025.431: The Dewey blog

Dewey Translators Meeting at IFLA 2008

Forty-five librarians from fifteen countries attended the Dewey Translators Meeting at the World Library and Information Congress (74th IFLA General Conference and Council) in Québec City on August 12.  The Dewey Translators Meeting, hosted annually at IFLA conferences by OCLC since 2003, brings together representatives of Dewey translation teams and national libraries plus other interested Dewey users from around the world.  Since IFLA 2008 happened to be held just north of us in Québec City, nearly all Dewey editorial team members were able to participate in this year’s meeting.

We have just posted most of the presentations from the meeting.  Michael Panzer presented a slightly updated version of his ALA 2008 Annual Conference presentation on Multilingual MelvilClass—this time, he included a live demonstration of a Greasemonkey script that integrates German and English captions on the same screen.  Juli Beall discussed upcoming updates to groups of people and literary periods (we are currently soliciting comments on the changes to groups of people and the treatment of literary periods for authors writing under more than one name—comments on the latter were supposed to have closed by August 15, 2008, but we have extended the deadline until September 1, 2008).  Giles Martin updated attendees on the approved extensions to the representation of the DDC in MARC 21 formats.  Sally McCallum (Library of Congress) noted that the updates will be published in a month or so (we are still awaiting word on when the changes to the MARC 21 Bibliographic format will be implemented at OCLC).  [A side note: Nancy Williamson (Professor Emerita, University of Toronto) was also at the meeting—Professor Williamson was the consultant retained by LC to prepare a report on converting its classification scheme into machine-readable form; her study facilitated the development of the original MARC Classification format.]  Rebecca Green gave a quick overview of the DDC Training Program.  Ingebjørg Rype (National Library of Norway), Magdalena Svanberg (National Library of Sweden), and I gave a condensed version of the talk Ingebjørg and I presented the week before at the ISKO Conference on the pilot study we just concluded with nineteen Norwegian librarians to explore the usability of a mixed Norwegian-English version of the DDC as a classifier’s tool.  Patrice Landry (Swiss National Library) gave a brief update on the activities of the European DDC Users’ Group (EDUG) (EDUG working groups on archaeology, education, law, and technical issues met immediately following the meeting).  Diane Vizine-Goetz (OCLC Office of Research) wrapped up the meeting with a live demonstration of the latest version of Classify, a prototype service designed to support the assignment of classification numbers.

We've already recruited our first speaker for next year’s Dewey Translators Meeting at IFLA 2009 in Milan (the exact date of our meeting during the conference is yet to be determined).  Marie Baliková (Czech National Library) has agreed to discuss the top-level concordance she is developing between UDC and DDC to enable creation of an English-language topic map of the library’s collection (classed in UDC) using the DDC.

Organizing knowledge with our friends

On August 6-8, 2008, the 10^th International Conference of the International Society for Knowledge Organization (ISKO) was held in Montreal. The conference theme—Culture and Identity in Knowledge Organization—was addressed through the lens of nine different perspectives:

• Models and methods in knowledge organization
• Multilingual and multicultural environments
• Knowledge organization for libraries, archives and museums
• Knowledge organization for information management and retrieval
• Epistemological foundations of knowledge organization
• Non-textual materials
• Discourse communities and knowledge organization
• Users and social context
• Systems, tools and evaluation

The keynote speaker for the conference was Jonathan Furner, former assistant editor of the DDC, who spoke on “Interrogating ‘Identity’: A Philosophical Approach to an Enduring Issue in Knowledge Organization.” (Those of who you have followed the Dewey blog for a long time and have exceptional memories may recall a previous [2005] posting by Jonathan on identity. Don’t be fooled by the “Posted by Joan”—see here for an explanation.) In addition, the current editorial team contributed to both paper and poster sessions of the conference, including “Making Visible Hidden Relationships in the Dewey Decimal Classification: How Relative Index Terms Relate to DDC Classes” (Rebecca Green), “Mixed Translation Models for the DDC” (Joan S. Mitchell, Ingebjørg Rype, and Magdalena Svanberg), and “DeweyBrowser and Multilingual Access” (Diane Vizine-Goetz and Julianne Beall).

ISKO conferences are unique in their combination of breadth (contributors at this conference came from Europe, Asia, North America, and South America; Africa has usually also been represented) and focus (everything is about knowledge organization). The total cast of participants varies somewhat across conferences, but a solid core shows up pretty consistently, so that enduring relationships are built and maintained.

Darfur Conflict

We noticed a question on Autocat earlier this week concerning the correct number for the conflict in Darfur. The Darfur Conflict, which started in February of 2003, is a military conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. Many works have been written about the conflict, e.g., Darfur's Sorrow: A History of Destruction and Genocide by M. W. Daly, War in Darfur and the Search for Peace by Alexander De Waal, and The Darfur Crisis by William R. Jeffries. These titles have the DDC number 962.4043 History of Sudan since 1985.

