025.431: The Dewey blog

200 Religion Class

200 Religion Class, the last publication in the Dewey print-edition trilogy that began in 2011 (the other two are DDC 23 and Abridged Edition 15), is now available.  200 Religion Class includes an updated version of the 200 Religion schedule and the Manual notes for 200 Religion, an updated and extended index to 200 Religion, and the 170 Ethics schedule. The updates are also available in WebDewey.  Ordering information for the three print editions plus WebDewey is available here.

In DDC 23, we updated the provisions for the Orthodox Church, initiated updates for Islam, and introduced several changes elsewhere in 200 Religion.  200 Religion Class contains those changes, plus additional updates for Islam and a number of minor updates elsewhere in 200 that were not ready for publication in the print DDC 23. (My colleague Juli Beall will describe the changes to Islam in detail in an upcoming blog entry.)

Another exciting feature of 200 Religion Class is an optional arrangement for the Bible and specific religions based on a chronological/regional view.  For some time now, we have been exploring the development of an alternative view of 200 Religion to reduce Christian bias in the standard notational sequence for the Bible and specific religions.  In cooperation with Ia C. McIlwaine (University College London, and the former editor in chief of the Universal Decimal Classification [UDC]) we have prepared a chronological/regional view of the Bible and specific religions based on a similar development introduced in the UDC in 2000.  The new optional arrangement appears in appendix A of the print version of 200 Religion Class, and in a new Manual note at 220-290 Optional arrangement for the Bible and specific religions in WebDewey.  A virtual browser based on the new optional arrangement and linked to Dewey-classified resources in WorldCat.org will be available on the Dewey web site in mid-2012.

"Abridged" View of WebDewey

An "Abridged" View of WebDewey, the presentation from the 19 March 2012 invitational webinar with current Abridged WebDewey users, is now available. The presentation outlines the approaches we propose to implement in WebDewey to accommodate current Abridged WebDewey users (see here for background information on why we have decided not to continue with a separate version of WebDewey based on Abridged Edition 15). We welcome your questions, comments, and ideas. 

 

What does "below" mean in WebDewey?

DDC 23 contains a new type of note in class records for standard subdivisions that introduce special expansions not found in Table 1: "Notation X from Table 1 as modified below." For example, the note "Notation 01 from Table 1 as modified below" is included in the record for 370.1 Philosophy and theory, education for specific objectives, educational psychology; there are several expansions under 370.1 that are not part of T1—01 Philosophy and theory.

Yesterday, we received an interesting question about the use of the term "below" in the note in the WebDewey version of class 370.1: "What does 'below' mean if I don’t see something directly below the note?" In the note under 370.1, "below" is shorthand for "in the subdivisions of this class." The direct subdivisions of 370.1 appear in the hierarchical display in WebDewey:

In some cases, "below" may refer to content in the class record itself plus subdivisions of the class. For example, the note "Only those peoples provided for below" under T5—9489 Peoples who speak, or whose ancestors spoke, miscellaneous languages of south Asia refers to the peoples named in the including note in the record for T5—9489 plus the caption and class-here note in T5—94892. There are over two hundred instances of the term "below" in the schedules, tables, and Manual notes in DDC 23. In each case, one needs to consult what follows.

WebDewey and Library of Congress Subject Headings

Among the Library of Congress Subject Headings mapped to Dewey numbers in earlier versions of WebDewey were some labeled "PPT" because they came from the 2001 publication People, Places & Things: A List of Popular Library of Congress Subject Headings with Dewey Numbers. Those headings were not included in WebDewey 2.0 because the mappings needed to be updated. 

The process of updating has begun.  Thus far, PPT headings mapped to 500–599 have been updated and restored to WebDewey.  The headings are no longer labeled "PPT" because they are now like other editorially mapped headings; there is no longer a need to warn users that they may be out of date.  A few examples may illustrate.

The LCSH "Polynomials" is now mapped to 512.9422 Polynomial equations.  The history box for that number has this information:

expanded from 512.942
2003, Edition 22

In PPT, the LCSH "Polynomials" was mapped to the old number, 512.942.  An example of a work with the LCSH "Polynomials" classed in 512.9422 Polynomial equations is Polynomials.

