025.431: The Dewey blog

Boycotts

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

(Warning:  There’s rather more to this story than I’m going to try to relate.)  In the fall of 1880 in County Mayo, Ireland, Lord Erne granted his tenant farmers a ten percent reduction in their rents because of the poor harvest that had occurred that year.  Many of the farmers demanded a higher reduction—25 percent—in their rents, which Lord Erne refused to grant.  It was then left to his land agent, Captain Charles Boycott, to evict the farmers who refused (or were unable) to pay the higher amount.   In addressing the issue of someone’s coming in to work the land after the former farmer had been evicted, Charles Stewart Panell, an influential member of the Irish Land League, urged the use of “social ostracism,” by shunning the person under all circumstances.  This counsel was first applied to the land agent Charles Boycott:  none of the local farmers would harvest the crops on Lord Erne’s lands, while local merchants refused to render services to Boycott.  Within only days, the verb to boycott was being used locally in relation to ostracizing landlords or land agents.  By the end of the decade, it had entered A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (later known as the Oxford English Dictionary).  According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word today has gained the following broader meaning:   “To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion.”  The word has been adopted (and adapted) by many other languages, such as Finnish, French, Dutch, German, Greek, Indonesian, Korean, Polish, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish, Russian, and related languages.  (Check it out.)

The Relative Index does not designate an interdisciplinary number for boycotts, but gives instead the following entries (it should be noted that boycotts do not approximate the whole of any of these classes; if mentioned at all, they are in the including note):

Relative Index heading	DDC number	Captions
Boycott—Holocaust, 1933–1945	940.5318132	Holocaust  /  Economic actions against business and property
Boycott—international politics	327.117	Foreign policy and specific topics in international relations / Use of force and threats of force
Boycott—international politics—law of nations	341.582	Law of nations / Disputes and conflicts between states / Coercive methods of settlement short of war / Sanctions
Boycott—labor economics	331.893	Labor-management bargaining and disputes / Other labor measures (i.e., other than contracts, strikes)
Boycott—labor economics—law	344.01893	Labor law / Labor-management bargaining and disputes / Other labor measures (i.e., other than contracts, strikes)
Boycott—restraint of trade	338.6048	Organization of production / Competition and restraint
Boycott—restraint of trade—law	343.0723	[Economic law] / Regulation of economic activity / Unfair practices / Restraint of trade

Examples of works on boycotts include: 

• International boycotts: Canadian responses, classed in 327.117 Foreign policy and specific topics in international relations / Use of force and threats of force;
• The boycott in American trade unions, classed in 331.893 Labor-management bargaining and disputes / Other labor measures (i.e., other than contracts, strikes);
• The NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] and secondary boycotts,  classed in 344.7301893 (built with 344 Labor law, etc., plus T2—73 United States, plus 01 from 344.011–.018 Specific aspects of labor, following instructions at 01–09 Topics of labor law, etc., in the add table under 344.3–.9 Specific jurisdictions and areas, plus 893 from 331.893 Labor-management bargaining and disputes / Other labor measures (i.e., other than contracts, strikes, following instructions at 344.011–.018 Specific aspects of labor); and
• Refusing to cooperate with competitors:  A theory of horizontal boycotts, classed in 343.730723 (built with 343 Industry, trade law, etc., plus T2—73 United States, plus 0723 from 343.0723 Restraint of trade, following instructions at 01–09 Topics of industry, trade law, etc., in the add table under 343.3–.9 Specific jurisdictions and areas). 

And where should a comprehensive biography on Captain Charles Boycott be classed?  The Manual note at T1—092 Biography instructs us to “use the number for the subject of the person’s most noted contribution for the comprehensive biography of the person.”  However, it goes on to say, “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.”   Captain Boycott is not known for a contribution within a subject area, but is known as a part of the history of Ireland in the late 19^th century.  The best number for his comprehensive biography therefore is 941.5081092 (built with 941.5081 Ireland, 1800–1899, plus T1–092 Biography).  An example of such a biography is Boycott:  The life behind the word; the life and times in England and in Ireland and the unusual family background of Charles Cunningham Boycott.

 

DDC 23: Expansions in Table 2 notation 3 Ancient world

Among the expansions in DDC 23 summarized in "New Features in Edition 23" are many for geographic areas in T2--3 Ancient world, e.g.:

--394 Middle East to 640

An example of a work for which one of the new subdivisions can be used is The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra.  The work has the LCSH Ugarit (Extinct city) and the LCSH Excavations (Archaeology)--Syria.  Browsing the Relative Index for "Ugarit" yields:

Ugarit (Extinct city)    T2--39433

The record for T2--39433 Northwest provinces of modern Syria to 640 has an including note naming Ugarit:  "Including Ebla, Ugarit."  This new number is an expansion of the number T2--3943 Syria to 640. At 930.1 Archaeology is the see reference: "For archaeology of continents, countries, localities provided for in notation T2--3 from Table 2, see 931-939."  The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra is classed in 939.433 History of northwest provinces of modern Syria to 640 (built with 9 History plus T2--39433 Northwest provinces of modern Syria to 640, following instructions under 930-990 History of specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds).