Why is the conflict classed in 962.4043 instead of the number for the same period in the history of Darfur itself, 962.7043 History of the Darfur region since 1985 (built with 962.7 History of Darfur region of Sudan plus 043 from 962.4043, following instructions at 962.701-962.704)? The reason why the conflict is classed with the history of the Sudan and not with the history of the Darfur region is that the war or conflict fought in a limited portion of a country is classed with the history of the country as a whole. This instruction is given in the following paragraphs from the Wars section of the 930-990 History of ancient world; of specific continents, countries, localities; of extraterrestrial worlds Manual entry (the pertinent sentences are underlined). This section was the subject of the November 2007 New and Changed Entries (in Word and PDF formats).

If most of a war’s fighting took place in one region or country, use the number for the history of the region or country. For example, class the War of the Austrian Succession with the history of Europe in 940.2526; class the Vietnam War with the history of Vietnam in 959.7043. Use the number for the history of the country as a whole, even when the war was fought within a limited portion of a country. For example, class the Second Seminole War, which was fought against the Seminole Indians in Florida, with the history of the United States in 973.57 (not with the history of Florida in 975.904).

For an ongoing war, use the number for the history of the region or country in which most of the fighting has occurred. For example, when World War II was introduced in Edition 14, most of the fighting had been in Europe; thus, World War II was classed with the history of Europe in 940.53 (not with world history in 909.824). If there is no one region or country in which most of the fighting has occurred, use the number for the history of the region or country where the war began.

Literary Period Table for Canadian Literature in English

Since sometime during the life of DDC 18 (published 1971), there have been two different standard period tables at 810.1-818 Subdivisions of American literature in English:

(1) For Canada;
(2) For literature in English language from any part of North America, South America, Hawaii, and geographically associated islands; for comprehensive works on literature in English language from all these areas.

The Library of Congress (LC) has applied the Canadian period table for Canadian literature without using any initial letter to distinguish Canadian literature.  Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has used the period table for Canada with “C” to indicate Canada, e.g., C813.3 Canadian fiction in English of colonial period to 1867 for St. Ursula's Convent, or, The Nun of Canada and C813.54 Canadian Fiction in English, 1945–1999 for The Handmaid's Tale.  See “LAC Dewey Decimal Classification Policy.”

Plans to create separate MARC 21 records for each number in a literary period table drew our attention to the anomaly of two standard period tables.  To eliminate that anomaly, the period table for Canadian literature in English has been changed to optional—like the optional period table for Canadian literature in French at 840.1-848 Subdivisions of French literature. The notation in the period table for Canadian literature in English remains unchanged.   

LAC continues to use the period table for Canada with “C” to indicate Canada.  LC no longer uses the special table for Canada; instead, LC is now applying the standard table for literature in English language from any part of North America to Canadian literature in English.  Few authors are affected by the change:  the two tables are exactly the same for the 20th and 21st centuries. Only a few Canadian authors are affected by discrepancies in earlier periods—primarily those who began to flourish before 1830 (including Julia Catherine Beckwith Hart, the author of St. Ursula's Convent; her standard number is now 813.2 American fiction in English, 1776-1829).

Dewey celebrates the Olympics

Two of my favorite Olympic sports are artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. The Olympic competitions for artistic gymnastics will be held on August 12 through 15 and August 17 through 19, and for rhythmic gymnastics on August 23 and 24.  Along with these two disciplines, gymnastics includes trampolining, tumbling, aerobic gymnastics, and acrobatic gymnastics. Trampoline is also an Olympic sport; the competitions for trampoline will be held on August 18 and 19.

Just in time for the Olympics and as part of the August 2008 New and Changed Entries (in Word and PDF formats), we have provided specific numbers for several of the disciplines of gymnastics in 796.44 Gymnastics and 796.47 Tumbling, trampolining, acrobatics, contortion, especially 796.442 Artistic gymnastics, 796.443 Rhythmic gymnastics, and 796.474 Trampolining.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (or Alzheimer disease) was in the news at the end of July because of reports on medical research at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD), July 26-31, 2008.  Summaries of reports can be found on the ICAD Press Room page and on the MedlinePlus: News by Health Topic: Alzheimer’s Disease page.

The comprehensive number for medical aspects of Alzheimer’s disease is 616.831 Alzheimer disease, e.g., for Clinical Diagnosis and Management of Alzheimer’s Disease. 