(To learn more about the history box now available in WebDewey, see the previous blogs "WebDewey 2.0 Enhancements" and "Expansions from DDC 22 to DDC 23.")

The LCSH "Algorithms" is now mapped to 518.1 Algorithms.  The history box for that number has this information:

formerly located in 511.8
2003, Edition 22

In PPT, the LCSH "Algorithms" was mapped to the old number, 511.8.  An example of a work classed in 518.1 Algorithms is Algorithms.  The work has both the LCSH "Algorithms—Textbooks" and "Computer algorithms—Textbooks," but it emphasizes the mathematical ideas behind algorithms.

The LCSH "Pacific Ocean" is now mapped to the built number 551.4614 Pacific Ocean (built with 551.461 Specific oceans and seas, coastal saltwater bodies plus 4 from T2—164 Pacific Ocean, following instructions at 551.4613–551.4617 Specific oceans and seas). The history box for 551.4614 Pacific Ocean has this information:

formerly located in 551.465
2003, Edition 22

In PPT, the LCSH "Pacific Ocean" was mapped to the old number, 551.465.  An example of a work with the LCSH "Pacific Ocean" classed in 551.4614 Pacific Ocean is Pacific Ocean. The work is interdisciplinary, and 551.4614 is the interdisciplinary number for the Pacific Ocean.  In the upward hierarchy, at 551.46 Oceanography and submarine geology, is the class-here note: "Class here . . . interdisciplinary works on marine science, on oceans and seas."  That note has hierarchical force.

Add Table Notation in WebDewey (or, DDC Has Not Become Colon Classification)

We were asked, "Why are there colons in some numbers in WebDewey?  Is that a glitch?"  No, those numbers represent add table notation; the part before the colon gives the DDC number or number span where the add table is located, and the part following the colon represents the notation in the add table. For example, a search in All Fields for "drug therapy" will produce a long list of search results that includes:

616.1-616.9:061 Drug therapy

If you click that entry in the search results, you will see the add table under 616.1-616.9
Specific diseases displayed as a complete table, much as in the printed book.  Because it is a large add table, you will need to scroll down to see the specific add table entry in that print-like display:

061    Drug therapy

Because you have already seen the entry 616.1-616.9:061 Drug therapy in your search results, you know where to look as you scroll down in the add table. 

Alternatively, since you already know what add table entry you seek, you could use the hierarchy display at the left of the screen to drill down to 616.1-616.9:061 Drug therapy.  Or if you have scrolled down in the display of the full add table and find the full add table with all its entries and notes a bit overwhelming, you could use the hierarchy display to focus on the entries in the upward hierarchy that are relevant to drug therapy.  If you click the 061 link in the add table display in WebDewey, you can see 616.1-616.9:061 Drug therapy displayed as a separate record, with its own upward and downward hierarchy, including broader or narrower add table entries.  Here are the add table entries in the hierarchy for 616.1-616.9:061 Drug therapy:

616.1-616.9:05-09 Preventive measures, therapy, pathology, psychosomatic medicine, case histories
616.1-616.9:06 Therapy
616.1-616.9:061-069 Specific therapies
616.1-616.9:061 Drug therapy
616.1-616.9:0610724 Experimental research

If you click the entries in the upward hierarchy, you will find notes with hierarchical force in each one.  Those same notes appear also in the print-like display of the full add table; you can choose which way seems most convenient to find them.

For browsing DDC numbers, you also have a choice: show the add table notation as separate entries in the browse results, or hide the add table notation and show only the DDC number or number span where the add table is located. To hide the add table notation, click Preferences, then under Add Table Notation Options click Hide.  Then if you browse for 616.1 the entire add table will be represented by one line:

616.1-616.9 Specific diseases

If you click Show, then browse for 616.1, the add table notation will be represented by many separate lines, beginning with standard subdivisions:

616.1-616.9:001 Philosophy and theory
 
616.1-616.9:002 Miscellany
 
616.1-616.9:[0023] The subject as a profession, occupation, hobby
 
616.1-616.9:0028 Auxiliary techniques and procedures; apparatus, equipment, materials
 
