025.431: The Dewey blog

WebDewey upgrade to HTTPS

This morning (US time), we upgraded WebDewey to use secure HTTPS connections. Some users have reported issues accessing WebDewey as a result. Refreshing your browser (Ctrl + R) should fix it, or a hard refresh (Ctrl + Shift + R) if not. If you've tried those and are still having issues, feel free to reach out.

Otherwise, you shouldn't notice any changes to WebDewey as a result of this. It simply means a more secure site.

Update: We've rolled back the change as we investigate some issues. I apologize for the inconvenience.

What’s in a note? Part 1

Most notes in the DDC do a pretty good job of getting across their intent in plain English (or in the language of your chosen translation). If you’re classifying a work on a given topic and find the topic in a note that says “class here” or “including”, you know you’re in the right place. If you see it in a note that refers you to a different number, you know you should head over there. A note by any other wording would do just as well, right? Not exactly. By minding the wording of a note in addition to just looking for the topics, you can get some valuable information about how to classify.

This is the first in a two-part series about some of the different types of notes that may initially sound like they’re saying the same thing, but actually have some important differences. First, I’ll compare the notes that tell you you’re in the right place (class-here and including), and the next will cover notes that point elsewhere.

A topic in a class-here note is said to approximate the whole of the class number. That doesn’t mean it’s identical, but it’s close enough that we probably won’t give that topic its own number in the future. For example, the caption at 597 is “Cold-blooded vertebrates”. Since reptiles and amphibians have their own numbers underneath, that mostly leaves fishes. Most of the numbers under 597 are about fish, except for those dedicated to reptiles and amphibians. We will probably never continue fishes and have separate numbers for fishes and (all) cold-blooded vertebrates.

You can add standard subdivisions for any topic in a class-here note, so 597.03 is equally valid for an encyclopedia of fishes or an encyclopedia of cold-blooded vertebrates. Class-here notes have hierarchical force, meaning they apply at the number where they’re given and all of its subdivisions. Another topic in the class-here note at 597 is “bony fishes”, which describes the vast majority of all living fish species. So an encyclopedia of bony fishes could also class at 597.03, and even as you go further down in 597, you don’t need to distinguish between cold-blooded vertebrates, fishes, and bony fishes.

What about including notes, then? Topics there still class at the number where the note appears, but they are topics in standing room; they do not approximate the whole. For example, let’s look at 595.387 Anomura. Anomura is a taxonomic group of crustaceans. Among other animals, hermit crabs are part of Anomura. But in the DDC, hermit crabs are in an including note there. Because they don’t approximate the whole, standard subdivisions cannot be added for hermit crabs. A zoological journal dedicated to Anomura would class at 595.38705, but a journal dedicated to hermit crabs would just be 595.387, with no standard subdivision.

There are two main reasons why we would put a topic in an including note—and sometimes it’s both:

1. The topic is just one smaller part of what’s in the class. Using the example of 595.387, there are many Anomura species that are not hermit crabs.
2. There were not enough works about the topic when we last checked (what we call literary warrant).

It’s important to note the part about “when we last checked”. If you ever come across a topic in standing room that seems like it obviously deserves its own number, you may well be right! Sounds like a great opportunity to contact us and get involved in the editorial process yourself! (See oc.lc/DeweyContributors for more information.)

I hope this has been helpful in explaining the difference between two notes that seem to do the same thing, but still signal important differences. Stay tuned for the next post on see references, class-elsewhere notes, and see-also notes.

Zoom and other internet meetings

What’s the best DDC number for a work about using Zoom, or other online meeting applications like Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, or WebEx? As with many topics, it can really depend based on the emphasis and the discipline of the book.

At 004.6 Interfacing and communications, you can find the mapped LCSH “Internet videoconferencing”. You’ll also find a see-Manual reference for 004.6 vs. 384.3 Computer communication services, which suggests 004.6 if in doubt.

You might think a work like Zoom for dummies doesn’t sound like computer science, but the DDC doesn’t limit computer science to the sort of advanced material you’d find in a university computer science department. “How-to” type works about using computer applications fit here just fine.

