025.431: The Dewey blog

New Assistant Editor of the DDC

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Panzer as assistant editor of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), effective today.  Michael, who from 2002 to 2005 headed the technical team that translated Dewey into German, is the first member of a Dewey translation team to be appointed assistant editor.

Since joining OCLC in 2007, Michael has served as global product manager of taxonomy services at OCLC.  Along with colleagues in the OCLC Office of Research, Michael has been heavily involved in representations of the DDC for semantic web applications.  His recent focus has been on the development of a prototype Dewey history-of-concepts web service.  Michael will continue to serve as a technical advisor to Dewey research projects and web services, but his current business and licensing responsibilities will be assumed by OCLC Dewey product manager Libbie Crawford.

Prior to joining OCLC, Michael worked at Cologne University of Applied Sciences, where he was team leader of CrissCross, a research project funded by the German Research Foundation focused on mapping SWD, DDC, RAMEAU, and LCSH.   Michael has an MA from Heinrich Heine University (Düsseldorf) in German Literature with a minor in Information Science.  He also attended the University of California, Davis, on a four-month research scholarship.

Michael will continue to be based at OCLC headquarters in Dublin, Ohio.  Please join us in congratulating Michael on this important appointment.

Happy retirement, Winton!

As previously noted, January 15 was the day set aside for colleagues and friends to celebrate Winton Matthews, who recently retired from his long-held position as assistant editor of the DDC.  (What does it mean that he was promoted to this position on April Fool’s Day in 1985?  We aren’t sure.  Do you know?)

In addition to the required series of remarks about and from Winton (more below), the midday gathering included good food (who knew Costco could provide such a good spread?); gifts to support Winton’s movie-going, reading, and imbibing habits (presented by Dewey section head Eve Dickey); and a certificate from James Billington, Librarian of Congress, “in recognition of service to the people of the United States of America.”

Remarks, reminiscences, and reflections were given by Karl Debus-López (chief of the division at the Library of Congress that the Dewey Section is part of), DDC editor-in-chief Joan Mitchell, assistant editor Julianne Beall, former assistant editor Gregory New, Elmer Klebs (one of Winton’s regular lunch-time companions), former chief of the Decimal Classification Division David Smith, and Winton himself. 

Several themes cut across the remarks: 

1. Winton has been the “consummate professional,” who “has greatly enhanced the DDC,” having saved all of us who have worked with the DDC during his tenure as assistant editor “from many serious errors.”   As Joan declared, “Our work has always been better because of Winton.”  His reach has been worldwide, as evidenced by entries in his retirement book from Canada, Germany, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, and the US. 
2. As a valuable source of both information and perspective, Winton brought his encyclopedic knowledge, arising from a multitude of talents and interests, to bear on his work as an assistant editor. 
   
3. Perhaps chief among Winton’s interests are the arts, which he continues to support in many ways, not only in the Washington, DC, area, but along the eastern coast of the United States.  Greg New offered the advice that one should put off old age as long as one can, noting that Winton was retiring while still young enough to enjoy the cultural highlights of the area.  Winton noted that he has not, in fact, quit working:  he can be found many nights in his red jacket, ushering, most often at the Kennedy Center.  “Support the arts” is his message to us all.
4. Winton is “an overall nice person,” “without a mean bone in his body.”  He is generous, conscientious, an “advocate for truth, justice, and common sense.”  Winton possesses wit and “strong-minded zeal.”

We include here the poem written especially for the occasion by David Smith, which touches on several of these themes:

To Winton

Here’s to Winton, one of a kind!
Expositor, master, Dewey thinker refined.
Where shall we uncover another such mind?
    Winton Matthews, must we go back to zero?

You covered the schedules in Fine Arts and History,
Unraveled many a musical mystery
For EPC and the Dewey consistory.
   Winton Matthews didn’t fiddle like Nero!

When called to the table in EPC quizzes,
I know only his mind, that bubbles and fizzes,
Could make all those clauses ending in “is is.”
   Winton Matthews could paint words like Joan Miro.

The figure you cut, didactic but dashing
At parties you held to effectuate slashing
Demonstrated panache in whole-number crashing.
   Winton Matthews, we all raise a cheer, oh!

Rings, bracelets, and baubles adorn this fine man.
I wondered how high the count of them ran.
But that needed a full-body MRI scan.
   Winton Matthews could dress up like a Pierrot!

