025.431: The Dewey blog

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.

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).

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”).

EPC Meeting 131

Giles Martin took the photo of EPC at OCLC on June 12, 2009.  Standing, from left to right: Andrea Kappler (Evansville Vanderburgh [IN] Public Library), Sandra Singh (University of British Columbia), Lyn McKinney (Billings [MT] Senior High School), and Welna van Eeden (University of South Africa); seated, from left to right: Karl Debus-López (Library of Congress, standing in for Beacher Wiggins), David Farris (Library and Archives Canada), EPC Vice-Chair Anne Robertson (Australian Committee on Cataloguing), and Deborah Rose-Lefmann (Northwestern University).

It seems like forever since I’ve written something here, and I’m suppressing the urge to report chronologically on my activities since the last time you heard from me (so stay tuned for reports on three very interesting meetings [one in Houston and two in Vienna] in which I participated back in April).  Today, I’m jumping forward to last week with a quick summary of Meeting 131 of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC), which was held June 10-12 at OCLC.  The meeting was chaired by EPC Vice-Chair Anne Robertson (Australian Committee on Cataloguing).  EPC Chair Caroline Kent (British Library) and new EPC member Jonathan Furner (UCLA [and yes, former DDC assistant editor and creator of 025.431: The Dewey blog]) were unable to attend in person, but e-mailed voluminous comments that were considered by the committee during the meeting.

EPC reviewed the full version of Table 1 (Standard Subdivisions).  One provision was postponed for discussion at Meeting 132 in November 2009: the use of T1—0286 Waste technology to represent green technology.  We'll have more to say about that issue once we sort out the ripple effects throughout the schedules.  In Table 2 (Geographic Areas, Historical Periods, Persons), EPC looked mostly to the past in reviewing provisions for the ancient world in T2—3.  Some of the ancient world proposals have implications for the modern world versions of the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, Asia Minor, and Turkey.  EPC also approved some adjustments to German administrative units proposed by colleagues at Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, plus the placement of the Barents Sea region, North Calotte, and Sápmi (Lapland).  EPC approved the full version of Table 3 (Subdivisions for the Arts, for Individual Literatures, for Specific Literary Forms), and an expansion for Hakka (Han Chinese who speak Hakka dialect) in Table 5 (Ethnic and National Groups).

EPC approved updates in the following schedules: 004-006 Computer science, 200 Religion, 300 Social sciences, 301-307 Sociology and anthropology, 320 Political science, 330 Economics, 340 Law, 400 Language, 610 Medicine and health, 780 Music, 800 Literature, and 960 History of Africa.  EPC reviewed preliminary versions of 640 Home and family management, 690 Buildings, 710 Civic and landscape art, and 720 Architecture.  On the recommendation of EPC, we plan to post the sewing and clothing sections of 646 shortly for outside comment.  EPC also reviewed a preliminary proposal for updates to sections of 372.3-372.8 Elementary education in specific subjects.  In addition to comments from members and observers on the private EPC mailing list, EPC’s deliberations were informed by reports from the working groups associated with the European DDC Users’ Group (EDUG) in the areas of law, education, archaeology, and technical issues.

EPC reviewed several research initiatives from the OCLC Office of Research and the Dewey editorial team, plus the latest draft specification for Dewey Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs).  We’ll be back with more information on these initiatives later.

EPC scheduled a follow-up electronic Meeting 131A (to be held August 3-28, 2009), during which the committee will address use of the term “encompassing” in the DDC, plus minor issues in 400, 710, and 780.  Meeting 132 will be held November 16-17, 2009, at the Library of Congress.

One other major Dewey event took place last week—June 12 was the last day for updating Dewey data in the current Editorial Support System (ESS).  The new ESS, along with new data formats based on the MARC classification and authority formats, is scheduled to be launched on July 5 (another reason for our recent periods of silence on this blog).  Rebecca wrote a bit about the new ESS last month—watch for more reports shortly.

Contemporary Styles of Music

There are several areas of difficulty that plague classifiers when approaching 780 Music:

• The citation order is complex; its implementation, via a class-with-the-last policy, is hard to grasp.
• Not all cultures recognize a distinction between folk music and popular music.
• The evolution of music styles muddies everything!

