635.97 Groupings of plants have no segmentation mark?  The technical reason is that the span is a centered entry, and centered entries get no segmentation marks.  The technical reason is unimportant; the take-away is this: if you see a span in the hierarchy box with no segmentation mark, you must look at the specific subdivisions to see whether they have segmentation marks.

For information about the change in segmentation practice that began September 1, 2005, see the previous blog entry "Sweet segment solution" and related discussion paper.

Rule of Application, Part 2

 

Last week's post on the rule of application noted that this rule has been woven into the schedules of the DDC and promised this follow-up post with further examples.  In the meantime, Juli's post on recycling plastics concluded in this manner:

It should come as no surprise that works on recycling specific materials are classed according to the rule of application: recycling applied to plastics classed with plastics, recycling applied to a specific kind of plastic classed with the kind of plastic, recycling of specific kinds of wastes classed with specific kinds of wastes. . . .  Nevertheless, it is still necessary to check the Relative Index and notes to see exactly what DDC numbers should be used.

This post proceeds along two avenues.  We will start with two large-scale implementations of the rule of application in the schedules.  Then we will consider several recent developments in the schedules that have been driven by the rule of application.

One large-scale implementation of the rule of application is found in 610 Medicine and health with regard to the relationship between 615 Pharmacology and therapeutics and 616 Diseases.  This relationship is so crucial that the rule of application finds explicit statement in the schedules, even though it is standard operating procedure (pun intended!).  At 615.5 Therapeutics we find the following scatter class-elsewhere note:

Class therapies applied to a specific disease or group of diseases with the disease or group of diseases in 616–618, plus notation 06 from table under 616.1–616.9, notation 06 from table under 617, or notation 06 from table under 618.1–618.8, e.g., therapies for cardiovascular diseases 616.106

And at 615.7 Pharmacokinetics we find the following scatter class-elsewhere note:

Class use of a drug to treat a specific disease or group of diseases with the disease or group of diseases in 616–618, plus notation 061 from table under 616.1–616.9, notation 061 from table under 617, or notation 061 from table under 618.1–618.8, e.g., drug treatment for diseases of liver 616.362061

Therefore, for example, works on the treatment of arthritis using acupressure are classed in the number for arthritis (616.722 Arthritis) rather than in the number for acupressure (615.8222 Acupressure).  Numbers for diseases allow for addition of notation from the internal add table under 616.1–616.9, where we find 06 Therapy and subdivisions, including 062-069 Other therapies, with an add instruction to add the numbers following 615.8 in 615.82–615.89.  The specific number for treatment of arthritis using acupressure therefore is 616.72206222.

Another large-scale implementation of the rule of application is found in 780 Music.  This time the rule of application finds form, not as an explicit statement in a class-elsewhere note, but as an implicit effect of the class-with-the-last preference order that governs the 780s.  As pointed out in the Manual note for 780 Music, the usual arrangement or facet order in music is executant, form, general principles, and standard subdivisions.  We find executants in 782 Vocal music, 783 Music for single voices, and 784–788 Instruments and their music; it is useful for our purposes to note that these numbers are not only for the voices and instruments that produce music, but also for the music they produce.  We find musical forms that are executant-specific in the early numbers of their ranges (e.g., 782.1–782.4 Vocal forms, 784.18 [Instrumental] Musical forms) and those that are not executant-specific in 781.8 Musical forms.  We find general principles that are executant-specific in the earliest numbers of their ranges (e.g., 782.01–782.07 General principles of vocal music, 784.11–784.17 General principles of instruments and instrumental ensembles and their music) and those that are not executant-specific in, e.g., 781.1 Basic principles of music, 781.3 Composition, and 781.4 Techniques of music.  OK, so the class-with-the-last preference order implements the facet order (that is, executants come last, preceded by form, which in turn is preceded by general principles; and, as always, standard subdivisions come last), but what does this have to do with the rule of application?  It’s this:  processes and techniques that can be applied to music, e.g., composition, arrangement, performance, conducting, recording, are included in the general principles grab bag.  Therefore—after the lengthy prelude, do we now need a drum roll? (oops, inflicting punishment again)—processes and techniques applied to musical forms or to music-by-kinds-of-executants are classed with the forms or executants.  For example, works on the composition of fugues are classed in the number for fugues (784.1872 Fugues) rather than in the number for composition (781.3 Composition).  Numbers for specific musical forms allow for addition of notation from the internal add table under 781.2–781.8, where we find 1 General principles and an instruction to add the numbers following 781 in 781.1–781.7.  The specific number for composition of fugues therefore is 784.187213.