616.1-616.9:00284 Apparatus, equipment, materials
 
616.1-616.9:[00287] Testing and measurement
 
616.1-616.9:003-006 Standard subdivisions

If you frequently use a particular add table and know approximately what add table notation you seek, you can use the form of notation with the colon as a search or browse term.  For example, you can search the Dewey Numbers index with 616.1-616.9:06* (the asterisk is a truncation symbol) and get six add table entries all relating to therapy.  Similarly, you can browse in Dewey Numbers (with Captions) for 616.1-616.9:06 (no truncation symbol needed for browsing) and see a display that begins:

616.1-616.9:05 Preventive measures
 
616.1-616.9:06 Therapy
 
616.1-616.9:060724 Experimental research
 
616.1-616.9:061-069 Specific therapies
 
616.1-616.9:061 Drug therapy

616.1-616.9:0610724 Experimental research
 
616.1-616.9:062-069 Other therapies

Abridged Edition 15 in WebDewey

Last week, Geneva Norton posted the following question on the blog: "Why is the Abridged 15 not going to be a part of WebDewey?"  In the sense that Abridged Edition 15 is a logical abridgment of DDC 23, the new abridged edition is already in WebDewey.  If you have "Show Segmentation Mark" and "Show Segmentation Instruction" checked as "Show" under Preferences in WebDewey, you can determine the equivalent Abridged Edition 15 number.  We realize that it’s not always easy to decode the segmentation instructions; a project is under way to improve them.

We have decided not to continue with a separate version of WebDewey based on Abridged Edition 15 because of the small numbers of subscribers to the current abridged web product (less than 10% of the number of subscribers to the full version of WebDewey).  (In contrast, the total number of print copies of Abridged Edition 14 sold nearly matched the number of print sets of DDC 22 sold.)  Where does this decision leave current Abridged WebDewey users?  We are exploring a number of ways to make WebDewey hospitable to abridged users beyond the current segmentation information.  On March 19, there will be an invitational webinar aimed at current Abridged WebDewey subscribers to get feedback and address any concerns.  Current subscribers will be contacted directly by Libbie Crawford, Dewey Product Manager, with webinar registration information.  We’ll certainly share the outcomes from that meeting with blog readers.

 

Expansions from DDC 22 to DDC 23

During the February 7 webinar "DDC 23 Update" (available here), we received the question: "Is there a way to track all expansions from DDC 22 to DDC 23?"

"New Features in Edition 23," which appears in volume 1 of the print DDC 23 and is also available here, summarizes the expansions introduced in DDC 23 or in an interim update to DDC 22 prior to the publication of Edition 23, but does not list every new number.

A previous blog, "WebDewey 2.0 Enhancements," describes the history-of-numbers information now available in WebDewey 2.0.  Today a search for the term "expanded" in either the All Fields index or the All Dewey index yields "4067 records found."  The first record retrieved is relevant to the question about expansions from DDC 22 to DDC 23; the record for T1—0141 Discourse analysis has a History box with the following information:

expanded from T1--014
2011-04, Edition 23

The second record retrieved, however, is not relevant, because it represents an old expansion; the record for T1—0284 Apparatus, equipment, materials has a History box with the following information:

expanded from T1--028
1996, Edition 21

Unfortunately, at present, there is no simple way to search for only the new expansions.  One can retrieve on terms like "expanded" in the first part of a history note and on the DDC number in the note (T1—014 and T1—028 in the examples above), but not on the date or edition number in the second part of the note.  In the aforementioned blog, we noted that we were particularly interested in learning more about how you might make use of the history information.  This is the first feedback we’ve received!  We will explore adding the edition associated with history information as an indexed and searchable element in WebDewey sometime in the coming year.

