025.431: The Dewey blog

Dewey at PLA

The Dewey Breakfast/Update at the 12th PLA National Conference in Minneapolis is scheduled for this Friday (March 28), 7:00 - 8:20 a.m., in Lake Superior A Room, Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.  We’ll be demonstrating a number of classification and discovery tools based on the DDC and looking for your feedback and ideas.  If you just think of a number on a spine label when you hear "Dewey," then this will be an opportunity to explore the variety of ways in which the language-independent representation of the DDC can be put to work in your library.  If you haven't already done so, please register for the Dewey Breakfast/Update here. See you in Minneapolis!

Literary Authors: AutoDewey and LC Name Authority File

At the recent Dewey Breakfast/Update at ALA Midwinter, we described the Library of Congress AutoDewey software for literature, which takes advantage of those places where Library of Congress Classification (LCC) and DDC are similar enough to facilitate mapping from LCC to DDC.  Before AutoDewey can assign a DDC number, the cataloger must often choose form (poetry, drama, fiction); when the literary periods of LCC and DDC do not match, the cataloger must also choose a literary period.

We spoke of the possibility of adding information about authors’ literary periods to Library of Congress name authority records and asked for advice about how best to do that.  At the breakfast there was general agreement that the more information given, the better.  Specific suggestions were that there should be links between the authority records and the relevant WebDewey records; that in addition to the DDC numbers we should give captions indicating what the numbers mean; that we should indicate which numbers are comprehensive or interdisciplinary numbers; and that we should begin with the latest authors. 

One librarian said she needed to think more about whether it would be best to give information about an author’s literary period without specifying form, or just to give a full built number showing form as well as literary period.  This is an issue especially for new authors, where we know in what form a particular work has been written, but we do not know whether that will be the only form in which the author will write.  If we give a poetry number for an author, we don’t want that number used for the author’s later drama or fiction!

The presentation from the Dewey Breakfast/Update has been posted on the OCLC Dewey Services discussion page.  We welcome additional advice.  Please reply directly to this blog entry.  If you prefer, you may also send comments and suggestions directly to dewey@loc.gov.

MARBI Proposals

Last month we told you about a series of nine proposals for changes in how the MARC Format represents Dewey.

Last weekend MARBI dealt with these proposals at the ALA Midwinter meeting in Philadelphia.  They were all accepted by MARBI without change, except for the last proposal on Classification Number Hierarchy.  With that proposal the major change was to add a new $f subfield as well as the proposed $e subfield in the 153 field in the MARC Classification Format.  The $e subfield will be for "Classification number hierarchy--single number or beginning number of span," and the $f field will be for "Classification number hierarchy--ending number of span."  We had originally envisioned the $c subfield being used for the end of a span when the beginning number of a span was in the $e subfield.  In addition, the $e subfield will be repeatable, instead of non-repeatable as originally proposed.

This decision by MARBI clears the way for us to use these changes in the MARC Format in our redevelopment of the DDC Editorial Support System (ESS).

Dewey Breakfast/Update at ALA Midwinter

Please join us for the Dewey Breakfast/Update at the ALA Midwinter Meeting on Saturday, January 12, 7:00–8:30 a.m., Room 103B, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St., Philadelphia.  Scheduled presentations include current DDC research initiatives (Diane Vizine-Goetz), web-based DDC training materials (Rebecca Green), and LC’s AutoDewey program in literature (Julianne Beall).  The third presentation will be followed by a discussion of issues related to adding Dewey numbers to records for literary authors in the LC Name Authority File.  There will also be an open question/answer period with the Dewey editorial team.  If you haven’t already done so, please register for the Dewey Breakfast/Update here.  See you next week in Philadelphia!

Proposals for Dewey in MARC

MARBI proposals related to Dewey were made public today by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office at the Library of Congress.  The proposals are available under the title "Proposal No. 2008-01: Representation of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) System in the MARC 21 formats."

This collection of proposals has been jointly authored by the Dewey editorial team, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, the Library of Congress, and OCLC, and contains nine parts:

• 2008-01/1: Identification of internal add table numbers in the Authority and Classification formats
• 2008-01/2: Revision of the 765 field in the Classification format
• 2008-01/3: Classification number edition and source information in the Bibliographic and Classification formats
• 2008-01/4: Designations for optional numbers in the Bibliographic format
• 2008-01/5: Additional Dewey numbers for access in the Bibliographic format
• 2008-01/6: Synthesized classification number components in the Bibliographic format
• 2008-01/7: Segmentation information in the Classification format
• 2008-01/8: Encoding topic information in some Classification format fields
• 2008-01/9: Classification number hierarchy in the Classification Format

They all arise from an earlier discussion paper which I reported on in earlier blog entries: Dewey in Marc 21 and Dewey in MARC 21 -- report back.

They will be discussed at the MARBI meeting on Saturday, January 11, at ALA Midwinter.

Dewey at AASL

Are you going to the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 13th National Conference in Reno next week?  If yes, please join us for the Dewey Breakfast/Update on Friday, October 26, 7:00–8:00 a.m., in the Silver Baron Ballroom D at the Silver Legacy Resort.