Dear Winton, as now you step into the future
May your transit from Dewey be smooth as a suture.
Progressing down life’s aisle may you usher
In operas more grand and vistas yet lusher.
   Winton Matthews, you are our hero!

Additional pictures from the farewell celebration (taken by assistant editor Giles Martin) are available here.

Goodbye, Winton!

Happy New Year to all our readers.  We’re starting things on a bittersweet note here on the Dewey editorial team—Winton Matthews, the longest-serving member of the current editorial team, is retiring this very day.  Suffice it to say, he will be sorely missed by his colleagues at LC and OCLC, and, we suspect, by his many friends in the worldwide community of Dewey users.  We told you a bit about Winton’s many contributions when he celebrated his 40^th anniversary with the Library of Congress in mid-2007.  Today, we’d like to share part of the resolution that the Editorial Policy Committee passed at Meeting 130 in his honor:

Whereas Winton Matthews has been a member of the Dewey family since August 1968, when he joined the former Decimal Classification Division at the Library of Congress as a decimal classifier; . . . assisted in the preparation of the 1980 publication, Proposed Revision of 780 Music; . . . contributed many sections to the first version of the Manual, which was published as a separate in 1982;  . . . was appointed assistant editor of the DDC in April 1985; . . . served as Dewey’s liaison to the ALA Cataloging Needs of Public Libraries Committee, and, more recently, as the Dewey liaison to the Committee on Cataloging Children’s Materials; . . . assisted translation partners with the development of interoperable expansions;   . . . reviewed drafts of Dewey translations, inciting gratefulness (and some fear and trembling) in the hearts of translation partners on receipt of his advice;  . . . witnessed firsthand and played an active role in Dewey’s transformation from a print only to print and electronic tool; . . . participated in the development and testing of four Editorial Support Systems; . . . has served as the editorial team’s guru of the Editorial Rules and indentions; . . . has generously shared his Dewey knowledge with his colleagues, and offered (mostly) gentle criticism on wayward proposed developments and wrong indentions; . . . has coordinated the editorial team’s efforts to map Library of Congress subject headings to Dewey;  . . . has taken to heart the Dewey slogan, “It’s a big world, we’ve organized it,” by reorganizing the ancient, modern, and extraterrestrial worlds many times in the DDC, in consultation with his editorial colleagues and Dewey users around the world; . . . 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 Winton Matthews their deep gratitude and appreciation for his service and commitment to the Dewey Decimal Classification, their regret that he will no longer be in regular attendance at their meetings, and their wishes for his continued success and happiness in his anticipated retirement.

We will be feting Winton at a retirement party at the Library of Congress on January 15.  We welcome any remembrances / good wishes for Winton as comments to this entry; if you prefer, you may send comments directly to my attention at mitchelj@oclc.org.  We will include all comments in his retirement book.

Farewell, Winton, our colleague and friend, as you enter this new stage in your life!

EPC Meeting 128

A few weeks ago, we shared a brief report on Meeting 128 of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) with a promise of more information to come on committee actions and departing members.

Among key actions at Meeting 128, the committee approved a complete overhaul of the treatment of groups of people in Dewey—a project that has been under discussion since late 2005.  We’ve blogged about some of these changes earlier (see here for transgendered people, and here and here for groups of people in general).  Comments received from outside reviewers spurred us to make some adjustments to our proposed development for transgendered and intersex people—we expect to post a revised version for comment in the next few weeks (watch this space). 

In addition to the updates discussed in our earlier report on Meeting 128, EPC approved updates to 004–006 Computer science; 010–090 Information and general works; 100 Philosophy, parapsychology and occultism, psychology; 320 Political science; 380 Commerce, communications, transportation; 390 Customs and etiquette (except folklore); 500–509 Natural sciences; 520–550 Astronomy, physics, chemistry, earth sciences; 600–609 Technology (Applied sciences); 610 Medicine and health; 630 Agriculture and related technologies; 780 Music; 790 Recreational and performing arts; and 800 Literature and rhetoric.  EPC suggested that we seek user feedback on the proposed new expansion for Trans-Neptunian objects (and relocation of Pluto)—we plan to post the proposed development for comment next week (again, watch this space).  Dewey users can expect to see many of the updates approved for immediate release by EPC included in WebDewey over the next year (and selected updates highlighted on the New and Changed Entries page on the Dewey web site).

EPC also feted four members leaving the committee at the end of 2007 (pictured from left to right): Migell Acosta (County of Los Angeles Public Library); Andrea Stamm (Northwestern University), Chew Chiat Naun (University of Minnesota, and formerly of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), and Deane Zeeman (Library and Archives Canada).