But take care if you have a work that isn’t really about using Zoom or similar programs. Consider a work like You’re on mute. With a chapter on dating and advice like not engaging in video calls while in the bathroom (!), it sounds more like etiquette. I’d recommend 395.5 Etiquette by situations for this work, which has online etiquette in an including note. Too bad this is in standing room and you can’t add T1—0207 Humorous treatment!

If you have a work about Zoom and similar technologies for instructional use, like Introduction to teaching with Zoom, check 371.358 Electronic distance education, which has teleconferencing in an including note.

Other numbers you might want to consider include 658.456, for business meetings, or even 060, the interdisciplinary number for meetings. Should you add T1—0285 Computer applications if able? Good question. Just because something’s happening with a computer doesn’t mean you should necessarily add it, given how much we do in our daily lives with computers now.

Above all, consider your work in hand. Computer science could be appropriate even if the work isn’t highly technical… but many other disciplines could be appropriate if they’re the focus of the work.

I’m hoping to discuss these issues further with the Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) at their next meeting—and we may have some improvements to our coverage of topics like Zoom meetings then too. In the meantime, I’d love to hear about what kind of literature you’re seeing in this area, and where you’re classing it.

Register for August 2021 eCourse: Using WebDewey and Understanding Dewey Decimal Classification

We're just about a month out from a new class of Using WebDewey and Understanding Dewey Decimal Classification, brought to you by ALA Publishing in cooperation with OCLC. Dewey Editor Alex Kyrios will serve as the instructor for this 4-week facilitated eCourse starting on Monday, August 2, 2021.

Participants will gain a comprehensive grounding in Dewey Decimal Classification® (DDC) principles and practices. Starting with the basics, this eCourse will teach you how to:

• Navigate within WebDewey to determine appropriate DDC numbers
• Build numbers using the WebDewey number building tool
• Apply numbers that help patrons browse your library

Plus, experienced users will benefit from guidance building more complex numbers and learn how to make more effective use of WebDewey. Lessons are asynchronous so you can review course materials and complete exercises as your schedule allows.

To learn more and register for this eCourse, please see this page. You may also consider the three-course Practical Classification and Subject Access Cataloging Bundle, which adds courses on Library of Congress Classification (LCC) and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), with a savings of 25% compared to the three courses individually.

New changes to DDC MARC fields

At last year’s virtual ALA Annual, I presented a discussion paper to the MARC Advisory Committee (MAC) around the issue of modernizing citation of DDC numbers in the MARC formats. I summarized the issue in a blog post then. In short, the problem was to better express the recency of a DDC number when you could only cite the edition number—and we’ve decided not to designate new editions in the future.

MAC response to the discussion paper was positive. Reinhold Heuvelmann of the German National Library (DNB) suggested a different approach that would expand the existing subfield $2 in DDC MARC fields rather than designating new ones. Then, at this year’s virtual ALA Midwinter (the last one!), I presented a formal proposal to implement these changes, using the same basic approach as the discussion paper, plus the DNB’s feedback. That proposal was approved, and its recommendations are now live with the June 2021 MARC update.

To review these changes, see the documentation for the MARC Bibliographic 082 field. I think of this as the “bread-and-butter” DDC field; you’ll see the same sort of changes in other DDC fields, such as Authority 083. As of this writing, the changes are in red. The main change is the redefined subfield $2:

$2 - Edition information

Information on the edition from which the DDC number was assigned. If DDC numbers are assigned from more than one edition, each DDC number or range of numbers is contained in a separate 082 field. If the DDC number is assigned from a printed version, record edition number (use “23” for print-on-demand), a slash (/), the language of the edition, a slash (/), and the year of publication or printing. If a DDC number is assigned from an electronic version, record edition number (use “23” or “22” for WebDewey, as appropriate), a slash (/), the language of the edition, a slash (/), and the date on which the DDC number was assigned by the cataloger. Languages are recorded according to the three-character codes in the MARC Code List for Languages. Dates are recorded according to Representation of Dates and Times (ISO 8601) in the pattern yyyymmdd.

082	00$a792.8/2$223/eng/20190402

What does this mean for your practice? That depends on if you’re using WebDewey or a printed version (either the traditional, published editions or a more recent print-on-demand version).

