Editorial Policy Committee meetings, May 2007

Report from the DDC EPC Chair, Deane Zeeman

The 127th meeting of the Dewey Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (pictured left) was held at the OCLC Campus in  Dublin, Ohio, on May 9-11.  Among the first items of business was the introduction of two new members of the Dewey family, Rebecca Green (assistant editor) and Michael Panzer (global product manager of taxonomy services), who bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the editorial team. Initial discussions focused on proposed enhancements to the MARC 21 formats to facilitate their use with the DDC. The Committee’s insights helped the editorial team to clarify the proposal, which is being developed jointly with the Library of Congress and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (DNB). Assistant editor Juli Beall will be discussing the proposal with the DNB in connection with her participation at an international workshop on MARC 21 in Frankfurt later this month.

This intense discussion set the stage for a challenging two and a half days. In addition to such technical topics as the MARBI proposal and functional specifications for a new DDC editorial system, we spent considerable time wrestling with how to improve the Classification from 004-006 Computer science, 010-090 Information and general works, and 150 Psychology to 930-990 History by way of 641.22 and 663.2 Wine, miscellaneous topics in 620, Table 1—08 (Groups of people), and Table 3C (Themes in art and literature). Updates to records associated with many of these topics (and some new numbers) will be released to users over the next several months.

One of the highlights of Day 2 was the proposed expansion of the “Wars” entry in the Manual, written by assistant editor Winton Matthews. The quality of the research and of the writing of this exhibit prompted the Committee to recommend that a possible avenue for separate publication be explored.

Most of this feverish intellectual activity was undertaken without the guidance of our Fearless Leader, Joan Mitchell, editor-in-chief of the Classification. Joan was unfortunately taken ill and unable to take her usual place at the EPC helm. (She is recovering at home.) It was inspiring to experience the commitment of the editors, the rest of the Dewey team (product manager Libbie Crawford, pictured left) and Committee members, who demonstrated a dedicated professionalism and worked through the agenda in less than ideal circumstances. I honor and thank them all.