025.431: The Dewey blog

Henriette D. Avram

Last Saturday, one of the great 20th-century leaders in librarianship died—Henriette D. Avram. Mrs. Avram was best known for her contributions to library automation and the development of the MARC format. Lesser known are her contributions to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system. From 1984 until her retirement from the Library of Congress in 1991, Mrs. Avram served as the official LC representative on EPC. She or her LC alternate, Lucia Rather (director of cataloging at LC under Mrs. Avram), attended every EPC meeting and provided guidance on the development of the DDC. Among Mrs. Avram’s many awards are two ALA awards closely associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification--the Melvil Dewey Medal in 1981 for creative professional achievement of a high order, and the John Ames Humphry/OCLC/Forest Press Award of 1990 in recognition of contributions to international librarianship.

Two for one!

New topics come up daily at Dewey Manor—the latest to make its way to our attention is chessboxing (or chess boxing), a sport in which two opponents play alternating rounds of chess and boxing. Where to put it? 794.1 Chess? 796.83 Boxing? First-of-two? Both (perhaps a convenient choice for those using Dewey in electronic resource land)?

The contest is decided by: checkmate (chess round), exceeding the time limit (chess round), retirement of an opponent (chess or boxing round), KO (boxing round), or referee decision (boxing round). If the chess game ends in a stalement, the opponent with the higher score in boxing wins. If there is an equal score, the opponent with the black pieces wins.

While these rules do mention both chess and boxing, we think the rules somewhat tilt towards boxing. When this sport really takes off, we’ll probably develop it under boxing—until then, put it in standing room in 796.83 Boxing. Checkmate!

Perhaps Dr. Wladimir Klitschko, former World Boxing Organization and current International Boxing Federation and International Boxing Organization World Heavyweight Champion, and Vitali, his older brother and former heavyweight champion, will take up chess boxing, since they are both avid chess players.

Chernobyl 20th anniversary

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster -- the "worst accident in the history of nuclear power," which happened on April 26th, 1986.  To find a Dewey number for Chernobyl, we follow the same rule as for the San Francisco earthquake (Rockin' San Francisco and "Use 930-990 for events that are important enough to affect the general social life and history of the place, regardless of any discipline involved."  The Chernobyl power station (Чернобыльская АЭС им. В.И.Ленина) was in Prypiat, in Kiev Oblast (Київська область) in the Ukraine, so that means the Dewey number 947.77 History of Kiev Oblast is going to be used for its impact on the general history of the area. However, the Manual note at 900 goes on to say: "Use 300 for events that emphasize social aspects. Use 363 (not any other discipline involved) if safety factors are stressed."  Most books in WorldCat are about the Chernobyl disaster as a nuclear accident, so that sends you to 363.1799094777 Nuclear accidents in Kiev Oblast.

Teacher!

Just a few miles to the north of the Dewey Manor, Ms. Kimberly Oliver is a kindergarten teacher at Broad Acres Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her fifteen students represent nearly every continent, and fourteen of them speak another language. Because of her excellent work with her students and their parents, the Council of Chief State School Officers has named Ms. Oliver the National Teacher of the Year. Congratulations, Ms. Oliver! Works about the National Teacher of the Year award are classed in 371.1007973 Teacher competitions and awards in the United States.

Works about Ms. Oliver and other kindergarten teachers are classed in 372.110092 Elementary school teachers. Even though Ms. Oliver is a kindergarten teacher, her Dewey number is not 372.218092 Persons associated with kindergarten level of education. The class-elsewhere note at 372.2 states that a specific topic with respect to elementary education at a specific level is classed with the topic in 372.11-372.19.

Earth Day

Earth Day falls among the "Holidays of March, April, May" at 394.262.  The holiday number is useful for number building, e.g., for works on Earth Day handicrafts--decorative objects for holidays 745.59416 plus 2 from 394.262 yields 745.594162. 

Most works on Earth Day, however, focus on environmental issues. The Manual note at 333.72 vs. 304.28, 320.58, 363.7 provides help: "Use 333.72 for works on environmentalism discussing the broader concept of preserving and protecting the supply as well as the quality of natural resources and for works about the environmental movement that focus on the concerns it shares with the long established conservation movement. Use 304.28 for works that emphasize the effect upon society of overuse, misuse, or pollution of the environment. Use 320.58 for works that emphasize the political ideologies of environmentalism. Use 363.7 for works on preserving and restoring the quality of the social living space, i.e., taking care of wastes, pollution, noise, the dead, and pests. If in doubt, prefer in the following order: 333.72, 304.28, 363.7, 320.58." All these numbers are possible for Earth Day, but the two most popular are 333.72 Conservation and protection of the environment and natural resources and 363.7 Environmental problems.  The first is used for the broadest works, the second for works that emphasize wastes and pollution and efforts to reduce them.

2759° Natale di Roma; or, no place like Rome

Today I'm back at OCLC after spending two days at Dewey Manor, talking wth my colleagues about variety of things, including the redevelopment of our Editorial Support System and the notation proposed by the National Library of Florence for new Italian provinces.

New Italian provinces bring to mind the start of Rome -- i.e., the founding of the the city by Romulus in April 21, 753 B.C. (or 1 A.U.C. if you prefer), the same day that Romulus killed his twin brother Remus -- so today is the 2,759th birthday of Rome (T2--45632 for Rome since 476 A.D., and T2--376 for Rome before 476 A.D.).

And the significance of 476 A.D. is that on September 4, 476, Romulus's namesake, Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed.  Conventionally, this is the end of ancient history and the start of the Middle Ages -- though, for European history and for history in general, Dewey uses the round number 500 A.D. for the end of ancient history (Dewey 930) and the start of the Middle Ages (Dewey 909.07 for the Middle Ages generally, and 940.1 for the Middle Ages in Europe).