Libbie Crawford and I will be addressing several topics related to Dewey in a global and local context—our plans for updating 370 Education (we are seeking direct advice from school librarians on several issues), new approaches to the development of the abridged edition of Dewey, Dewey training on the web (coming soon!), and special group purchase options for WebDewey / Abridged WebDewey.  There will be an open discussion period, too—bring those burning Dewey questions and suggestions!

Please RSVP to crawforl@oclc.org by October 24, or stop by the OCLC Booth (#1025) during the Exhibit Hall Block Party on October 25 and tell us in person that you plan to join us.

"Be wise, standardise"

. . . is the motto of IGBIS, the Interest Group for Bibliographic Standards of the Library & Information Association of South Africa (LIASA).  The presentations from Knowledge Transfer for the Future, a one-day seminar sponsored by IGBIS and held in Durban on 24 August 2007, are available on the IGBIS web site. Speakers from South Africa, Switzerland, and the U.S. addressed standards, international cooperation, and emerging issues in description and access, name and subject authorities, the Dewey Decimal Classification, metadata, and digital imaging.

Resource Description and Access: A Cataloging Code for the Future (and related IFLA initiatives: FRBR, FRAD, IME ICC)  Dr. Barbara Tillett (Library of Congress)

South Africa Needs You: Why Your Library Should Become a NACO Member  Dr. Hester Marais (Unisa)

Viewpoint, Locality, and Universality in the DDC  Joan S. Mitchell (OCLC)

The Re-use of Subject Headings in Interoperability Projects: How to Add Value to Subject Headings  Patrice Landry (Swiss National Library)

Recent Developments in the DDC Joan S. Mitchell (OCLC)

SACO (Subject Authority Cooperative Program): What about a Follow Up of the “Kwaito” Success Story?  Welna van Eeden (Unisa)

Metadata . . . Where Are We Going?  Pat Liebetrau (Digital Imaging South Africa)

A side note: I made a last-minute addition to my first talk in response to something Justice Albie Sachs (Constitutional Court of South Africa) said earlier that week in his opening session address at the World Library and Information Congress (see here for a report on that conference). He talked about problems in finding materials on customary law, including the lack of a methodology to record customary law and the absence of forms of classification for customary law. I started thinking about how we treat the customary (traditional) law of South Africa in the DDC. We have a general number for comprehensive works on the traditional law of South Africa 340.5268 (340.52 from 340.524-340.529 Law of traditional societies in the modern world + T2—68 Republic of South Africa). Traditional law on a specific subject, e.g., inheritance and succession, is classed in the same number as the general law of South Africa on inheritance and succession, 346.68052 (built with 346 Private law + T2—68 Republic of South Africa + 052 from 346.052 Inheritance and succession, following the instructions under 342-347 Branches of law)—there is no way to show the “traditional law” aspect. I asked South African librarians to advise us on ways we might improve access to specific topics in traditional law in South Africa and elsewhere.

How Can We All Work Together?

OCLC hosted the 5th Annual Dewey Translators Meeting on 21 August 2007 in conjunction with the World Library and Information Congress (73rd IFLA General Conference and Council) in Durban, South Africa.  The theme of the meeting (chosen by attendees at the 2006 meeting) was “How can we all work together?”  Thirty-one librarians, representing DDC projects in fifteen countries, participated in the meeting.  Gordon Dunsire (University of Strathclyde) reported on recent work on the High-Level Thesaurus (HILT) project.  In the HILT project, Dewey is used as a "semantic translator" for mappings from different Anglophone terminologies.  Dewey has also been used to classify the collections included in the project.  In this second role, Dewey facilitates the process of “subject landscaping” by pointing to the best collection(s) in which to search for items in a specific area of interest.  Gordon also announced the launch of the web site of the Technical Issues Working Group of the European DDC Users Group (EDUG).

Juli Beall presented an update on our work with colleagues at Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (DNB), OCLC, and LC on extensions to the representation of the DDC in MARC 21 formats.  Pia Leth (Royal Library of Sweden), Ingebjørg Rype (National Library of Norway), and I discussed our preliminary work on mixed DDC translations combining vernacular and English-language content.  Michelle Rago (Library of Congress) talked about the use of the DDC in the World Digital Library project and showed a short conceptual video about WDL.

In the open reporting session, Patrice Landry (National Library of Switzerland) discussed the June 2007 EDUG meeting and organizational plans for the group.  Patrice also noted that the EDUG 340 Law Working Group, chaired by Yvonne Jahns (DNB), had taken advantage of the presence of several members in Durban and held its first meeting on 20 August.  The working group is focused on improvements to the representation of legal systems based on civil law.  Representatives of the Arabic, French, Italian, and Vietnamese teams also reported on their respective translations.  Dr. Sohair Wastawy (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) reported that the software for supporting the Arabic translation is 80% functional (diacritics remain a challenge), and organization of the translation work is under way.  She mentioned the challenges of accommodating the breadth of Arabic terminology—for example, there are sixty words for “lion” in Arabic!   Louis Cabral (ASTED) announced the anticipated publication of the French print edition in late September 2007, and discussed briefly the formation of a scientific advisory committee for the web version. Federica Paradisi (Biblioteca nazionale centrale di Firenze) reported that the Italian translation of DDC 22 is expected to be published in early 2008.  She also described the collaboration between the Italian team and the Dewey editors on the expansion of canon law, plus improvements to ancient and modern Italian history and geographic developments.  Nguyen Thi Bac (General Sciences Library of Ho Chi Minh City) reported on DDC training efforts in Vietnam since the publication of the Vietnamese translation of Abridged Edition 14 last year, and plans for a translation of DDC 22.

