025.431: The Dewey blog

Museums

The Washington Post recently published a short evaluative guide to some of the newest museums in Washington, DC, entitled “Worth the Price of Admission?”  The question arises especially because the museums discussed in the article charge admission, while many museums in Washington are free.  The museum themes include crime and punishment, international espionage and spycraft, news and journalism, and Madame Tussaud’s wax models of famous people.

Works that focus narrowly on museum finance are classed in 069.0681 Financial management of museums (built with 069 Museum science plus T1—0681 Organization and financial management), e.g., Data by Discipline: 2003 Museum Financial Information.

Works about museums in a specific area that cover multiple disciplines are classed in 069.09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment plus Table 2 notation for the area, e.g., Britain's Best Museums and Galleries 069.0941 Museums of British Isles, Museums of Chicago: A Guide to Residents & Visitors 069.0977311 Museums of Chicago.  The instructions that permit addition of notation from Table 2 are found in Table 1 at T1—093-T1—099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds.  These instructions apply because the 09 in 069.09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment is the standard subdivision T1—09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment, as the caption indicates.  The standard subdivision is printed in the schedule to carry special instructions, but the standard instructions still apply.

Among the special instructions at 069.09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment are the following:

Class here specific museums not limited to a specific discipline or subject

Class museums devoted to specific disciplines and subjects with the discipline or subject, plus notation T1—074 from Table 1, e.g., natural history museums 508.074

The class-here note indicates that comprehensive works on a specific museum with general scope, like the British Museum, are classed in 069.09 or its subdivisions, e.g., The British Museum: 250 Years, classed in 069.0942142 Museums of Camden London Borough.  Similarly, comprehensive works on the Smithsonian Institution, a museum complex with 19 museums, are classed in 069.09753 Museums of Washington, DC, e.g., The Smithsonian Institution.

The scatter note under 069.09 indicates that museums that focus on a specific discipline or subject are classed with the discipline or subject, plus notation T1—074 Museums, collections, exhibits from Table 1.  For example, Official Guide to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is classed in 508.074753 Natural history museums in Washington, DC (built with 508 Natural history plus T1—074 Museums, collections, exhibits plus T2—753 Washington, District of Columbia, following instructions at T1—074 Museums, collections, exhibits).  Incidentally, that number is correct because the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is not limited in its coverage to the natural history of any specific area; if it were limited, for example, to the natural history of the United States, the number would be 508.73074753 Museums of U.S. natural history in Washington, DC (built with 508 Natural history plus T2—73 United States, following instructions at 508.4-508.9 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities in the modern world, plus T1—074 Museums, collections, exhibits plus T2—753 Washington, District of Columbia). 

Strawberries

“Simply Strawberries: A Guide to Producing Sun-Sweetened Fruit in Your Garden” was the title of a January column by Cindy McNatt, a garden columnist from Orange County, California.  “Home-Grown Strawberries Are Full of Flavor: Tastiest Strawberries Are Your Very Own” was the title of a May column that ends with a recipe for spinach and strawberry salad.  Other recipes for strawberries can easily be found, e.g., chilled strawberry-mint soup, strawberry-lime crepes, and chocolate strawberries at “Strawberry Recipes.”

Among the Relative Index entries for strawberries are:

Strawberries--cooking   641.6475 
. . . .
Strawberries--horticulture   634.75

Works on growing strawberries, whether at home or commercially, are classed in agriculture at 634.75 Strawberries.  An example is Strawberries, which was published in the series “Crop Production Science in Horticulture” and described by the publisher as “written for growers and home gardeners.”

Comprehensive collections of recipes for strawberries are classed in 641.6475 Cooking strawberries (built with 641.6 Cooking specific materials plus 475 from 634.75 Strawberries, as instructed at 641.63-641.67 Cooking food derived from plant crops and domesticated animals).  An example is The Best 50 Strawberry Recipes.

Incidentally, “cooking” in DDC does not necessarily imply heating.  At 641.5 Cooking appears the definition note “Preparation of food with and without use of heat.” At 641.5 Cooking there are see references to other cooking numbers, among them: “For cooking specific materials, see 641.6.”  The definition note has hierarchical force and applies also to the numbers given in the see references and to their subdivisions, including 641.6475 Cooking strawberries.