We are proposing several sets of changes in the 780s to address these difficulties, which especially affect the classification of contemporary music. The changes aim to:

• Make clear that the classification of (contemporary) folk and popular music follows the same principles that govern all of the 780s
• Accommodate contemporary developments in musical styles
• Make the classification of contemporary music less volatile (i.e., less subject to change over time)
• Make the classification of contemporary music more expressive

A few examples will provide a taste of the problems addressed and the solutions proposed. Consider, for example, kwaito, which one source describes as “a mixture of all that 1990’s South African youth grew up on: South African disco music, hip hop, R&B, Ragga, and a heavy, heavy dose of American and British house music.”  Several issues are evident here: (1) Should kwaito be treated as folk music (781.62) or as popular music (781.63-781.66)? More generally, is there a way to distinguish reliably between 781.62 Folk music and 781.63-781.66 Popular music? (2) If treated as popular music, should kwaito be seen as non-western popular music (781.63) or, given the western basis of many of its underlying influences, as western popular music (781.64-781.66)? (3) If treated as western popular music, should kwaito be classed in the number coming first, the number coming last, or the number of the most prominent genre? That is, how should hybrid music styles be treated? (4) If classed with house music (arguably its most prominent genre), where should kwaito be classed? That is, where does electronica belong?

Our answer to question (1) is based on a new scope note proposed for 781.62 Folk music: Music originating within and associated with an ethnic or national group. The criteria in the scope note are meant to be not only necessary--a musical style should not be classed in 781.62 if (a) it originated within an ethnic or national group, but is not longer associated with them or (b) it is associated with an ethnic or national group, but did not originate within them--but also sufficient; that is, if the two criteria are met, the musical style should be classed in 781.62 (but see the exception in the paragraph below). The sufficiency of the criteria is meant to be communicated by notes at 781.63 ("Class popular music originating within and associated with an ethnic or national group in 781.62") and 781.64 ("Class western popular music originating within and associated with an ethnic or national group in 781.62"). We recognize that adhering to these criteria may result at times in classing a style under 781.62 for which "popular music" is a better label than "folk music."

But does kwaito meet the exception given at 781.62 ("Class a specific style of music provided for in 781.64-781.66 with the style, e.g., reggae 781.646, Afro-Cuban jazz 781.6572687291")? This is a trickier question, because it is more subjective. What does it mean to be a specific style of, for example, hip-hop? Our intent is to include in "specific style of X" only those styles that are considered solely "a kind of X" (rather than being considered, say, a blend of X and Y). The case with kwaito is intriguing: some sources describe it as a kind of house music; other sources refer to it as South African hip-hop. That both claims are made is evidence that kwaito is not simply a kind of house or a kind of hip-hop.

Fortunately, there is agreement that kwaito originated within South Africa and is currently associated with South Africans; it thus accords with the scope note at 781.62. This means kwaito would be classed in 781.62968 South African folk music (built with 781.62 Folk music, plus T5—96 African, following instructions in the add table under 781.621–781.629, plus notation 8, from T2—68 South Africa, following instructions at T5—966–968).

Answering the first question as we did makes the other questions moot for kwaito, but the other questions—especially the third and fourth questions—have significant generality beyond kwaito. We have struggled with deciding how to handle styles of music based on two or more previous styles. Using Grove Music Online as our source (supplemented by information on styles of popular music at allmusic.com), we propose to distinguish between styles that are essentially specializations of an existing style (as rockabilly is a kind of rock style) and hybrid styles, in which two or more styles have fused to form a new style (as folk rock is a blending or fusion of folk music and rock music). Styles that are specializations of an existing style would class with that style; indeed, we propose to add a class-here note for specific styles (e.g., Class here specific rock styles at 781.66), resulting in specialized styles approximating the whole of the number where they are classed. Thus rockabilly would be classed in 781.66 Rock (Rock ‘n’ roll). Hybrid styles would class with the number coming last (following the policy enunciated under 780), to which newly proposed notation 17 from the table under 781.63-781.69 could be added, so a prominent other style could be expressed. Thus folk rock would be classed in 781.661762 (built with 781.66 Rock (Rock ‘n’ roll), plus notation 17 Hybrid styles from the add table under 781.63-781.69, following the footnote instruction at 781.66, plus notation 62 from 781.62 Folk music, following the instruction at the add table notation).

As for question 4, where in the world is (Veronica) Electronica?—OK, so you gotta know the game Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? to appreciate that clever turn of phrase—we are proposing an expansion for electronica at 781.648.

What about existing styles whose treatment may not accord with these principles? Take, for example, reggae, which meets the newly proposed folk music criteria: reggae clearly originated in Jamaica and typically is still associated with that country. We have decided, however, not to move any styles that have already been developed in the schedules, so reggae stays at 781.646, rather than moving to 781.629697292 Jamaican folk music (built with 781.62 Folk music, plus T5—969 African (outside Africa), following instructions in the add table under 781.621–781.629, plus notation 7292, from T2—7292 Jamaica and Cayman Islands, following instructions at T5—969).

