025.431: The Dewey blog

EPC 143A exhibits available for review

In January, we'll have Electronic Meeting 143A of the Editorial Policy Committee (EPC). You can view the following revision proposals at oc.lc/deweyexhibits: 

• EPC 143A-S29.1 - 297.48 Sufi orders
• EPC 143A-S30.1 - Movement of people and 325 International migration and colonization
• EPC 143A-S73.1 - 730 Sculpture and related arts
• EPC 143A-S94.1 - Ionian Islands
• EPC 143A-T1.1 - Further updates to terminology for groups of people

EPC will be voting on these the week of January 30-February 3. 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 [email protected] or an EPC member.

Results of EPC 143

The Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) met virtually in June to consider the slate of exhibits finalized back in May. Most were approved, and you’ll be seeing them rolling out into WebDewey in the coming weeks. (One is already there! More on that soon.)

Two exhibits were sent back for further work:

• EPC 143-S29.1c - 297.48 Sufi orders
• EPC 143-S30.1 - 304.8 Movement of people

For EPC 143-S29.1c, there was consensus among the committee that more specific Sufi orders should be provided for, beyond those proposed in the exhibit. We welcome feedback from users around the world, or anyone with interest or expertise in the topic, even if they aren’t users, to help represent Sufi orders that are frequently the subject of published literature.

On EPC 143-S30.1, the topic is just complicated! Where do you class a work on immigration to a specific country, emigration from a country, or works that cover both? When does a work on immigration belong with community sociology or political science instead of the interdisciplinary number? We’ll revisit the issue at the next electronic EPC meeting, towards the end of this year.

Keep checking the blog for posts highlighting specific changes from EPC 143 as they’re added to WebDewey, but keep your eye on the WebDewey updates feed too, as not every exhibit will necessarily lead to a blog post.

Last but certainly not least, there are a few new (and returning!) faces joining EPC, and that will lead to a blog post!

EPC 143 exhibits ready for review

The Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) will meet virtually in early June for their Meeting 143. Dates and times will vary based on members' availability. You can view the following revision proposals at oc.lc/deweyexhibits:

• EPC 143-S29.1a - Introduction, Islam and secular disciplines
• EPC 143-S29.1b - 297.38 Rites, ceremonies, prayer, meditation
• EPC 143-S29.1c - 297.48 Sufi orders
• EPC 143-S29.1d - 297.54 Zakat
• EPC 143-S29.1e - 297.576 Individual observances
• EPC 143-S30.1 - 304.8 Movement of people
• EPC 143-S30.2 - Disasters as causes of social change
• EPC 143-S74.1 - Graphic design and communication design
• EPC 143-T1.2 - Terminology in T1--08 Groups of people
• EPC 143-T2.1 - Kosovo
• EPC 143-T2.2 - T2--599 Philippines
• EPC 143-T6.1 - T6--9549 Eastern Himalayan languages; T5--9549 Eastern Himalayan peoples

(To paraphrase guidance we give on the Summaries, Consult exhibits for complete and exact titles.)

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 [email protected] or an EPC member.

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.

Happy retirement, Michael!

Guest post by Julianne Beall

Last week we held a virtual retirement celebration for Michael Cantlon, who retired September 30, 2020, after 41 years of service as a Dewey classifier at the Library of Congress. His colleagues in the Dewey Program contributed slides and pictures to a PowerPoint presentation expressing their appreciation and best wishes for a happy retirement. One classifier, Cat Eiche, contributed to the presentation by raiding the Dewey archives for pictures of Dewey staff that included Michael before his hair turned gray—and other items that amused her, like a list of office equipment that included a Zenith 100 microcomputer (on which we first tried editing DDC on a computer) and a Diablo 630 printer.

Michael's primary areas of expertise were DDC 100s and 200s, but he also classified and trained classifiers in the 400s, 700s, 800s, and 900s. His colleagues expressed appreciation for the deep knowledge of the DDC that he shared.