Dr. Maria Inês Cordeiro (National Library of Portugal and editor in chief of the Universal Decimal Classification) presented a brief update on recent UDC translations and the restructuring of UDC's advisory board.  Work is under way on a new editorial support system and improved data representation scheme for UDC (Juli and I met with Inês privately later in the week to discuss our shared interests in data management and representation of knowledge organization systems).

The attendees decided to revisit the “How can we all work together?” theme at next year’s meeting in Quebec City.  Topics suggested included workflows for translations, the role of EPC, and a review of the first year of EDUG activities.  There was also some interest expressed in a separate Dewey Developers Meeting.

ALA Awards

Earlier this summer, I had the great honor and pleasure of presenting my former LC colleagues Winston Tabb and Sarah Thomas with awards at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Washington, DC. Winston Tabb (dean of university libraries and vice provost for the arts at Johns Hopkins University received the John Ames Humphry/OCLC/Forest Press Award during the International Relations Round Table (IRRT) Chair’s Program on June 25, 2007.  The award recognized his significant contributions to international librarianship through “leadership in IFLA, where he is the chair of the Copyright and Other Legal Matters Committee, in WIPO, and in other international committees, including UNESCO commissions formed to advise the National Libraries of Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Latvia.”  Winston arrived for the award presentation directly from a meeting in Nanjing, and left the next week for a meeting in Geneva. Winston and I were both at the World Library and Information Congress (73rd IFLA General Conference and Council) last week (more about that conference next week); I can attest that he was deeply involved throughout the conference in discussions of intellectual property and copyright issues with colleagues from around the world.  Winston was actually a double award winner at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference; the day after he received the John Ames Humphry Award, ALA recognized his distinguished service to the profession of librarianship with the Joseph W. Lippincott Award.

I also had the delight of presenting Dr. Sarah Thomas (Bodley’s Librarian and director of university library services at Oxford University) with the Melvil Dewey Medal. Sarah's citation reads “For her extraordinary leadership in the advancement of research libraries in general, and cataloging and bibliographic practices and standards in particular, both nationally and internationally, during a distinguished career spanning more than three decades; for the high order of creative leadership, vision, and diplomacy she demonstrated in conceiving, launching, and nurturing the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, which ushered cooperative cataloging into the 21st century; and for her inspiring vision, relentless determination, and unfailing optimism as a leader in four of the world’s great libraries—the Library of Congress, National Agricultural Library, Cornell University and Oxford’s Bodleian Library.  In each she used her great appreciation for the past to inform visionary transformations for the future through pioneering efforts such as Project Euclid and DPubS.”

Winston and Sarah are pictured at left (photo courtesy of last year’s Melvil Dewey Medal winner John Byrum).  Congratulations to Winston and Sarah!!!

Dewey in MARC 21 -- report back

Back on June 6, I posted a blog item on "Dewey in MARC 21."

Since then, the MARBI meeting has taken place, and we have a better idea of what should be proposed as changes to the MARC format to meet our needs.  We found MARBI very helpful and supportive of our needs.  However, in the discussion we found a couple of areas where we need to do more work in developing our proposals.

The first is with the 765 field in the Classification format.  We hadn't actually proposed any changes here, but the discussion about using the same format as this field in the proposed 085 field in the Bibliographic format revealed there may be some small issues in how the 765 field is defined.  Since the 765 field was defined principally with Dewey in mind, and since it's not used by the Library of Congress Classification, we really need to test the 765 field against a variety of numbers in the DDC database, and propose changes to MARBI where we find problems in it.

The second is an issue with the Bibliographic format.  Together with the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, we had proposed various changes to the 082 field, including expanding the use of that field to show Dewey numbers (including internal and external table numbers), for subject access as well as for classified arrangement.  We also proposed a new 085 field to show the component parts of built numbers: this would be both to explain how the numbers were constructed, and to provide additional subject access through those component parts.

There was some concern expressed before the MARBI meeting that this might make the use of the 082 field more difficult for libraries using it as a source of Dewey numbers for call numbers.  We need to take on board those concerns -- after all, the 082 field is indeed one of the more popular fields, and we do want to encourage its use -- and re-examine our proposals to see how those concerns can be dealt with.  In doing this, we need to bear in mind how the 082 field is being used now, and how the 082 and 085 fields might be used in the future, both for classified arrangement of library materials and for subject access to materials.