WebDewey: Keep using 23 as the edition number (unless you’re using DDC 22!). After a slash, add a language code. Note that this is the language code of the DDC you’re using, not the language of the resource or the language of the cataloging. If you’re reading this, it will probably be “eng” for English. Then add a further slash and whatever the date is as you assign the number. A macro or other shortcuts like the constant data in OCLC Connexion could help with this. Because the date is recorded in ISO 8601 format, it’s not wrong to give only the year, or only year and month. But it’s good to be precise.

Print: Keep using 23 as the edition number (unless you’re using an older edition). The print-on-demand versions, which were introduced in 2018, are all considered edition 23, like WebDewey. After a slash, add a language code. If the cover of your print DDC says “Dewey Decimal Classification”, it’s probably “eng” for English! Then add a further slash and the publication or printing year of your print DDC. That’s easy if you’re using print-on-demand, since they’re named for their year of printing. Otherwise, just check the title page. (Hint: the print DDC 23 is 2011.) Don’t record month or day in this case.

Like any change, this means some adjustment. A priority for this change was that it be backwards compatible: any MARC record out there with just an edition number is still valid, even though it provides less information than the current standard. I’m excited that with these changes, catalogers everywhere will have more detailed information about the “provenance” of assigned DDC numbers.

Yoga and health

Guest post by Julianne Beall

We recently published a new number for therapeutic use of yoga (615.824) and a Manual note explaining how to classify various aspects of yoga in relation to health and disease at 613.7046 vs. 615.824, 615.851, 615.852, 616-618 Yoga and health. Here we highlight a few key points from the Manual note and give examples.

Use 613.7046 Physical yoga for works on preventive or "staying healthy" use of physical yoga, hatha yoga, yoga as exercise. Also use 613.7046 for comprehensive works on preventive and therapeutic use of all kinds of yoga. Examples:

Yoga for fitness and wellness

Yoga

Yoga for dummies

Use 615.824 Yoga for works on therapeutic or "regaining health" use of physical yoga, hatha yoga, yoga as exercise. Also use 615.824 for comprehensive works on therapeutic use of all kinds of yoga. Examples:

Recovery yoga: A practical guide for chronically ill, injured, and postoperative people

Healing yoga: Proven postures to treat twenty common ailments -- from backache to bone loss, shoulder pain to bunions, and more

Yoga as therapeutic exercise: A practical guide for manual therapists

For use of physical yoga, hatha yoga, yoga as exercise (or comprehensive works on all kinds of yoga) in treating a specific disease, begin with the number for the disease in 616-618. Then from the appropriate add table, add 06 Therapy plus 24 from 615.824 Yoga, following the instruction at 061-069 Specific therapies. Examples:

Yoga for arthritis: The complete guide 616.7220624

(616.722 Arthritis plus 06 Therapy from add table at 616.1-616.9 Specific diseases plus 24 from 615.824 Yoga, following instruction at 616.1-616.9:061-069 Specific therapies)

Gentle yoga for back pain 617.5640624

(617.564 Backache plus 06 Therapy from add table at 617 Surgery, regional medicine, dentistry, ophthalmology, otology, audiology plus 24 from 615.824 Yoga, following instruction at 617:061-069 Specific therapies)

Geocaching

The DDC was in its 21^st Edition when geocaching was first played in 2000. Geocaching is an outdoor pursuit where players use GPS technology to track down hidden “caches”. The caches are more likely to have little trinkets, or even just a logbook, but the activity speaks to one’s inner child, or perhaps even the archetypical pirate’s hunt for buried treasure. Despite these romantic aspects, geocaching was sparked by a fairly technical change to GPS technology, which made it much more accurate as of 2000.

After receiving a request for a DDC number for geocaching, I knew I’d want to start at 796.5 Outdoor life. Presumably one could create an indoor geocache, but players would quickly run into trouble accessing it, so outdoor life it is. Since most of the subdivisions of 796.5 are already in use, I thought I could add geocaching as a “roommate” to another topic. Orienteering is an older game than geocaching, but both are fundamentally about taking navigational technology and turning it towards fun, competition, or both.

Along with other changes approved at electronic EPC Meeting 142D, the scope of 796.58 has been widened to both orienteering and geocaching. Two new subdivisions have been authorized for the individual pursuits: 796.582 Orienteering and 796.587 Geocaching.

Now that geocaching has its own DDC number, who wants to create a cache with coordinates that incorporate 796.587? Or maybe print out this post and put it in a cache near a library? The possibilities are endless!