EPC Meeting 129

The Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC)* met at OCLC May 7-9, 2008. EPC approved several adjustments to the proposed overhaul of the treatment of groups of people (including a separate number for intersex people based on feedback from users) plus the implementation plan for the changes. The current plan is to post draft versions of Table 1 and 305-306 on the Dewey web site in August 2008 (with links from the Dewey blog). We will request comments on the content and implementation plan by October 30, 2008—this will permit discussion of user comments at EPC Meeting 130 in November 2008. It is our intention to introduce the changes to the treatment of groups of people throughout the DDC by second quarter calendar year 2009 in WebDewey and Abridged WebDewey. We plan to make final PDFs of Table 1 and 305-306 available on the Dewey web site at the same time the changes are implemented in the web versions of the DDC. The changes introduced in the web versions of the DDC will also appear in the print version of DDC 23 (scheduled to be published in late calendar year 2010).

In addition to the changes to groups of people in Table 1, EPC approved two changes to T1—079 Competition, awards, financial support: clarification of the add instruction from Table 2, and the relocation of festivals from T1—079 to T1—074 Museums, collections, exhibits. Watch this space for more information on these changes. EPC also approved several changes in Table 2 (Geographic Areas, Historical Periods, Persons) for Belgium, South Africa, Sweden, and Clifton Forge, Va. (the last reflects a rare change within administrative units in the U.S.).  In Table 3 (Subdivisions for the Arts, for Individual Literatures, for Specific Literary Forms), EPC approved new provisions for autobiographical fiction, biographical fiction, and alternative histories.  In Table 6 (Languages), EPC approved updates to Indonesian languages and Galician, plus several miscellaneous updates. Similar changes were made to parallel notation in Table 5 (Ethnic and National Groups).

In the schedules, EPC approved updates in the following areas: 004-006 Computer science, 025.4 Subject analysis and control, 160 Logic, 320 Political science, 364.16 Offenses against property, 398.2 Folk literature, 400 Language, 510 Mathematics, 560-590 Life sciences, 610 Medicine and health, 700 The arts, 800 Literature, and 900 History, geography, and auxiliary disciplines. EPC also reviewed reports on work under way in 200 Religion, 340 Law, and 370 Education. The changes in 364.16, along with other updates to the treatment of criminal offenses, will be the focus of the June New and Changed Entries. We will discuss the proposed updates and open issues in several of the aforementioned schedules in the coming weeks in the Dewey blog—stay tuned.

EPC reviewed several research initiatives from the OCLC Office of Research and the Dewey editorial team. Diane Vizine-Goetz presented current work on a prototype classification web service and pilot terminology services. Dewey editorial team members presented progress reports on several current research projects: machine-assisted derivation of the abridged edition, mixed translation models, identification of the relationship of Relative Index terms to Dewey classes, and improvements to Dewey captions. The team also briefed EPC on our new editorial support system, recent changes to the representation of the DDC in MARC21 formats, and a proposed new approach to the display of relocations and discontinuations in DDC class records. Further, the team gave EPC a progress report on the development of DDC training materials being posted online. There was also a lively discussion on how we might facilitate development and sharing of “Dewey neighborhoods” by Dewey users (see the innovative presentation by the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library at the March 2008 Public Library Association (PLA) Conference).

EPC will hold a follow-up electronic meeting (Meeting 129A) during June 2008 to resolve some minor open issues from Meeting 129. The group will meet next in person at the Library of Congress in November 2008.

*Photo at top of EPC at OCLC on May 8, 2008—standing from left to right: Lyn McKinney (Billings [MT] Senior High School), Sandra Singh (Vancouver [BC] Public Library), David Farris (Library and Archives Canada), Welna van Eeden (University of South Africa), Andrea Kappler (Evansville Vanderburgh [IN] Public Library) and EPC Chair Caroline Kent (British Library). Seated from left to right: Arlene Taylor (University of Pittsburgh SIS, retired), Vice Chair Anne Robertson (Australian Committee on Cataloguing), and Deborah Rose-Lefmann (Northwestern University).

Oil Prices

High prices for crude oil have been in the news recently, e.g., “Supply Fears Push Oil beyond $126” and “Oil Price Resumes Its Record Run.” 