A detailed discussion of the changes being proposed can be viewed here.

We invite your feedback on the proposed changes, either posted as a comment to this blog entry or sent directly to dewey@loc.gov. Feedback is requested by April 15, 2009.

Motion Pictures and Television

The March 2009 New and Changed Entries posting focuses on 791.43 Motion pictures, 791.44 Radio, and 791.45 Television. 

The entry for 791.43 Motion pictures has the notes:

Regardless of distribution medium or method

Class here made-for-television movies, video recordings of motion pictures [both formerly 791.45]; direct-to-video and direct-to-DVD releases of motion pictures; dramatic films, entertainment films; films developed originally for Internet transmission; comprehensive works on dramatic, entertainment, documentary, educational, news films

The entry for 791.45 Television has the notes:

Regardless of distribution medium or method

Class here dramatic programs, entertainment programs; mini-series, extended pilots of television series; television-like programs developed originally for Internet transmission; comprehensive works on dramatic, entertainment, documentary, educational, news programs

Made-for-television movies, video recordings of motion pictures relocated to 791.43

These notes all have hierarchical force and thus affect subdivisions of 791.43 and 791.45.

There is a new Manual note to help distinguish between 791.43 Motion pictures and 791.45 Television:

Use the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/) or a similar online source for help in determining if a production should be treated as a motion picture or a television program.  If in doubt, prefer 791.43.

An example of a made-for-television movie is Carrie’s War (2004), which is now classed in 791.4372 Single films.  The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) entry has the label “(TV)”: Carrie’s War (2004) (TV).

An example of a video recording of a motion picture is Fanny och Alexander, issued on videodisc in 2004, but originally released as a motion picture in 1982; it is now classed in 791.4372 Single films.  The IMDb entry has no special label after the date of the original theatrical release:  Fanny och Alexander (1982).

An example of a television mini-series is Jane Eyre (2006), which is classed in 791.4572 Single programs.  The IMDb entry has the label “TV mini-series”: “Jane Eyre” (2006) TV mini-series. 

There are also several film versions of Jane Eyre that are properly classed in 791.4372 Single films, e.g., a video recording of the 1996 motion picture Jane Eyre, which has no special label attached to its IMDb entry: Jane Eyre (1996).

My Excellent Scandinavian Adventure

I spent the last week of January and the first week of February in Norway and Sweden.  The purpose of my trip was threefold:

Work on the mixed translation project with colleagues from the National Library of Norway and the National Library of Sweden (I’ve blogged about our mixed translation work previously—see our presentation from ISKO 2008)

Speak at Kunnskapsorganisasjonsdagene 2009 in Oslo, followed by a meeting with the Norwegian Classification Committee (NKKI)

Speak at a Dewey—let’s do it! in Stockholm, followed by a day of meetings with catalogers, subject experts, and members of the Libris department at the National Library of Sweden

I spent over a week in Oslo, most of it working on the mixed translation project at the National Library of Norway.  Ingebjørg Rype, Karen Nisja Domaas, and I worked on developing a mixed Norwegian-English version of 006 and 616-616.1 (back in DC, my colleague Rebecca Green performed magic on the mixed translation files each evening to transform the English-language instructions into their Norwegian counterparts for Dewey records in Norwegian).  Magdalena Svanberg (National Library of Sweden) joined us in Oslo at the midpoint of my visit to continue work on the mixed translation, and to discuss future project directions.  Inger Johanne Christiansen gave me a wonderful behind-the-scenes tour of the National Library of Norway (a highpoint of which was the chance to look at some Ibsen manuscripts that happened to be out for an Ibsen scholar’s visit later in the day).  On February 3, Magdalena, Ingebjørg, and I gave presentations at Kunnskapsorganisasjonsdagene 2009.  Later that day, we met with NKKI members to discuss the needs of Norwegian librarians in the design of the next Norwegian translation.  We also discussed the treatment of Nordkalotten (the area north of the Arctic Circle in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia). On the following day, Magdalena and Ingebjørg participated in a Dewey workshop sponsored by the National Library of Norway, NKKI, and JBI (the three of us used a break in the workshop to squeeze in a final meeting on the mixed translation research project). 