So, Buon compleanno, Roma!

Jazz Appreciation Month

We're halfway through Jazz Appreciation Month (with celebrations under Dewey number 781.65). Last night (and just downstairs from Dewey Manor), Larry Appelbaum, Library of Congress Recording Lab Supervisor and jazz specialist, lectured on his January 2005 discovery of tapes of the Monk-Coltrane 1957 Carnegie Hall concert: "Hunting for Jazz Treasures: Discovering the Monk-Coltrane Tapes." LC has 50,000 Voice of America tapes of cultural programming over several decades. Specialists at LC have been cataloging and preserving the VOA collection, but it is a slow process. In the course of listening as an engineer was digitally preserving a VOA tape labeled "Carnegie Hall 1957," Larry said, "Wait a minute, that's Coltrane! That's Monk!" Larry had discovered a recording of the legendary Monk-Coltrane November 29, 1957, concert at Carnegie Hall--a recording he described as the Holy Grail for postwar jazz fans. The comprehensive number for jazz music is 781.65 (and for jazz musicians is 781.65092). Musicians identified with a particular instrument are classed first with the instrument, then with the tradition of music plus notation 092 for persons treatment. Thelonious Monk was a jazz pianist and composer (786.2165092); John Coltrane was a jazz saxophonist and composer (788.7165092). Even if you're not familiar with the Dewey music schedule, you're probably starting to see the pattern: the initial notation represents the instrument (786.2=piano; 788.7=saxophone); the notation for the musical tradition is next (165=jazz); and persons treatment is represented by notation 092 from Table 1. Jazz ensembles in general are classed in 785.065, but 785 also includes specific notation for particular kinds and sizes of ensembles. The 1957 Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane included a pianist, tenor saxophonist, drummer, and bassist. The Dewey number that corresponds to this particular group of instruments is 785.34 Ensembles of woodwind, strings, percussion, keyboard. We'll also want to add the notation for the size of the ensemble (194=quartet) and musical tradition (165=jazz). The final number for the Blue Note recording of the Monk-Coltrane concert produced from the VOA tape is 785.34194165.

Celebrating Shakespeare

Today the Poetry at Noon program at the Library of Congress celebrated Shakespeare’s birthday a few days early with readings from the sonnets and plays by Anna Kepe and Jjana Valentine, graduates of the Shakespeare Theater’s Academy Classical Acting at The George Washington University, followed by one intrepid volunteer reader and many questions from the audience. Shakespeare’s actual birth date is not known, but he was baptized April 26, 1564. The traditional birthday, as celebrated lavishly in Stratford-upon-Avon, is April 23, the feast day of Saint George, patron saint of England. Shakespeare is the only author today with his own Dewey number, 822.33 William Shakespeare, a special subdivision of 822.3 Drama of Elizabethan period, 1558-1625. The complete works of Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s collected plays, an individual play, a biography of Shakespeare—all are classed in 822.33. The sonnets and other nondramatic poetry of Shakespeare, however, are classed with Elizabethan poetry in 821.3. A dramatic film version of Hamlet or another of Shakespeare’s plays is classed in 791.4372 Single films. Why put a film version of Hamlet in 791.4372 instead of 822.33? In the arts (700-800), form and format are important. The arts of acting, directing, costuming, cinematography, etc., all contribute to a motion picture.

Rockin' San Francisco

At 5:12 a.m. on the morning of April 18, 1906, San Francisco was hit by one of the worst earthquakes in history. Today is the 100th anniversary of that event. Although many works have been written about that event, not all are classed in 979.461051 History of San Francisco from 1900 to 1918. Works about historic events are classed following the instructions in the "Historic events vs. nonhistoric events" subsection of the 900 History Manual entry. To quote the first and third paragraphs:

Depending upon their impact, class specific events either in 900 or in specific disciplines in 001-899. Use 930-990 for events that are important enough to affect the general social life and history of the place, regardless of any discipline involved, e.g., the sinking of the Lusitania 940.4514; the assassination of Abraham Lincoln 973.7092; the 1906 San Francisco earthquake 979.461051. However, take into account the author's purpose or point of view. For example, use 364.1524092 (not 973.922092) for a work about the assassination of John F. Kennedy that focuses on the modus operandi of the crime, the detective work involved in solving it, or both.

Thus, class works that are limited to one aspect of the earthquake with that aspect. For example, class a work that is limited to the social services provided after the earthquake in 363.34958097946109041 Social services provided after earthquakes in San Francisco from 1900 to 1919; class a work that discusses the fire fighting after the earthquake in 363.378097946109041 Fire fighting after earthquakes in San Francisco from 1900 to 1919; class a geological work that discusses why the earthquake occurred in 551.22097946109041 Earthquakes in San Francisco from 1900 to 1919.

Fibs

Beginning with an April 1 post by Gregory K. Pincus on GottaBook, much has been written about “Fibs,” that is, poems based on the Fibonacci number sequence, which begins: 0-1-1-2-3-5-8. Technically, these poems all begin with moment of silence, then a one-syllable line, another one-syllable line, etc. I’m no poet, and know it; hence you won’t find any Fibs here; but you can find Fibs and links to them on GottaBook (Pincus has a category: The Fibs). The New York Times wrote about Fibs last Friday. The DDC number for instructions on how to write Fibonacci-based poems is 808.14 (rhetoric of lyric poetry); the number for a Fibonacci-based poem by a new American poet is 811.6. The DDC number for Fibonacci numbers is 512.72 Elementary number theory.