Another example of a work for which a new subdivision of T2--3943 Syria to 640 can be used is A History of Antioch in Syria: From Seleucus to the Arab Conquest.  The work has the LCSH Antioch (Turkey)--History.  Browsing the Relative Index for "Antioch" yields:

Antioch (Turkey)                   T2--5648
Antioch (Turkey)--ancient       939.431
Antioch (Turkey)--ancient       T2--39431

Here is the new Table 2 entry, with an option note that links to the Table 2 number for Hatay Province of modern Turkey (T2--5648):

T2--39431 Hatay Province of modern Turkey to 640
                    Class here Antioch to 640
                    (Option: Class in T2--5648)

Syria is named in the upward hierarchy for T2--39431, and the option note has a link to the Table 2 number for modern Syria (T2--5691):

T2--3943  Syria to 640
                        For Phoenicia, see T2--3944
                    (Option: Class in T2--5691)

The information in the captions and notes helps the classifier cope with the differences between the ancient world, when Antioch was part of Syria, and the current period, when Antioch is part of Turkey.  A History of Antioch in Syria: From Seleucus to the Arab Conquest is classed in 939.431 History of Hatay Province of modern Turkey to 640 (built with 9 History plus T2--39431 Hatay Province of modern Turkey to 640, following instructions under 930-990 History of specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds).

Incidentally, here is a link to Google Maps for Antioch where it is today, in modern Turkey (T2--5648).

 

 

Wars and Participation of a Specific Ethnic Group in a Specific Country's Forces

Recently we were asked:

For participation of a specific ethnic group in Second World War in one specific country's forces, how do I construct the number? Is it possible to combine ethnic group and country? For example, how should Estonians in Waffen-SS be classified?

Winton Matthews, retired DDC assistant editor and currently a consultant, gave an answer that is adapted here:

An ethnic group associated with a specific aspect of a war (not just World War II) is classed with that aspect.  If that aspect has its own number or is given in a class-here note, the ethnic group is shown by adding standard subdivision T1—089 Ethnic and national groups to the number for the aspect.  The military units, air operations, and naval operations of a specific country in World War II have their own numbers at 940.5412 Military units of Allies, 940.5413 Military units of Axis Powers, 940.5449 Air operations of specific countries, and 940.5459 Naval operations of specific countries.  Thus, standard subdivision T1—089 can be added.  The number for Estonians in Waffen-SS is 940.54134308994545 Estonian participation in World War II army of Germany (940.5413 Military units of Axis Powers plus T2—43 Germany plus T1—089 Ethnic and national groups plus T5—94545 Estonians).

The add instructions for that last example are found at 940.54134-940.54139 Specific continents, countries, localities in modern world and T1—0891–0899 Specific ethnic and national groups. An example of a work classed in 940.54134308994545 is Estonian Vikings: Estnisches SS-Freiwilligen Bataillon Narwa and subsequent units, Eastern Front, 1943–1944.

Another example of a work treating participation of a specific ethnic group in one specific country's World War II forces is The Jewish Brigade: An Army with Two Masters, 1944–1945. That work is classed in 940.541241089924 Jewish participation in World War II army of Great Britain (940.5412 Military units of Allies plus T2—41 British Isles—"Class here Great Britain, United Kingdom"—plus T1—089 Ethnic and national groups plus T5—924 Jews).

Floods in Australia

Last September, Juli blogged here about floods in Pakistan.

Currently, it’s Australia’s turn.  About a month ago there were floods in the central west of New South Wales: I have a personal connection with them, because my youngest son started at a new job in Dubbo when those floods were at their peak in that town.  Now there are floods in Queensland over a much larger area, caused by Tropical Cyclone Tasha.

One important effect of the Queensland floods has been its disruption of coal exports from Queensland to East Asia (Japan, South Korea and China).  Coal is one the major exports from Australia, with more than half of the coal coming from the parts of Queensland disrupted by floods.  Most of the rest goes through Newcastle, NSW – my home town in Australia, and the largest coal port in the world, with more than 90 million tons of coal going through the port each year.

Of course, coal mining is becoming controversial, because greenhouses gases from the burning of fossil fuels (including coal) are a major factor in anthropogenic climate change, i.e., global warming, and global warming is causing increased severity and frequency of tropical cyclones such as Tasha, which is disrupting the coal supply chain in Queensland at present.

Works on the current floods in Queensland would be classed in 994.3072, following the instructions at the Manual note at 900, “Use 930-990 for events that are important enough to affect the general social life and history of the place, regardless of any discipline involved.”  The number 994.3072 is built by adding to the base number 9 the notation 943 Queensland from Table 2, following the instructions at 930-990, and then adding notation 072 from 994.072 [Australian history] 2007-, again following the instructions at 01-09 in the add table at 930-990.

Works on the coal industry in Australia would be classed in 338.27240994.  This number is built by adding to 338.27 Products [of extraction of minerals] the notation 24 from 553.24 Bituminous and semibituminous coal (which has a note, “Class here comprehensive works on coal”), then adding notation 09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment from Table 1 and notation 94 Australia from Table 2.