After the workshop in Oslo ended, Magdalena and I flew to Stockholm for a whirlwind two days of meetings.  The first was occupied by a full-day seminar on Dewey (the aforementioned “Dewey—let’s do it!”).  On the day following the seminar, I met with catalogers and subject experts at the National Library of Sweden to discuss use of the DDC in general, mappings between Svenska ämnesord (SAO) and Dewey, and the addition of Dewey numbers to SAO records.  We also managed to have two side discussions about classification of visual materials and proposed changes to the 780 Music schedule. (After my return home, I shared draft documents on both topics with our Swedish colleagues, and we have already received back preliminary reactions to the proposed changes in 780 Music [we will be posting a discussion paper on 780 Music for public comment shortly].)  I also briefed members of the Libris department on our work on MARC, RDF/SKOS, and URI representations of DDC data, plus a prototype DDC history-of-concepts web service.

During the course of my trip, the National Library of Norway made a decision to proceed with a web version of a Norwegian translation of the DDC, and the administration of the National Library of Sweden awarded preliminary funding to a group headed by Magdalena Svanberg to launch work on the Swedish translation of the DDC in September 2009.  Also, three more Swedish university libraries (Göteborg, Linköping, and Gävle) announced that they would make the switch to the DDC.

My colleague Lorcan Dempsey often writes about the need to make our data work harder.  The underlying DDC data files (including the set of interoperable translations), the mappings between Dewey and other terminology resources, and the large body of content categorized by Dewey available in WorldCat and elsewhere are incredible resources in the networked information environment.  We are focused right now on a number of efforts to make the DDC data available in web-friendly formats for human and machine interaction.  The challenge remains to find ways to make our DDC data work harder.

EPC Meeting 130

The Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC)* held Meeting 130 at the Library of Congress November 18-19.  The meeting was chaired by Caroline Kent (British Library); Anne Robertson (Australian Committee on Cataloguing) was re-elected vice-chair for another two-year term. 

Prior to Meeting 130, EPC held an electronic pre-meeting, and approved updates to historical periods; modernization of the treatment of radio programs, motion pictures, and television programs regardless of method of distribution; and updates to 510 Mathematics.  All but the last will be distributed to users in early 2009.  EPC also approved, with minor modification, the long-planned updates to groups of people in Table 1 and 305-306—we plan to release the updates in mid-2009.

EPC discussed two sets of updates to Table 2 (Geographic Areas, Historical Periods, Persons)—the conversion of the relocation information and corresponding changes in the reorganization of Scotland, England, and Wales presented in DDC 22; and further updates to the area table for Indonesia.  Both sets of changes require additional consultation with in-country groups.   EPC approved a final round of updates to Table 4 (Subdivisions of Individual Languages and Language Families, for Individual Literatures, for Specific Literary Forms), Table 5 (Ethnic and National Groups), and Table 6 (Languages)—most of the updates will be distributed to users in mid-2009.

In the schedules, EPC approved updates in the following areas: 001 Knowledge; 002 The book; 150 Psychology; 330 Economics; 390 Customs, etiquette, folklore; 400 Language (including the relocation of computational linguistics); 610 Medicine and health; 640 Home and family management; 650 Management and auxiliary services; 660 Chemical engineering & related technologies; 730 Sculpture and related arts; 740 Graphic arts and decorative arts; 750 Painting and paintings; 760 Printmaking and prints; 770.23 Photography as a profession, occupation, hobby; and 790 Recreational and performing arts. EPC also approved updates to the current historical periods in 947 Russia and 968 South Africa. Updates in many of these areas will be released during 2009.  EPC reviewed reports on work under way in 340 Law, and discussion papers on 370 Education and 780 Music. We will be seeking advice from users on a number of topics discussed at Meeting 130, including subjects in primary school curricula, language variations, meals, clothing, musical styles, and literary periods for Galician.

EPC reviewed several research initiatives from the OCLC Office of Research and the Dewey editorial team, plus draft guidelines for classifying photographs for the World Digital Library project—we’ll blog about these activities separately in the coming weeks.