WebDewey Install May 12, 2021

Please see the updated link below for the May 12 release notes.

A WebDewey install is scheduled for Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Please see the attached file for details.

Download WebDewey May 12 Install Release Notes

Now is your chance to participate in the Dewey Priorities Survey

The Dewey Decimal Classification is a valuable resource and keeping it current is important to all of us. We work with users like you to constantly improve it, to make the system more valuable across cultures and types of libraries.

To better learn what's important to our users we invite you to participate in a brief Dewey priorities survey.

Please note that this survey will close on 28 May 2021.

We look forward to hearing from you!

EPC 142D exhibits available for review

This week marks the start of Electronic Meeting 142D of the Editorial Policy Committee (EPC). You can view the following revision proposals at oc.lc/deweyexhibits: 

• EPC 142D-S39.1 - Wedding planning and other events associated with customs
  • EPC 142D-S39.1a - Wedding planning
  • EPC 142D-S39.1b - Customs and associated events
• EPC 142D-S54.1 - Geographic treatment of minerals and mineralogy
• EPC 142D-S61.1 - 615.53 General therapeutic systems
• EPC 142D-S79.1 - Geocaching
• EPC 142D-S98.1 - Presidents of Colombia
• EPC 142D-T2.1 - Provinces of Bulgaria

EPC will be voting on these the last week in April. Please share any feedback, positive or negative! You can do so by commenting on this post, posting to the the Dewey Contributors Google Group, or by email to dewey@oclc.org or an EPC member.

Changes on the horizon: Graphic design

Here on the Dewey blog we like to highlight new changes and otherwise talk about what’s already there in the classification. What about the future? Well, for a general picture, there’s the public Google Drive page where proposals for EPC are posted. But there are bigger changes in development, which I hope to present to EPC at their next face-to-face meeting, when that meeting can be safely held.

One example of that is the overhaul of graphic design in the 740s. If this sounds familiar, it may be because you saw the discussion paper on the topic that was part of EPC Meeting 142, in September 2019. The discussion paper was just a starting point, but it gives you some idea of the changes that will come. This is big, on the level of changes that in the past would have been held until the publication of the new print edition.

I’m particularly excited that these changes will involve the reauthorization of a three-digit number, 744, that has been vacant since Edition 17 (1965). The proposal will seek to modernize treatment of design, such as graphic design, communication design, and industrial design. Most of the changes will be focused on the 740s. Besides having graphic design relocated from 741.6 and a new 744 hierarchy established, expect to see a revamped 745, and notes throughout the schedules for related topics such as user experience design, semiotics, and antiques.

We’re working with a professional graphic designer to plan this change. I’d love to hear what your library’s collection of works in this area is like. Anything in totally different places that feel like they should be together? Topics that seem to be pigeonholed where they just don’t fit? Expect to see more of this proposal in the months to come.

Fiction in the DDC

A user recently asked how the DDC handles fiction vs. nonfiction. It’s common in the library world to think of this basic division between creative and informative works, and to see them physically separated in libraries.

So how does the DDC handle fiction? There isn’t a strict fiction/nonfiction divide, though there are a few areas where fictional works are most likely to go. The biggest of these is the 800s, the main class for literature. Other areas include folklore (398), graphic novels (741.5), movies (791.43), TV (791.45), and video games (794.8).

In some cases, the fiction/nonfiction split is more defined than others. For example, 791.43 is about movies as a whole—Hollywood business, making movies, distribution, etc.—while the films themselves go at 791.437. In the 800s, there’s specific notation for literature itself and works that analyze or criticize literature, though there’s a mix. If you went down a shelf, for example, you might see criticism of English literature, followed by French literature, followed by criticism of French literature.

Many public libraries especially will organize their contemporary fiction collections by author name, title, genre, etc., rather than a formal classification system like the DDC. There’s still a correct DDC number for any John Grisham novel, for example, but many libraries may choose not to use it. Others may place some fictional works in the Dewey schedules, such as Shakespeare’s plays, but not more current publications. A library using a system like this may well first ask whether a work is fiction or nonfiction before deciding how to classify it.

Finally, be aware that if you see the word “fiction” in the DDC, it usually has a more specific meaning. In Table 3, for example, fiction is listed as one of several literary forms:

In this case, fiction means forms such as novels and short stories. Other literary forms, such as drama and poetry, may tell fictional stories, but are not considered fiction for classification purposes.