Interdisciplinary works on global warming are classed in 363.73874 Greenhouse gases, where there is a note, “Class here interdisciplinary works on greenhouse effect (global warming).”

European DDC Users' Group (EDUG)

A brief bit of news on the European DDC Users’ Group (EDUG):  The group met in Egypt at Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) 26-27 April 2010.  The first day was devoted to meetings of three working groups (370, 930, and IT), plus the EDUG business meeting.  (The EDUG 340 Law Working Group was not able to meet in Alexandria, but has planned a meeting in conjunction with IFLA.)  On 27 April, EDUG and BA co-sponsored a full-day seminar, “Bridging the Class(ification) Divide: The New DDC Languages and Retrieval Possibilities.”  The seminar featured speakers from the Arab region, Europe, and the United States.  Presentations from the seminar are now available here. 

Ancient International Trade

Recent archaeological finds were featured in several articles by Andrew Lawlor in the news focus section of the May 28 Science. A major theme was what the finds reveal about ancient international trade.  Here is the summary of “A Forgotten Corridor Rediscovered”:

Recent digs in Iran and Central Asia have uncovered a plethora of ancient cities that traded goods and technologies overland with one another and their more famous neighbors. Now discoveries in Oman and the neighboring United Arab Emirates (UAE) are beginning to show that there was a southern sea route as well, which funneled raw materials such as copper and manufactured goods such as textiles across the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Those links reached deep into the eastern Arabian Peninsula. Much is still unknown, including whether Indus traders actually penetrated deep into Arabia, the identities of the sailors who first plied the Indian Ocean, and just how extensive that contact was. But clues continue to emerge from numerous archaeological digs in Oman and the UAE, a region that has become a hotbed of excavation. Work here and in the western Persian Gulf, Iran, Pakistan, and India reveals that this early Arabian culture was a nexus point for the far-flung civilizations of the 3rd millennium B.C.E. This special Focus package also discusses a bevy of archaeological surprises being discovered in Omani soil and fortified coastal settlements that suggest that the Indus Civilization, once considered an insular society, shipped goods to the east.

The interdisciplinary number for archaeology is 930.1 Archaeology, as shown by the unsubdivided Relative Index entry: 
Archaeology       930.1
At 930.1 is the see reference: “For archaeology of continents, countries, localities provided for in notation T2—3 from Table 2, see 931–939.”  An example of a work about the archaeological site of an ancient city in Oman is The Road to Ubar:  Finding the Atlantis of the Sands, classed in 939.49 Arabia Felix to 622.  (The NOVA Online program Lost City of Arabia treats the same site.)  A classifier who goes to the modern history number for Oman, 953.53 Oman, will find the see reference: “For ancient history to 622, see 939.49.”

What about a work that focuses specifically on international trade?  The numbers 930.1 and 931–939 all have in their upward hierarchy 900 History, geography, and auxiliary disciplines.  At 900 is the scatter class-elsewhere note:  “Class historical and geographic treatment of a specific subject with the subject, plus notation T1—09 from Table 1, e.g., historical and geographic treatment of natural sciences 509, of economic situations and conditions 330.9, of purely political situations and conditions 320.9, history of military science 355.009.”  Because class-elsewhere notes have hierarchical force, works about the history—and archaeology—of international trade are classed with international trade. 

The interdisciplinary number for international trade is 382 International commerce (Foreign trade), as shown by the unsubdivided Relative index entry:
International trade       382
Adding standard subdivision T1—09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment to 382 yields 382.09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment.  That number itself is regular; but the geographic subdivisions have special add instructions.  For example, 382.093–382.099 International commerce in specific continents, countries, localities has the notes:
           

Add to base number 382.09 notation T2—3–T2—9 from Table 2, e.g., international commerce of United Kingdom 382.0941; then, for commerce between two continents, countries, localities or between a continent, country, locality and a region, area, place, add 0† and add notation T2—1–T2—9 from Table 2, e.g., commerce between United Kingdom and communist bloc 382.094101717

Give priority in notation to the continent, country, locality emphasized. If emphasis is equal, give priority to the one coming first in Table 2

† Add 00 for standard subdivisions; see instructions at beginning of Table 1

An example of a work about ancient international trade is Rome's Eastern Trade:  International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC-AD 305.  The work is classed in 382.09370394 International commerce of Roman Empire with the Middle East (built with 382 International commerce (Foreign trade) plus T1—09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment plus T2—37 Italian Peninsula and adjacent territories to 476 plus 0 plus T2—394 Middle East, following instructions at 382.093–382.099).  At T2—37 is the class-here note: “Class here Roman Empire.”  At T2—394 is a scatter see reference note:  “For a specific part of Middle East not provided for here, see the part, e.g., Egypt T2—32, Palestine T2—33”; consequently, T2—394 should be understood as including parts of the Middle East, such as Egypt and Iraq, that are not listed as direct subdivisions of T2—394.

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.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Staffordshire Hoard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dewey Translators Meeting at IFLA 2009

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

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

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

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