Migell Acosta ably served as the official ALA representative to EPC during 2007.  The committee’s resolution honoring Migell reads in part:

Whereas, Migell Acosta . . . offered sound advice on emerging technical issues; . . . asked probing questions and contributed to discussions in matters as diverse as political parties, use of the UDC as a possible source of vocabulary, DDC licensing, DDC training, and the treatment of murder; . . . drafted the Committee’s response on the representation of evolving trends in marriage and family; . . .

Andrea Stamm served on EPC 1993–2007, including multiple terms as vice-chair (1996–1999) and chair (2000–2005).  The committee’s resolution honoring Andrea (excerpted in part here) notes some of the many contributions she made to EPC and the DDC during her long tenure (fittingly, it ends with Andrea’s constant focus on users):

Whereas, Andrea Stamm . . . is the only current member of EPC to have participated in two retreats on the future of the DDC in 1997 and 2004, respectively; . . . presented the response paper to “Future of the Relative Index” . . . at the EPC Retreat in Saratoga Springs, April 30 – May 4, 1997; . . . served on the planning committee for the March 15–18, 2004, EPC Retreat, . . . and presented “Editions and Translations in the DDC”; . . . presented “How Users Contribute to the Classification” at the DDC 22 Preconference in Toronto in June 2003, and teamed up with the Dewey editors to present hands on training at said meeting; . . . challenged the editors to make the Manual notes telegraphic to support classifier efficiency; . . . steered the revision of the EPC bylaws through the committee; . . . developed the EPC ground rules for teleconferences (and chaired a record five teleconferences in 2003!); . . . pioneered New Member Training as a way to introduce new members to the committee in advance of voting at an actual meeting; . . . recommended the addition of translators to EPC-L [the private EPC listserve]; . . . always focused on the users of the DDC in her comments . . .

Chew Chiat Naun served on EPC 2004–2007.  The committee's resolution honoring Naun reads in part:

Whereas, Chew Chiat Naun . . . raised key questions about testing schedules at Meeting 122: “What do we mean by testing? . . . Is it easy to apply? or, Does it give a good arrangement?”; . . . gave key advice on the split of materials in the development for graphic novels at Meeting 124: “Just because it’s hard to make the decision doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the decision that every bookshop seems to do”; . . . while Naun's membership on the committee was as an American Library Association nominee, his leaving has also had the unexpected effect of reducing the Australian influence on the committee's work, since he is indeed one of the many Australians to be found quietly living and working in unexpected places far from home . . .

Deane Zeeman also served on EPC 2004–2007, and succeeded Andrea Stamm as chair 2006–2007.  The committee’s resolution honoring Deane reads in part:

Whereas, Deane Zeeman . . . perfected the art of conducting electronic meetings over EPC-L; . . . asked at regular intervals at meetings . . . “What principle is being followed here?”; . . . though not the first Canadian chair, was the first chair to share leadership with a fellow member of the Commonwealth . . .

All four resolutions end with the following sentiment:

Be it resolved that the members of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee, the DDC editors, and staff at the Library of Congress Decimal Classification Division and OCLC express to [outgoing member] their deep gratitude and appreciation for [her/his] service and commitment to the Committee and the Classification, their regret that [she/he] will no longer be one of their number, and their wishes for [her/his] continued success and happiness now that [she/he] has retired from the Committee.

EPC Makes Dewey History

The Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) held Meeting 128 at the Library of Congress November 13-14. In one of the first actions on the agenda, EPC members made Dewey history (025.431 Dewey Decimal Classification + T1—09 Historical treatment) by electing Caroline Kent (British Library) as 2008-2009 chair—she is the first chair from outside North America in the committee’s long history (Dewey has had an advisory committee since 1937; EPC was reconstituted in its present form in 1953).   Anne Robertson (Australian Committee on Cataloguing) continues for another year as vice-chair.

We’ll be sharing details of the meeting, including farewells to departing members, over the next few weeks.  As we reflect on the meeting, we’re struck by how the worldwide Dewey community shaped the proposals and conversation at the meeting.  Our translation teams serve as corresponding members on EPC, and review all the draft proposals distributed on the EPC discussion list simultaneously with EPC members.  Some comments received from corresponding members prompted us to change our recommended course of action.  Translation teams also made direct proposals or suggestions for changes.  The Italian translation team at the National Library of Florence proposed changes in philosophy (a new number for philosophical counseling), medicine (a review of the treatment of therapies under 615.851 Mental and activity therapies and 615.852 Religious and psychic therapy), and sports (an expansion under volleyball).  We received a request from the Royal Library of Sweden to consider changing the interdisciplinary number for abortion from abortion treated as a social controversy to abortion treated as a medical service—this resulted in new numbers in 610 and 362 (we hasten to add here that we’re not removing the number for abortion as a social controversy [363.46 Abortion]—just changing its status as the interdisciplinary number).   