Dewey blog links in WebDewey

Do you find yourself juggling between this blog and WebDewey? I’ve got something for you that may help!

Using the Comments feature of WebDewey, I provided links to Dewey blog posts from the past six months. In most cases, I just added one or two comments per post. For New T2 notation: Provinces of Nepal, for example, I added a comment at T2—5496 Nepal, but not its new subdivisions.

Don’t want to see these? You can click the downward arrow to collapse the Comments box, or move it out of the way with the four-arrow icon. And remember, you can always choose “Reset your screen layout back to defaults” under your Preferences if you want to try again.

Besides quick access to further guidance on the blog, this also provides another way to do keyword searching in WebDewey. Here’s a quick hack: do a keyword search “Typepad” to retrieve the 16 records I added to today. (Yep, the keyword search even reads the URLs!) I plan to add blog links for future posts too, so that should grow.

The caveats: not every blog post will necessarily garner a link. Announcements of events or EPC meetings, for example, probably won’t. What about older posts, earlier than November 2020? I hope to get to some of them in the future. But hey, the comments are public—you could add some too!

New T2 notation: Provinces of Nepal

Back in 2015, Nepal adopted a new constitution. Among other things, it divided the country into seven provinces. The provinces were initially unnamed, and the provincial legislatures were tasked with selecting permanent names for themselves.

A few years later, librarians from Nepal contacted the Dewey editorial team at an IFLA conference to request provision for the provinces in Table 2. At the time, there was just a single notation for the country at T2—5496.

Initially, we thought to wait until all seven provinces had names, but after further correspondence with librarians in Nepal, we drew up a development providing official names where available and numbers for the rest. Five of the seven provinces now have names. The Editorial Policy Committee approved the update, so you’ll now see the following for Nepal in WebDewey:

As you’ll see, we’ve also provided numbers for the named provinces, for consistency’s sake. Once the remaining two provinces receive names, we’ll provide them and remove the numbers from the captions, though we plan to keep index terms like “Province No. 1 (Nepal)” in the WebDewey Relative Index.

Note that while T2—5496 is still the notation for comprehensive works on the Himalayas, Mount Everest has been continued to T2—54961.

I’d like to thank the volunteers who helped with this development, including the librarians and education ministry officials from Nepal who thoroughly reviewed the proposal and suggested improvements.

Joe Biden in the DDC

Yesterday, we added a new number to the classification:

973.934 Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2021-

I wrote last year about how we maintain the numbers for leaders of countries in the history schedules. Yesterday’s publication also closed out the time span in the caption of 973.933, for Biden’s predecessor. Browse in the Relative Index and you’ll see the following:

What’s the difference between these two terms? Future works about Joe Biden himself, such as biographies, belong at 973.934092 (T1—092 Biography added to the new number). Works about Biden’s whole administration just belong at 973.934. The Relative Index term reflects that this number is for Biden as a subject in American history.

Now, I said future works about Joe Biden. See the Manual note T1—092 (WebDewey link), especially the section “Public figures”. It explains that you should classify comprehensive works based on the highest office a person reaches, unless there’s a compelling reason to do otherwise. Generally, someone elected US president will have had biographies about them before. There is no need to reclassify biographies of Biden as a legislator (328.73092, such as Promises to keep) or a vice president (973.932092, such as Promise Me, Dad), but for future works that also cover his presidency, prefer 973.934092.

Finally, we can’t forget Kamala Harris, the new vice president, and the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American to hold that office. Although we don’t name vice presidents in the schedules, they class with the presidential administration in which they served. The Manual note referred to above says, “Use 930-990 for monarchs, presidents, other heads of state, prime ministers, vice presidents, and regents, using the number for the period during which they held office.” Still, I went ahead and mapped the Library of Congress name authority record for Harris to 973.934092. No need to reclassify works on her, either. For now, it’s the best place for biographies of her going forward, but as Biden himself shows, “highest office reached” often doesn’t stop there.