Among the Relative Index entries for prices are:
Prices   338.52   
Prices—economics   338.52 
Prices—mineral industries   338.23 

The comprehensive economics number (also the interdisciplinary number) for prices is 338.52 Prices.  The class-elsewhere note under 338.5 General production economics, “Class production economics of specific kinds of industries in 338.1-338.4,” has hierarchical force; consequently, the price of crude oil is classed in the appropriate subdivision of 338.1-338.4 Specific kinds of industries, specifically under 338.2 Extraction of minerals.  The scatter note under 338.52 Prices, “For a specific aspect of prices not provided for here, see the aspect, e.g., effects of prices on the whole economy 339.42,” also indicates that oil prices will not be classed in 338.52 Prices. 

Among the Relative Index entries for oil are:
Oil (Petroleum)       553.282
Oil (Petroleum)—economic geology       553.282
Oil (Petroleum)—extractive economics       338.27282

At 338.27 Products is the add note that explains how to build 338.27282 Extractive economics of oil (338.27 Products plus 282 from 553.282 Oil). There are also two class-elsewhere notes that should be considered: “Class supply in storage, shortages, surpluses, demand, and projections of these in 333.8; class specific elements of production applied to specific products in 338.23-338.26.”  The first class-elsewhere note would be relevant for a work about the effect of oil prices on supply in storage, shortages, surpluses, and demand; by the rule of application, works about the influence of the price of crude oil on something else are classed with the thing influenced.  The first note is not, however, relevant for comprehensive works on oil prices.  The second class-elsewhere note leads to 338.23 Financial aspects of extraction of minerals, which has the note, “Class here . . .  prices.”

Comprehensive works on prices of crude oil are classed in 338.23282 Financial aspects of extraction of oil (built with 338.23 Financial aspects of extraction of minerals plus 282 from 553.282 Oil, following instructions at 338.23), e.g., Oil Markets and Prices:  The Brent Market and the Formation of World Oil Prices. 

Food Crisis

“The World Food Programme (WFP) has said that high food prices are creating the biggest challenge that WFP has faced in its 45-year history, a silent tsunami threatening to plunge  more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger” (April 22 press release). The Washington Post has recently run a five-part series entitled “Global Food Crisis: The New World of Soaring Food Prices” “exploring causes and effects of the world's worst food crisis since the 1970s.  A complex combination of poor harvests, competition with biofuels, higher energy prices, surging demand in China and India, and a blockage in global trade is driving food prices up worldwide. Some countries, especially in Africa, are facing an increasingly dire situation while even consumers in wealthy nations are being forced to adjust.”

The comprehensive number for economics of food supply is 338.19 Food supply, which has the note: “Class here economic causes and effects of, economic remedies for maladjustments in food supply; measures for attaining and maintaining adequate amounts of food; food requirements (demand); reserves (stocks, supply) of food; prices of food to the consumer; comprehensive works on the economics of production, storage, distribution of food.”  An example of a work classed in 338.19 Food supply is The World Food Economy.

Regular standard subdivisions for geographic treatment are bracketed under 338.19 Food supply, with do-not-use notes pointing to the special notation (displaced standard subdivision) that is to be used instead; for example, 338[.19091] Treatment by areas, regions, places in general has the note “Do not use; class in 338.191.”  Food Security: Indicators, Measurement, and the Impact of Trade Openness, which has “Food supply—Developing countries” as the first subject heading, is classed in 338.191724 Food supply in developing countries (built with 338.191 Food supply in areas, regions, places in general plus 724 from T2—1724 Developing regions, following instructions at 338.191). 

The interdisciplinary number for food supply is also the number for works that emphasize social causes and solutions for food supply problems, 363.8 *Food supply, which has the note: “Class here famine, hunger; interdisciplinary works on food supply, on nutrition.” World Hunger is an example of a work classed in 363.8.  Starvation in Africa is classed in 363.8096 Food supply in Africa (built with 363.8 *Food supply plus T1—09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment plus T2—6 Africa, following instructions at T1—093-T1—099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds.  To be sure of building the number correctly, one must follow the footnote at 363.8 *Food supply, “*Add as instructed under 362-363,” to the add table under 362-363 Specific social problems and services, where 09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment indicates that T1—09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment is applied as a regular standard subdivision.)

The Manual note 363.5, 363.6, 363.8 vs. 338 Housing, public utilities, and food supply vs. Production offers guidance in choosing between 363.8 and 338.19.