A question concerning the treatment of healthy cells of a specific type in medicine from Michael Panzer (that originated when he was still in Germany working on the CrissCross project) resulted in proposed updates to 611.018 Cytology and histology (following the pattern in 570 Life sciences for cytology and histology) and in 612 Human physiology (following the pattern in 573 Specific physiological systems in animals and elsewhere in 610 Medicine and health). A suggestion from the German translation team that fortified wine needs its own number led to several proposals for improving the treatment of wine, including new numbers for fortified wine under the number for wine in home and family management, which is also the interdisciplinary number (641.22 Wine), and under the number for commercial processing of wine (663.2 Wine).   We received useful advice on the geographic treatment of wine from several countries.

Another historical event in the life of Dewey took place on November 1—Ross Trotter (formerly of the British Library) retired as a member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Dewey Decimal Classification Committee.  Ross had been a member of the CILIP DDC Committee since 1969, and served as chair of the committee from 1999 until earlier this year.  I was delighted to attend the CILIP DDC Committee meeting in London on November 1 to offer my good wishes to Ross on behalf of the Dewey editorial team.  Ross’s guidance during the years has helped shape the DDC in numerous ways.  Three times, we’ve called upon him to serve as guest assistant DDC editor (our own “fifth Beatle”) for the revision of 560-590 Life sciences, the update of the area table for Great Britain, and the complete overhaul of the DDC Manual.  We will sorely miss Ross’s DDC knowledge and sound advice, and wish him all the best in the years to come.

David Balatti

We received word last week that David Balatti, former director of bibliographic services at the National Library of Canada (now Library and Archives Canada), passed away suddenly in France on September 28. David served as a member of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) 1989-2000, and chaired the committee 1996-1999.

During much of his thirty-three-year career at the National Library of Canada, David guided Dewey application to Canadian publications.  He headed the four-person NLC team that revised and expanded the geographic tables for British Columbia and Quebec in 1986.  In a letter to Winton Matthews upon completion of the tables, David wrote: “The four of us have hardly seen the light of day for the past six weeks as we’ve closeted ourselves in dreary boardrooms with a mass of maps, atlases, gazetteers, screen print and shelf list cards . . . I’d like to conclude by saying it was a great experience.”

David inspired one of our present-day principles on the introduction of new optional arrangements in the DDC.  In a discussion on the use of options at EPC Meeting 102 in May 1993, David remarked: "Options should not be used as a substitute for a decision."   He served on EPC during the complete publication cycle for DDC 21 and Abridged Edition 13 (published in 1996 and 1997, respectively).  As EPC chair, he guided the committee through the planning for DDC 22 and Abridged Edition 14 at the 1997 EPC retreat in Saratoga Springs, New York; and saw the content of those editions substantially launched during his service as chair and member.  In one of the memorable lighthearted moments at EPC, David suggested a topic be “tabled” and then had to navigate across the Anglophone divide between British and American usage—half of those present thought the tabled topic was being brought forward for consideration while the other half thought the discussion was being postponed.

We remember David’s warmth, wit, and intelligence—his presence enhanced every EPC meeting.  We send our deepest condolences to his wife, Sheila.

Forty Years and Counting

We had the chance to celebrate one of our own today at Dewey Manor—Winton was honored at a Library of Congress ceremony for his forty years of federal service. Winton began his federal service in June 1967 at the Library of Congress, and joined the Decimal Classification Division in August 1968 as a decimal classification specialist. In April 1985, he was promoted to assistant editor of the DDC.