Works on drug therapy for the disease are classed in 616.831061 Drug therapy for Alzheimer disease (built with 616.831 Alzheimer disease plus 061 Drug therapy from add table under 616.1-616.9 Specific diseases, following instructions at 616.1-616.9), e.g., Pharmacological Mechanisms in Alzheimer’s Therapeutics.  Works on diagnosis are classed in 616.831075 Diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (built with 616.831 Alzheimer disease plus 07 Pathology from add table under 616.1-616.9 Specific diseases,  following instructions at 616.1-616.9, plus 5 from 616.075 Diagnosis and prognosis, following instructions at 075-079 Diagnosis, prognosis, death, immunity in add table under 616.1-616.9), e.g., Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease.   

These and other built numbers can be found by browsing the Relative Index in WebDewey under either the form of name preferred in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)—“Alzheimer Disease”—or the form preferred in Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)—“Alzheimer’s disease.”  DDC prefers the MeSH form of names (except for capitalization) in the medicine schedule, but takes care to provide access also by the LCSH form or other common forms in the WebDewey Relative Index.

Groups of People in Table 1 and 305–306

Since late 2005, the Dewey editorial team has been working on a project to improve the representation of groups of people throughout the DDC. The project had the following goals:

• Study the treatment of groups of people throughout the DDC
• Update the terminology for groups of people (also reconsider terminology in Table 1 —09)
• Update the provisions for specific groups of people

We started the project with a reconsideration of the phrase “kinds of persons” in the caption at Table 1 —08 and elsewhere in the DDC. The phrase “kinds of persons” is currently used throughout the DDC to describe groups of people. Use of the phrase in Table 1 —08 causes confusion with “persons treatment” in Table 1 —092; more troubling is the unintended interpretation of “kinds of persons” as a definitive classification of people. As a first step, we replaced “kinds of persons” with “groups of people” in Table 1 —08 and elsewhere in the DDC. At the same time, we deleted “History and description with respect to” entirely from the caption at Table 1 —08 and elsewhere in the DDC. We also substituted “Groups of people” for “Social groups” in the caption at 305 and elsewhere in the DDC.

We have long known that “persons treatment” is a confusing phrase, and questioned whether there was any reason to continue using it in Table 1 —092. We changed the caption at Table 1 —092 to “Biography,” and made a slight revision to the caption at Table 1 —09 at the same time (now “History, geographic treatment, biography” instead of “Historical, geographic, persons treatment”).

We have adopted consistent use of “people” versus “persons” when we are referring to a group of people by a specific attribute, e.g., homeless people. In a few cases, the term “persons” has been retained when it is part of the common name for a group of people, e.g., “stateless persons.”

Similar changes to terminology have been introduced in the Relative Index. In addition, we have replaced the current “Persons” index array with three new entries: Person (Legal concept), Persons (Individuals), and People. The index term for groups of people in general is “People”; the general index term for individuals is “Persons (Individuals).”

We have made small adjustments throughout Table 1 and 305–306 in the developments for groups of people by specific attributes.  We wish to draw special attention to the following developments:

• Updated provisions for people by gender or sex at Table 1 —081 and 305.3 (including a new number for men at Table 1 —0811)
• A new development for transgender and intersex people at Table 1 —0867 and parallel changes to the development at 306.76 Sexual orientation, transgenderism, intersexuality
• Updated developments for people by marital status in Table 1 —0865 and marriage and family in 306.8
• Extensions to collected biography in Table 1 —092

Draft PDFs of the revised versions of the schedules for Table 1 —08–09 and 305–306 plus the Relative Index are now available for review. Relative Index entries are marked with the following internal codes: P (proposed new print/electronic entry), E (proposed new electronic-only entry), N (electronic-only entry), and I (intellectually mapped LCSH). Entries without codes are current print/electronic entries. In most cases, current Relative Index phrase entries in which the term “persons” has been replaced by “people” are also not accompanied by a code. The draft schedules have been produced directly from our editorial support system without further editing of the PDFs, and may contain some spacing problems that do not exist in the electronic version.

Timetable for Review and Implementation

The Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) has approved the updated developments in principle and has recommended that we introduce them into the DDC as soon as possible. At Meeting 129, EPC approved an implementation plan that includes a period of user comment, final approval, and implementation in 2009.

We are asking for comments on the draft schedules and implementation plan. Please reply directly to this blog entry (or alternatively to [email protected]) by October 30, 2008.  Receipt of comments by that date will facilitate discussion of user feedback and final action on the updated developments by EPC at Meeting 130 (November 18–19, 2008).  It is our current intention to implement the changes throughout the DDC and introduce them in WebDewey and Abridged WebDewey by second quarter calendar year 2009. We will also 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. There will be ripple effects elsewhere in the DDC that will not be addressed in the PDF versions; areas with substantial changes related to the treatment of groups of people (e.g., 150 Psychology, 362 Social welfare problems and services) will be featured as New and Changed Entries on the Dewey web site. 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).