Table of Mappings: DDC 001-999 to Table 3C—3 Arts and literature dealing with specific themes and subjects

Guest post by Julianne Beall

We recently added a Manual note at T3C—3 Arts and literature dealing with specific themes and subjects with a link (http://oc.lc/t3cmappings) to an updated table of mappings from the Dewey schedules (001-999) to the corresponding notation in T3C—3. The table of mappings is intended to be a last-resort help for topics not indexed to T3C—3+ in the Relative Index.

If the topic is Animals, for example, there is no need to consult the table of mappings because of the Relative Index entry:

Animals—arts T3C—362

But what if the topic is emigration and immigration, or more broadly, migration? None of those terms is indexed to T3C—3+ in the Relative Index. For each of those terms, however, the interdisciplinary number is 304+:

Emigration 304.82

Immigration 304.82

Migration 304.8

In the table of mappings is a line with 304 in the DDC # column and 3552 in the Table 3C—3 column:

DDC #	Heading	Table 3C—3
304	Factors affecting social behavior	3552

Hence notation T3C—3552 Sociology and anthropology should be considered for a work about migration in arts and literature. In the record for T3C—3552, many sociology and anthropology topics are drawn off to other Table 3C numbers, but migration is not one of those topics. Examples of works for which T3C—3552 may be used are:

Mobility and migration in film and moving-image art: Cinema beyond Europe

791.436552 (built with 791.436 Special aspects of films and T3C—3552 Sociology and anthropology)

Migration and literature in contemporary Europe

 809.933552 (built with 809.933 Literature dealing with specific themes and subjects and T3C—3552 Sociology and anthropology)

Some musical notes

Have you been enjoying holiday music from the comfort of your home? How about assigning Dewey numbers for musical topics? You wouldn’t want to hear me sing, but I can help with the latter!

The 780s, for music, feature many opportunities for complex number building. Since classification in the DDC is generally form-agnostic, the music schedules can accommodate everything from biographies of composers to printed music to sound recordings themselves. Built numbers can help distinguish such varied material.

Much of the number building in the 780s takes place in the broad span of 784-788 Instruments and their music. For example, 786.2 Pianos, which has a footnote telling you to add as instructed under 784-788. In WebDewey, you can see the following number under 786.2 built according to those instructions:

Huh? But pianos are instruments! So what’s the difference between 786.2 and 786.219? The latter is built from 784.19 Instruments (again, following instructions at 784-788). For any of the instruments found under 784-788, there’s an implied “and their music” at the main number (e.g., 786.2 Pianos [and their music]). If you’re deciding between these types of numbers, ask whether your work is really about the instrument itself, as an object, or if it’s more broad.

A related issue you might run into is works on instrument makers. Until recently, you could find two types of built numbers in WebDewey for people who make instruments: one where T1—092 Biography was added to the instrument number (e.g., 787.219092 for violin makers), and one where --092 was added to a number built with 784.1923 Construction (e.g., 786.88481923092 for bell makers).

Both of these types of built numbers are ultimately valid, but the ones of the second type have been replaced in WebDewey with those of the first, so bell makers are now 786.884819092 (just a little bit more spine label friendly!). The newly updated Manual note 784-788:092 explains the distinction. Use –19092 for the type of instrument makers who are involved with many aspects of making the instrument, such as design, testing, and maintenance. Antonio Stradivari is our canonical example of this; Les Paul would qualify too, assuming a work that focuses on his making of guitars more than his playing of them. You’re probably less likely to see works that should use –1923092, which are more suitable for people who only build instruments, perhaps just following another’s plan. It’s analogous to the relationship between an architect and a builder.

Sign languages

Guest post by Julianne Beall

Here is the report on EPC 142C-S41.1 Sign languages promised in the blog post Results of electronic meeting EPC 142C.

First, some context. Most sign languages are used primarily for communication among deaf people or between hearing and deaf people. Typically, deaf community sign languages are developed and used primarily by deaf people, and learned by hearing people in order to communicate with deaf people. Some sign languages are used by everyone in a small community with a high incidence of deafness. Comprehensive works on all these sign languages are classed in 419 Sign languages. Specific instances of these sign languages (and geographic groupings of such languages) are classed in 419.4-419.9 Sign languages used primarily for communication among deaf people or between hearing and deaf people.