Winton has made several significant contributions to the development of the DDC. He collaborated with two consultants (Russell Sweeney and John Clews) on the complete revision of 780 Music that was published in draft form in 1980 and in final form as the entirely new 780 Music schedule in DDC 20 in 1989. Winton coordinates the biweekly mappings of new Library of Congress Subject Headings to DDC numbers, and also coordinates the indexing of new synthesized numbers that result from those mappings.  Among his editorial colleagues, Winton is the acknowledged expert in Dewey editorial rules and formatting matters. He has advised numerous DDC translation teams on the development of interoperable expansions, particularly in geography and history. (I think DDC translators would agree with the following observation: “Translation teams around the world know Winton Matthews by name and always breathe a sigh of relief when their work gets his approval.”) Winton serves as the Dewey liaison to two American Library Association committees, Cataloging Needs of Public Libraries and Cataloging of Children’s Materials. He is well respected by his colleagues at LC and OCLC, and is often consulted for his expertise in a myriad of subject areas and Dewey technical issues.  Congratulations, Winton!

We also send congratulations to our LC colleague Beacher Wiggins, director of Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access (and the LC representative to EPC).  Beacher was recognized for his thirty-five years of federal service at the same ceremony.

Magda Heiner-Freiling

We all feel incredibly sad today. We just learned that our dear friend and colleague Magda Heiner-Freiling, head of subject cataloguing at Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (DNB), died last Sunday in an accident while on vacation. It was Magda who first brought up the idea of a German translation of the DDC. During a vacation in the United States during the mid-1990s, Magda noticed that the same system (the Dewey Decimal Classification) was used to organize the collections in a large metropolitan library and in a small reservation library (for those of you who read last Friday’s Wall Street Journal article on Dewey, you’ll recognize this anecdote and now know the name of the “German librarian”).  In October 1998, Magda organized a workshop in Frankfurt to explore a possible German translation of Dewey—after years of discussion and planning, her dream was realized in 2005 with the publication of the German translation of DDC 22 in print and web versions.

We’ve written several times in this blog about interesting Dewey questions and suggestions from Magda and her team. Magda was also one of the contributors to last year’s special issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly on Dewey, and was an invited participant in the Dewey Planning Retreat held at OCLC in March 2004. Most recently, we’ve worked with Magda and her colleagues at DNB to improve the representation of the DDC in the MARC 21 formats.  Magda was a former member of the IFLA Section on Classification and Indexing, and co-founded the European DDC Users’ Group with Patrice Landry. We send our deepest condolences to Magda’s husband Harald and their two sons, and to Magda’s colleagues at DNB and in Konsortium DDC Deutsch.  Our profession has lost an inventive thinker and leader much too soon.  My OCLC colleague (and former member of the German translation team) Michael Panzer captured the essence of Magda’s drive and creativity best this morning: “She was on fire!” Dearest Magda, we will miss you.

Luigi Crocetti, 1929-2007

We received the sad news this morning from our colleagues at the National Library of Florence that Dr. Luigi Crocetti passed away on March 10.  Dr. Crocetti made many contributions to the library and information science field; I will highlight here his contributions to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system. Dr. Crocetti was the leading Italian expert on the DDC, and oversaw the translation and publication of five editions of the DDC into Italian, starting with the Italian translation of Abridged Edition 11 in 1987.  In preparation for the translation of Abridged Edition 11, Dr. Crocetti sent Daniele Danesi, a member of the Italian editorial team, to the Dewey editorial office at the Library of Congress.  This was the first time a translation team member had traveled from outside the U.S. for an extended working visit with the editorial team in order to gain a deeper understanding of the editorial process.  The Italian translation of DDC 20 marked the first use of computer applications in the translation editing process.  The procedures developed between the Dewey editorial team and the Italian translation team for DDC 20 became the basis for the standard translation guidelines that are in use today for all translations.

At the time of his death, Dr. Crocetti was involved in the translation of DDC 22.  The Italian translation of DDC 22 is scheduled to be published later this year, and will be dedicated to his memory.

New Face at Dewey Manor

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Rebecca Green joined OCLC today as assistant editor, Dewey Decimal Classification.  Most recently, Rebecca was an associate professor at the University of Maryland, where she had been a member of the faculty of the College of Information Studies since 1989.  Her teaching and research interests include knowledge organization, database design, classification theory, knowledge representation, and linguistic applications in information retrieval.

Rebecca has a PhD and MS in Computer Science, and a PhD and MLS in Library and Information Services, all from the University of Maryland.  She also has an MA in Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an AB, magna cum laude, in Music from Harvard University.  Rebecca has authored over forty scholarly publications, and is an active member of the Association for Computational Linguistics and the International Society for Knowledge Organization. She also serves on the editorial board of Knowledge Organization. 

Rebecca is based in the Dewey Editorial Office at the Library of Congress.  Please join us in welcoming Rebecca to Dewey Manor!