Michael made many contributions to Dewey editorial work over the years, but mostly behind the scenes, making proposals and giving guidance directly to the editors. However, for DDC 20 and 21, he did much editorial work on the 200s and on the separate 200 Religion Class publications reprinted from those editions with expanded indexing. For the latter, see:

• 200 Religion Class (from DDC 20)
• 200 Religion Class (from DDC 21)

And today Michael has an exhibit among the EPC 142C exhibits now available for review at oc.lc/deweyexhibits: EPC 142C-S20.1 Religious conversion.

We all look forward to the day when the Library of Congress is fully open and we can give Michael our best wishes for a happy retirement in person.

Reclassifying the 200s at Lawrence Public Library

    Guest post by Emily McDonald, Lawrence Public Library

Lawrence Public Library (Kansas) is always looking for ways to be more inclusive and celebrate diversity in our collections and catalog. Our Celebration Picture Book collection was expanded to include more non-Christian holiday stickers and "Undocumented immigrants" was added to all the necessary catalog records before we outright replace "Illegal aliens" later in the year, what was next? When Kate Ray, former LPL cataloger, shared Rebecca Green’s guest post on the 220-299 optional arrangement with me back in May 2019, we knew this arrangement was the perfect fit for our library.  We wanted to use this arrangement because of its equitable treatment of religions rather than giving the bulk of the schedule to Christianity. It has the added benefit of allowing all the religions packed into the 290s to have room to be built out more than what we can do in our system with the current DDC. The Dewey call numbers at LPL are limited to 8 characters (including the decimal), which means we are not able to drill down to specific topics in certain areas, such as Buddhist doctrines. While the optional arrangement can still exceed our 8 character limit, it helped us get specific topics next to each other on the shelf.

After receiving project approval from the supportive leadership team in June, the project was planned for mid-August. Mid-August is a slow time at the library in between the end of Summer Reading and the beginning of school, making it ideal for big projects like this. It also left us with some time to prep the collections before the update and inform staff about the changes. The first thing we did was coordinate with Collection Development to weed the 200s. We did not want to update more books than we had to because of the size of this project. A week before the project, we shelf read, looked for any missing items, and purged old records out of the system. We also posted "coming soon" signs before the project to let patrons know big changes were coming and that the collection would be off the shelf for a while.  

The first collection we updated was our biggest collection, adult non-fiction. On August 12, 2019, almost 1,500 books were pulled off the shelf to be reclassified. While the books were in the cataloging department, we updated the bibliographic call number, item call number, a local classification field, and the spine label. Even with 4 full-time catalogers, we expected it would take us a week to update the adult collection. We were pleasantly surprised when it only took us three days. On the afternoon of August 14th, the collection was back on the shelf. We spent another few days updating the various children’s collection, large print, audiobooks, graphic novels, and DVDs (about 500 more items). Staff holds were placed on any checked out items and system alerts were set up for any non-viable (lost, missing, etc.) items that might go through our automated returns sorter to prevent books being reshelved with the old DDC. By the end of the project and after the checked out items trickled in, 2,500 items were updated from our adult and children collections. 

It took weeks of planning, weeding, and prep to make this project go off without a hitch. The biggest help was creating a crosswalk between the DDC numbers and the optional numbers. I also recommend making a "pull list." Kate used our crosswalk to pull books off the shelf in their new order. For example, she pulled 299.511 first because the new number is 221.1. She also labeled the books she pulled first as "shelf 1," which corresponded with the first shelf in the collection.This made it easier to return items to the shelf without rearranging them and required minimal book shifting.

Display showing the new 200s numbers at Lawrence Public Library

After the project, we posted signs with the new numbers to inform patrons of the changes. We anxiously waited for patron feedback, but never received any. However, we did get a few positive comments on a social media post about the project. We also created a 220-299 Project Packet for libraries interested in making the change. The packet contains a DDC to optional arrangement crosswalk, action plan, and a copy of the optional arrangement schedule.