Now we turn to several examples, all involving computing, showing how the rule of application guides ongoing development of the DDC.  We note first that works on the application of computers to a subject are classed in the number for the subject followed by T1—0285 Computer applications, if appropriate.  Thus, when we relocated computational linguistics from 410.285 (Linguistics) Computer applications to 006.35 Natural language processing, it then became possible to express computational linguistics applications by adding T1—0285635, following the add instruction at T1—0285.  Consistent with the rule of application, works on the use of natural language processing / computational linguistics to accomplish certain tasks are classed with the task, plus notation T1—0285635.  Hence we get automatic abstracting 025.410285635 (025.41 Abstracting), word sense disambiguation 401.430285635 (401.43 Semantics), automatic part-of-speech tagging and automatic parsing 415.0285635 (415 Grammar of standard forms of languages), and machine translation 418.020285635 (418.02 Translating).

Questions on how to treat subjects like wireless Internet, wireless LANs, and wireless metropolitan networks were easily answered through the rule of application:  class in the number for the kind of network.  Therefore, wireless Internet is classed in 004.678, wireless LANs in 004.68, and wireless metropolitan networks in 004.67.

With DDC 23 additional concepts were incorporated into existing computer science classes.  Two of these were integrated development environments (IDEs) and application frameworks. Webopedia describes an IDE as "a programming environment integrated into a software application that provides a GUI builder, a text or code editor, a compiler and/or interpreter and a debugger."  So we had to decide whether to represent an IDE as a systems program (this is how interpreters, compilers, and assemblers are treated) or as an aid in programming (this is how application generators, text editors specially designed to assist in coding programs, and debuggers are treated).  Since the rule of application sided with the latter, "integrated development environments" was added to the class-here note at 005.1 Programming.  The pcmag.com encyclopedia characterizes an application framework as "a set of common software routines that provides a foundation structure for developing an application. Frameworks take the tedium out of writing all the program code for an application from scratch."  As with integrated development environments, the purpose of application frameworks is to support the development of programs.  The rule of application again leads to application frameworks being associated with 005.1 Programming, where "application frameworks" was also added to the class-here note.

Recycling Plastics

Last month Science had a special issue on "Working with Waste" with a general theme of "More Treasure Than Trash":  "Trash is often treasure--a feedstock that can't be overlooked as an expanding world population tries to use resources more efficiently and reduce the strain that our consumption places on natural systems." 

Articles in the special issue discuss many technologies for converting specific kinds of wastes into treasure.  Let’s consider just one. "Recycling of the #5 Polymer" deals with recycling of a specific kind of plastic: "Polypropylene (PP) is a widely used plastic with consumer applications ranging from food packaging to automotive parts, including car battery casings. To differentiate it from other recyclable plastics, it is designated as #5. Here, the factors contributing to PP recycling rates are briefly reviewed. Considerations include collection and separation efficiency, processing chemistry, and market dynamics for the products derived from recyclates." The article has much about technology, though is not strictly limited to it.  Let’s begin with technology.
 
An unsubdivided Relative Index entry "Polypropylene" leads to 668.4234 Polyolefins, where "polypropylenes" are listed in the including note.  An example of a work classed in 668.4234 is Handbook of Polypropylene and Polypropylene Composites.  The work has one chapter on recycling, but covers also many other topics in plastics engineering of polypropylene. 