On November 18, EPC held a special dinner in honor of assistant editor Winton Matthews and outgoing member Arlene Taylor.  Winton has indicated that he plans to retire in early 2009—we’ll share the resolution passed by EPC in his honor later on the occasion of his retirement.  Arlene Taylor served on EPC 2000–2008.  The committee's resolution honoring Arlene reads in part:

Whereas Arlene Taylor . . . participated in the development and review of Edition 22 (2003) and Abridged Edition 14 (2004) of the Dewey Decimal Classification, and in the publication of ongoing updates in WebDewey and Abridged WebDewey; . . . focused in particular on the needs of students and teachers of the DDC in her comments; . . . contributed “Teaching the Dewey Decimal Classification System” to a special issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly devoted to the DDC; . . . presented “Research in Knowledge Organization” at Meeting 116; . . . participated in the EPC planning retreat, “The Future of the Dewey Decimal Classification,” March 15-18, 2004, at OCLC;  . . . paid special attention to the treatment of groups of people, and in particular prompted improvements to the caption for people in early adulthood and the terminology for children of unmarried parents (the latter formerly “children born out of wedlock”);  . . . Be it resolved that the members of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee here assembled at the One Hundred Thirtieth Meeting of said committee, the DDC editors, and staff at the Library of Congress Dewey Section and OCLC express to Arlene Taylor their deep gratitude and appreciation for her service and commitment to the Committee and the Classification, their regret that she will no longer be one of their number, and their wishes for her continued success and happiness now that she has retired from the Committee.

*Photo at top of EPC at LC on November 18, 2008—from left to right: Beacher Wiggins (Library of Congress), Vice Chair Anne Robertson (Australian Committee on Cataloguing), Welna van Eeden (University of South Africa), Sandra Singh (University of British Columbia), Lyn McKinney (Billings [MT] Senior High School), EPC Chair Caroline Kent (British Library), Andrea Kappler (Evansville Vanderburgh [IN] Public Library), Arlene Taylor (University of Pittsburgh SIS, retired), David Farris (Library and Archives Canada), and Deborah Rose-Lefmann (Northwestern University).

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

In August, while on vacation backpacking in central Oregon, my sister and I began learning to use her new GPS receiver—fascinating! 

General explanations of the Global Positioning System are found at “GPS Tutorial” and “How GPS Receivers Work.”  The Russian Federation has a similar system, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS).  The European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) plan to launch a global navigation satellite system called GALILEO. 

Interdisciplinary works on GPS and other global navigation satellite systems are classed in 910.285 Computer applications in geography and travel, as shown by the class-here note at 910.285: “Class here interdisciplinary works on geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS).”  Examples are GPS for Dummies and Fun with GPS. 

The number 910.285 is built with standard subdivision notation T1—0285 Computer applications.  There is a scatter see reference at 910.285: “For an application of geographic information systems (GIS) or global positioning systems (GPS) to a subject, see the subject, plus notation T1—0285 from Table 1, e.g., GIS applications in mathematical geography 526.0285.”  Works on use of GPS in various outdoor recreational activities are classed in 796.50285 Computer applications in outdoor life (built with 796.5 Outdoor life plus notation T1—0285 Computer applications), e.g., GPS-Navigation [für Wanderer, Bergsteiger, Biker . . . ].  Works on the use of GPS for hiking and backpacking are classed in 796.510285 Computer applications in walking (built with 796.51 Walking, which has the class-here note “Class here backbacking, hiking,” plus T1—0285).

Works that emphasize engineering aspects of GPS receivers are classed under radio engineering in 621.384191 Direction and position finding, which has the class-here note “Class here GPS receivers,” e.g., Hacking GPS.

Incidentally, orienteering is a competitive sport, with World Cup competition sponsored by the International Orienteering Federation (the final round of World Cup 2008 will be held in Switzerland on the first weekend of October).  Works on the sport are classed in 796.58 Orienteering, e.g., Orienteering and Be Expert with Map & Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook.  Standard rules of orienteering require that competitors use map and compass, not GPS.   There are versions of the sport that allow competitors to use GPS, and GPS can be used in other ways, e.g., to make the special maps used in the sport.  Nevertheless, most works on use of GPS should not be classed in 796.58 Orienteering.

Dewey celebrates the Olympics

Two of my favorite Olympic sports are artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. The Olympic competitions for artistic gymnastics will be held on August 12 through 15 and August 17 through 19, and for rhythmic gymnastics on August 23 and 24.  Along with these two disciplines, gymnastics includes trampolining, tumbling, aerobic gymnastics, and acrobatic gymnastics. Trampoline is also an Olympic sport; the competitions for trampoline will be held on August 18 and 19.

Just in time for the Olympics and as part of the August 2008 New and Changed Entries (in Word and PDF formats), we have provided specific numbers for several of the disciplines of gymnastics in 796.44 Gymnastics and 796.47 Tumbling, trampolining, acrobatics, contortion, especially 796.442 Artistic gymnastics, 796.443 Rhythmic gymnastics, and 796.474 Trampolining.