Going forward, we hope to make the 220-299 optional numbers more accessible to any library interested in making the change. As we catalog new books, we are updating the master record in WorldCat, adding a new 082 field containing the optional number with the $m optional designation. We are trying to keep the arrangement inclusive by adding numbers of our own as needed. During the project, we created our own number within the arrangement for Satanism. It is a recognized religion and we moved it from 133.42 to 299.71, our local number. Since the Witchcraft update, we have updated our documentation to make sure 299.9 is expanded to include any potential built numbers.

Revisions to witchcraft and Wicca

Editorial Policy Committee meeting 142B wrapped up at the end of July, with six proposals considered and approved. One of those proposals was on the topic of witchcraft, a frequently critiqued topic in the DDC, so I wanted to take this opportunity to elaborate on the changes approved, now available in WebDewey.

There are three primary areas where books about modern Western witchcraft are classed:

• 133.43 Magic and witchcraft and 133.44 Spells, curses, charms
• 203.3 Witchcraft
• 299.94 Religions based on modern revivals of witchcraft [caption prior to revision]

The most prominent complaint about the treatment of witchcraft was that most works were ending up in the 133.4 hierarchy, a class focused on occultism. This was especially a problem with works about spells and charms—since the 130s were the only area that had an explicit place for spells, nearly all works about spells were being classed there, even if they had titles naming a religious practice, such as The only book of Wiccan spells you'll ever need. The Manual note 130 vs. 200 directed catalogers to use the 200s for religious works, but then went on to tell catalogers to prefer the 130s if they weren't sure if a work was religious or not; since there is still a significant cultural stigma surrounding witchcraft in many areas, this meant catalogers were not recognizing when these works should be classed in the 200s. How could we revise the DDC to direct attention to the fact that a significant number of these works are religious/spiritually based, and thus should be classed in the 200s?

The proposal text has more information about the multiple approaches I considered, in consultation with people who practice various forms of witchcraft and Paganism (you can view the full 8-page proposal). The final proposal which was approved has a mix of new numbers, new notes, and new manual instructions to help classifiers find the best place for these works.

New numbers include 203.32 Spells, curses, charms for works that are not based in a specific cultural tradition of witchcraft, and 299.942 Wicca. With the add instructions given at 299.942, numbers can now be built for works about Wicca spells (299.942332) and, for example, therapeutic Wicca spells (299.9423326). (This new spells number can also be used with other religions with "Add as instructed under 290" notation, such as Santería.)

A new note at 203.3 Witchcraft helps clarify what should not be classed in that number. This note, what we call a scatter class-elsewhere, now reads "Class specific cultural traditions of witchcraft with the tradition, e.g., witchcraft as practiced in African religions in 299.6133, religions based on modern revivals of witchcraft in the Western world in 299.94". So what should be classed at 203.3? A new class-here note reads "Class here interdisciplinary works on witchcraft". Works about comparative studies of witchcraft should be classed in 203.3 when they don't focus on a specific cultural tradition.

Finally, what I consider the most significant change: instead of a manual note that directs catalogers to place works in the 130s if in doubt, the manual note, now renamed 200 vs. 130, directs catalogers who are not sure if a work is religious/spiritual to prefer a number in the 200s. This helps ensure that even when catalogers are not as familiar with witchcraft as they are more widely practiced religions, they should take time to discern where a specific work should be classed and not default to the 130s. My hope is these changes, taken together, result in more appropriate placement of works about witchcraft, and more of those works being classed in the 200s.

Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on this proposal, including Jane Cothron (Lincoln County Library District), Helen Imre (Franklin Township Public Library), and Rebecca DeLio (Denver Public Library), as well as others, including both witchcraft practitioners and library workers. Their feedback was incredibly helpful in making these revisions happen.