In EPC 142C-S41.1, we made miscellaneous changes for clarity, but focused especially on the small minority of sign languages that are used primarily for communication among hearing people. We changed the caption at 419.1 to Sign languages used primarily for communication among hearing people. We deleted the including note "Including monastic sign languages, sign languages used as lingua francas among hearing persons" and instead provided built numbers illustrating that notation T1—08 Groups of people can be used to indicate which groups of people are the primary users of the sign language, regardless of the purpose for which the sign language is used. For example, works about the sign languages historically used as trade languages and lingua francas among many different groups of North American native peoples are classed in 419.108997 North American native peoples—sign languages—for hearing people (built with 419.1 plus T1—089 Ethnic and national groups plus T5—97 North American native peoples).

Works on baby sign language (also called baby signing) can be classed in 419.10832 Infants—sign languages—for hearing people (built with 419.1 plus T1—0832 Infants). The Wikipedia entry for baby sign language begins: "Baby sign language is the use of manual signing allowing infants and toddlers to communicate emotions, desires, and objects prior to spoken language development." Works on baby sign language are typically aimed at hearing parents with hearing children. The signs are taught to infants and toddlers in conjunction with speech, and when the child learns to speak, baby signing is typically discontinued. Signs from deaf community sign languages may be adapted for baby signing, but they do not function in this context like the full language from which they have been borrowed. An example of a work that can be classed in 419.10832 is Teach your baby to sign: An illustrated guide to simple sign language for babies and toddlers by Monica Beyer.

Should some works about baby signing be classed with a deaf community sign language in 419.4-419.9 Sign languages used primarily for communication among deaf people or between hearing and deaf people?  Only works aimed at teaching a specific sign language to a baby with a long-term need to use that language correctly for communication with deaf people should be classed there, e.g., 419.700832 Infants—American Sign Language (built with 419 Sign languages plus T2—7 North America plus T1—0832 Infants).

Results of electronic meeting EPC 142C

During the month of October, the Dewey Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) reviewed seven exhibits. Six were approved, with one sent back for further work. This post will summarize changes from these exhibits; consult WebDewey, where all changes are live, for full details.

EPC 142C-S02.1 Library programs has introduced a new class, 025.57 Library programs on specific subjects. You can add up to three digits to this base number from 001-999 for specific subjects, such as 025.578 for creative writing programs, or 025.57929 for genealogy programs. Just keep in mind the class-elsewhere note at 025.5. Works on programs on specific subjects for specific groups will go with the group (e.g., 027.625 for children).

EPC 142C-S20.1 Religious conversion authorizes 204.24 Conversion in comparative religion, which was formerly in an including note at 204.2. For a while now, the DDC has had numbers for conversion in specific religions (e.g., 248.24 for Christianity), but not for the idea of religious conversion more broadly.

Look for a full blog post about EPC 142C-S41.1 Sign languages soon!

EPC 142C-S62.1 Arms and armor resolves some issues with 623.441 Small arms of pre-firearm origin ("Weaponry of prefirearm origin" before the changes). This expansion authorizes six new subclasses for specific types of weapons, e.g., 623.4416 Bows and arrows, and also develops for new numbers under 623.42 Specific pieces of artillery. Armor is still stuck in this "weapons" hierarchy, now at 623.4418 Armor, but hopefully the situation is more clear than before!

EPC 142C-T2.1 Counties of Kenya and EPC 142-T2.2 Regions of Denmark give more specific Table 2 notation for those two countries.

This leaves EPC 142C-S36.1 Vaping and vaping devices. This is an area that Dewey users have rated as a high priority for future development, but EPC had questions about this proposal, and we want to make sure we get it right. Expect to hear more about this in the future.

Special thanks go out to our community volunteers who worked on these proposals: Julianne Beall, Michael Cantlon, Bradley Carrington, Josh Hall, and Winton Matthews.

EDUG 2020 Business Meeting and OCLC/EDUG Webinar

OCLC will co-host a webinar on Dewey translations with the European DDC Users Group (EDUG) on Thursday, November 5, at 14:00 (UTC+1). The program can be viewed here.

Following the webinar will be the EDUG 2020 Business Meeting, at 15:45 (UTC+1). The agenda can be viewed here.

Both events will be open to the public. You don't need to be an EDUG member, or even in Europe, to attend, though space is limited. Please contact EDUG chair Elise Conradi (elise.conradi [at] bibsent.no) if you'd like to attend.