What about a work limited to recycling technology of polypropylene?  Browsing the Relative Index for "recycling" yields:

Recycling technology         628.4458

At 628.4458 Conversion into useful products are a class-here note and a scatter see-reference note:

Class here recycling technology

For a specific conversion technology, see the technology, e.g., converting garbage into fertilizer 668.6375

In the upward hierarchy of 628.4458 is 628.4 Waste technology, public toilets, street cleaning.  Among the notes in that entry are a standard-subdivisions-are-added note and a scatter see-reference note:

Standard subdivisions are added for waste technology, public toilets, street cleaning together; for waste technology alone

For control and utilization of wastes in a specific technology, see the technology, plus notation T1--0286 from Table 1, e.g., waste technology in fuel processing 662.60286

Browsing the Relative Index for "Waste technology" yields many entries, among them:

Waste technology                 T1--0286
Waste technology                 628.4
. . .
Waste technology--plastics    668.4192

If we consider adding T1--0286 Green technology (Environmental technology) to the main number for plastics technology, 668.4 Plastics, we find the bracketed number: 668[.4028] Auxiliary techniques and procedures; apparatus, equipment, materials with a do-not-use note: "Do not use; class in 668.41."

At 668.41 Techniques, procedures, apparatus, equipment, materials is the class-elsewhere note: "Class application to specific kinds of plastics in 668.42-668.45."  That class-elsewhere note has hierarchical force; consequently, works on a waste technology such as recycling technology with respect to a specific kind of plastic are classed with the kind of plastic in 668.42-668.45 Specific kinds of plastics, not in 668.4192 Waste technology.  Hence a work limited to recycling technology of polypropylene would be classed in 668.4234 Polyolefins.  Since polypropylene is in standing room there, no standard subdivision could be added.

General works on recycling technology of plastics are classed in 668.4192 Waste technology.  Examples are Introduction to Plastics Recycling and Recycling of Plastic Materials.

What about broader works that include social aspects of recycling?  Browsing the Relative Index again for "recycling" yields:

    Recycling waste        363.7282
        see also Waste control

The unsubdivided Relative Index entry for waste control--which signals the interdisciplinary number for waste control--points to the next number up in the hierarchy of 363.7282 Recycling:

Waste control         363.728

Among the notes at 363.728 Wastes is a preference order note:

Unless other instructions are given, class a subject with aspects in two or more subdivisions of 363.728 in the number coming last, e.g., recycling scrap metal 363.7288 (not 363.7282)

Given the preference order, recycling plastics is classed in 363.7288 Specific kinds of wastes (plastics are not mentioned there, but the number has no subdivisions).  Examples of works about recycling plastics classed in 363.7288 are Plastics Recycling Kit and Plastics Recycling: Cradle to Grave.

It should come as no surprise that works on recycling specific materials are classed according to the rule of application: recycling applied to plastics classed with plastics, recycling applied to a specific kind of plastic classed with the kind of plastic, recycling of specific kinds of wastes classed with specific kinds of wastes. (See previous discussion of rule of application.)  Nevertheless, it is still necessary to check the Relative Index and notes to see exactly what DDC numbers should be used.

The Rule of Application

Section 5.7 of the DDC Introduction addresses how to classify a work that includes more than one subject in the same discipline:

5.7   A work may include multiple subjects treated separately or in relation to one another from the viewpoint of a single discipline. Use the following guidelines in determining the best placement for the work:

(A)    Class a work dealing with interrelated subjects with the subject that is being acted upon. This is called the rule of application, and takes precedence over any other rule. For instance, class an analytical work dealing with Shakespeare's influence on Keats with Keats. Similarly, class a work on the influence of the Great Depression on 20th century American art with American art.