Meanwhile, one possible approach is to search for "expanded" in a range of Dewey numbers, using Advanced Search and the truncation symbol asterisk (*)—preferably with guidance from "New Features in Edition 23" about where to find new numbers. For example, "New Features" includes the following for Table 2 Geographic Areas, Historical Periods, Biography:

—494 Switzerland
. . . . .
            Expanded

The following search yields 171 records, all of which represent new numbers:

Term:     t2--494*    
Index:    Dewey Numbers
and
Term:     expanded    
Index:    All Dewey

WebDewey 2.0 Enhancements

WebDewey 2.0 users, be ready for a nice surprise when you log in today.  We have introduced some major enhancements plus cosmetic improvements that we hope will delight and excite you as much as they do the Dewey team.  Over the next few days we’ll be discussing the variety of improvements and new features that you’ll find in the system, but let’s start today with the two big ones, 1) the history of numbers and 2) improved identification of built numbers and Manual notes.

We have had the history of numbers codified in our internal DDC data files going back to DDC 20 (1989), but we have never had a way to make this deep historical information routinely available to users until now.  Starting today, WebDewey users will be able to access the contents of any MARC 21 685 History Note field associated with a particular class by clicking on arrow in the right-hand corner of the History box on the record display page.  For example, look at the class record for 005.3.  If you open the History box (click on the arrow in the right-hand corner of the box), you’ll see the following information:

General purpose application programs relocated to 005.5
2003, Edition 22

(We reformatted the underlying MARC 21 representation to make it more readable; in our internal database, we have the following version of the same information coded in a 685 field:  685 20  $t General purpose application programs $i relocated to $a 005.5 $d 2003 $2 22 $9 ess=685.)

If you click on the link to 005.5, that link will take you directly to the record display for 005.5.  Open the History box and you will find additional information about the history of 005.5:

formerly located in 005.3
2003, Edition 22

Specific programs with interdisciplinary applications formerly located in 005.3042
2003, Edition 22

There’s one other major change in today’s installation: the inclusion of new icons to identify built numbers and Manual notes.  Built numbers are represented by a puzzle piece icon; Manual notes are represented by a book icon.  Both types of icons are included in search results.  For example, the search results for a search on 005.3 include the Manual note 005.3 (identified with the book icon) and the built number 005.3742 (identified with the puzzle piece icon).  The puzzle piece icon also is used to identify built numbers in browse results.  On the individual record display screen, the Manual icon appears next to the number and caption for the Manual note (for example, look at the Manual note for 005.3).   In hierarchical displays for built numbers, the puzzle piece icon can appear anywhere in the hierarchical display for the number.  For example, display the record for 338.47004 Computer industry.  In the hierarchical display, the built number icon appears next to 338.47004, and also next to two built numbers in the downward hierarchy, 338.4700411 and 338.470046.  (If you don’t see the icons associated with the aforementioned examples, it may be because relevant information has been cached in your browser.  If you want to see the icons immediately and do not want to wait until the cache is refreshed, you can press <ctrl> + <F5> inside a WebDewey screen associated with one of the examples, which will cause your browser to reload the cached information.)

We’d love to hear from WebDewey users about the usefulness of these new features.  We’re especially interested in learning more about how you might make use of the history information.

Stay tuned for more information about recent and planned improvements to WebDewey! 

International Dewey Users Meeting

OCLC will host the annual International Dewey Users Meeting (formerly known as the Dewey Translators Meeting) in conjunction with the World Library and Information Congress (76th IFLA General Conference and Assembly) in Göteborg, Sweden.  The meeting will be held Friday, 13 August, 16:00-18:00, in Swedish Conference Centre, Meeting Room J2.  The agenda includes presentations on WebDewey 2.0, the Swedish mixed translation, the expansion of 297 Islam under way in cooperation with the Arabic translation team, and activities of the European DDC Users’ Group.  Please register here by 4 August if you plan to attend the meeting.

EDUG survey of applications of the DDC

Our friends over at the Technical Issues Working Group of EDUG, the European DDC Users’ Group, have just let us know that they are conducting an online survey of applications of the DDC to help EDUG to plan its activities and determine priorities for technical development. The results will also be shared with OCLC and the DDC editorial team.

They would like to hear not only from European libraries, but from Dewey users all over the world. The survey questionnaire should only take a few minutes to complete and submit. So if your library uses the DDC in one way or the other, please let them know; your participation in the survey is greatly appreciated. The survey is available at http://www.slainte.org.uk/edugit/edugsurvey/survey.cfm.