Results of EPC meeting 142B

The Editorial Policy Committee meets in person once a year to review proposals to revise the DDC, but there are also periodic online meetings. The most recent online meeting, EPC 142B, took place from July 6-31, 2020. EPC reviewed six exhibits; you can find the full text of those proposals at oc.lc/deweyexhibits. The results of EPC 142B:

• EPC 142B-S00.1 Conspiracy theories: approved
• EPC 142B-S20.1 Witchcraft: approved with two changes:
  • Added a new class-elsewhere note at 299.675 for hoodoo not presented as religious practice, replacing existing see-also note
  • Added Relative Index term "Hoodoo—religious practice" to 299.675
• EPC 142B-S28.1 Pentecostalism: approved with one change:
  • Changed caption of 269.4 to "Pentecostalism and charismatic movement"
• EPC 142B-S35.1 Space forces: approved
• EPC 142B-S64.1 Fermented foods and drinks: approved with three changes:
  • Changed caption at 641.46 to "Pickling, smoking, other forms of chemical preservation"
  • Added a new class-here note at 641.46 for comprehensive works on chemical preservation
  • Instead of just one base number for side dishes made with a specific food derived from plant crops and domesticated animals (641.811), created separate base numbers for side dishes from plant crops and domesticated animals (641.8113-641.8117) and from game, seafood, miscellaneous foods (641.8119)
• EPC 142B-S79.1 BASE jumping: approved

We're working on implementing these revisions to WebDewey; look for them to be published in the next few weeks. Please let us know if you have any questions about these changes or about the revision process itself.

EPC 142B exhibits available for review

Three new proposals to revise Dewey are now available for public review at oc.lc/deweyexhibits. These exhibits will be part of EPC meeting 142B, and the Editorial Policy Committee will review and vote on them in July. The proposals now available are: 

• EPC 142B-S20.1 Witchcraft
• EPC 142B-S28.1 Pentecostalism
• EPC 142B-S79.1 BASE jumping

The editorial team has a few more exhibits in the works for this meeting, which we'll post to oc.lc/deweyexhibits when they're ready for review.

We're happy for any feedback, whether positive or negative; feel free to provide comments on this post, in the Dewey Contributors Google Group, or by email to [email protected] or an EPC member.

Flash exhibit: Hermits

David Stanley / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Feeling like a hermit these days? Me too, and that’s what inspired our latest flash exhibit!

We had the LCSH “Hermits” mapped to 305.568 Alienated and excluded classes, which didn’t seem right. Yes, hermits are excluded from much of society, but they don’t quite fit with the other marginalized classes there. In the traditional sense, which is also the LCSH’s sense, a hermit is secluded for religious reasons. I moved the LCSH to 204.247 Asceticism in the religion schedules to reflect this. This would be the comprehensive number for religious hermits, or hermits in comparative religion, though works on hermits in specific religions would go elsewhere (e.g., 248.47 for Christian hermits, 297.446 for Sufi hermits).

Though sometimes treated as synonyms, there are separate LCSHs for hermits and recluses. Violet and I thought that was a better fit for 305.568, since living reclusively may be influenced by hostility from society. Of course, the distinction may come down to works in hand.

I also added the LCSH “Hermit crabs as pets” to the built number 639.67, under 639.6 Crustacean culture. Did you know that hermit crabs aren’t true crabs?

Finally, there’s something curious going on with the famous Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It’s the second-largest art museum in the world after the Louvre, and among the world’s top 10 most visited. It was already represented in a built number in WebDewey at 708.721, for art museums in Saint Petersburg, but you might not know it. We had the LC name authority record mapped, but following LC romanization rules, it’s “Gosudarstvennyĭ Ėrmitazh (Russia)”. You probably wouldn’t find that on a keyword search! I ended up creating an electronic-only Relative Index term “Hermitage Museum (Russia)”, which happens to be the Children’s Subject Heading form. We had started doing something like this with the names of world leaders where LC’s romanization diverges from more popular usage. There’s nothing wrong with keyword searching as an initial approach, so I hope this is helpful.

If you want to alleviate forced hermetism, here’s an ironic resource: last month, Apple released a one-take video that’s a virtual trip around the Hermitage Museum, shot entirely on a new iPhone. At a whopping five hours and 20 minutes, it’s great for slow TV fans or might be nice background material while working from home. It’s free on YouTube. Enjoy!