Here is introduced the rule of application, a rule that guides the classifier in classifying a work on interrelated subjects in which one subject can be said to act upon the other.  The rule states that such a work should be classed with the subject acted upon.  (The characterization of the rule of application in the Glossary—"The rule instructing that works about the application of one subject to a second subject or the influence of one subject on another subject are classified with the second subject"—indicates that the single discipline context in which the rule of application is presented in the Introduction is not defining/restrictive.)  The Introduction also makes clear that, if multiple rules apply to the classification of a work and one of those rules is the rule of application, it "trumps" (takes precedence over) all other rules.  (In fact, the pre-eminence of the rule of application is the motivation for starting our review of the rules here.)

The rule of application is also mentioned in section 8.12 of the Introduction, where we learn that the table of preference at the beginning of Table 1 is overruled by ("yields to") the rule of application. For example, "by the rule of application, teaching financial management in hospital administration is classed in 362.110681, not 362.11071, even though notation 07 is above notation 068 in the table of preference."  We have three subjects here:  hospitals, financial management, and teaching.  Teaching is applied to financial management, while financial management is applied to hospitals, financial management constituting one aspect of hospital administration.  Since hospitals are the core subject acted upon, we start with 362.11 Hospitals and related institutions.  We then add standard subdivision T1—0681 Organization and financial management because this is the subject element that acts upon hospitals.

Perhaps the most common applications of the rule of application concern the philosophy of a subject or the history of a subject.  Such works are classed in the subject, with standard subdivisions T1—01 Philosophy and theory or T1—09 History, geographic treatment, biography added to express philosophy or history, respectively.  Thus we have 109 for the history of philosophy and 901 for the philosophy of history.  (Imagine if the rule of application were reversed and the philosophy of all subjects was to be classed in the 100s and the history of all subjects in the 900s!) 

Given the rule of application:

• Works on Shakespeare's influence on Keats are classed in the number for Keats (821.7 English poetry—1800–1837) rather than in the number for Shakespeare (822.33 William Shakespeare under 822.3 Drama of Elizabethan period, 1558–1625).
• Works on the use of data mining to support business decisions are classed within business, in a subdivision of 658.4038 Information management ("Class here gathering of information by management or use in managerial decision making; information resources, knowledge management") rather than in 006.312 Data mining, its interdisciplinary home within computer science.  The specific number for data mining to support business decisions is 658.403802856312, built with the base number 658.4038, plus T1—0285 Computer applications, plus the numbers following 00 in 006.312, following the add instruction at T1—0285.
• Works on the chemistry of hydrocarbon combustion are classed in the number for hydrocarbons (547.01 Hydrocarbons) rather than in the number for combustion (541.361 Combustion).  Numbers for specific kinds of compounds identified by component elements allow for addition from the internal add table under 547, where we find 0453–0458 Specific topics of physical chemistry and the add instruction to add to 045 the numbers following 541.3 in 541.33–541.38.  The specific number for the chemistry of hydrocarbon combustion therefore is 547.0104561.
• Works on the fractography of glass are classed in the materials science number for glass (620.144 Glass) rather than in the number for fractography (620.1126 Resistance to fracture (Fracture mechanics)).  Numbers for specific kinds of materials allow for addition from the internal add table under 620.16–620.19, where we find 1–9 Specific properties and nondestructive testing and the add instruction to add the numbers following 620.112 in 620.1121–620.1129.  The specific number for fractography of glass therefore is 620.1446.
• Works on obedience training for retrievers are classed in the number for retrievers (636.7527 Retrievers) rather than in the number for obedience training (636.0887 Pets ["Class here obedience training").  Numbers for specific breeds of dogs allow for addition of notation from the internal add table under 636.1–636.8, where we find 35 Training.  The specific number for obedience training for retrievers therefore is 636.752735.  (The decision to class obedience training for retrievers with retrievers rather than with obedience training is reinforced by the rule of zero, which we will look at later.)

It is not by accident or mere coincidence in the final three examples that provision has been made for building numbers that express the complex subject we were interested in representing.  These reflect a pattern common throughout the DDC in which the rule of application has, in effect, been built into the DDC.  A follow-up post will give further examples of where the rule of application is woven into the schedules.

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)

 

 

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.