025.431: The Dewey blog

Groups of People: Last call for comments

On August 1, we asked for comments on the draft schedules and implementation plan for updates to groups of people in Table 1 and 305-306 (see here for the discussion plus links to the draft schedules). Today is the announced final day for comments—we’ll accept comments from stragglers through November 2. Next week, we will send the comments received to date plus our recommendations to the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) for consideration at EPC Meeting 130, November 18-19, 2008.

Migration of Bar-Tailed Godwits

The bar-tailed godwit has been in the news because of its incredible migration, e.g., “Birds Fly More Than 7,000 Miles Nonstop, Study Shows: In Its Annual Fall Migration, One Godwit Traveled From Alaska to New Zealand in Eight Days” and “Avian Airlines: Alaska to New Zealand Nonstop.”

General works about bird migration are classed in 598.1568 Migration of birds (built with 598 Aves plus 1 General topics of natural history of animals from add table under 592–599 Specific taxonomic groups of animals, following footnote instruction at 598 and instruction at 592–599, plus 568 from 591.568 Migration, following instruction under 1 in add table under 592–599).  Examples of works classed in 598.1568 are Avian Migration and Bird Migration: A General Survey.

A work about migration of a specific kind of bird is classed with the kind of bird, as instructed at 591 Specific topics in natural history of animals: “Class a specific topic in natural history of animals with respect to a specific taxonomic group of animals with the group of animals, plus notation 1 from table under 592-599, e.g., beneficial mammals 599.163.”  The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) belongs to the family Scolopacidae, information that can be found in many sources, including Encyclopædia Britannica.  In DDC, the family Scolopacidae is listed in the including note at 598.33 Charadriiformes.  Thus the work Bar-Tailed Godwit: Limosa Lapponica is classed in 598.33.  A work focusing on the migration of the bar-tailed godwit is also classed in 598.33; no further addition is possible because the bar-tailed godwit is in standing room in 598.33 Charadriiformes.

Classification and the Arts

As I write this, the 19th Annual SIG/CR Classification Research Workshop on Classification and the Arts: Enduring Practice, Alternative Strategies, and Contrasts with Other Domains has just concluded.  It was a small conference in terms of the number of both active participants (6 papers and 1 poster) and attendees (20), but rich in terms of ideas, discussion, and vitality.

In general, the papers took an indexing approach, specifically a social tagging approach, to subject access rather than a classification approach.  A major drawback of social tagging is its use of uncontrolled vocabulary, an issue addressed indirectly by several of the papers.  For example, one paper presented the background use of a controlled vocabulary to clarify tags that are identifiably ambiguous; another paper addressed the role of subject expertise and indexing experience in achieving greater consistency of image indexing.  At the same time, a theme that permeated the conference was the need to resist the inclination to insist on one precise subject description of an image.  Rather than assume that knowledge organization structures should reflect a singular view of reality, our goal should be to develop knowledge organization tools that can reflect different social realities—your reality, my reality. 

But a plethora of personal knowledge organization tools is not our ultimate goal.  Consider, for instance, recommender systems (like Amazon’s) that suggest new titles that might be of interest to you, based on your previous purchases.  But in reality, it is not just your previous purchases that are taken into account.  Such systems also take account of the purchasing patterns of many others.  They recommend title Y to you, after you have bought title X, because of (among other things) the number of others who have purchased both X and Y.  There is a role for collective knowledge organization schemes (such as the DDC) working in tandem with personal knowledge organization systems. That’s where mappings between knowledge organization tools come in. 

My own contribution to the workshop came in the form of a poster (the text can be read here, but if you’re ever in the Library of Congress, come see the wonderful job that OCLC’s J.D. Shipengrover did with the graphic design) on chronological organization of schools and styles of art.  This poster documents the thinking behind our October 2008 New and Changed Entries (in Word and PDF formats).  In essence, we are choosing to expand under 709.05 21^st century, 2000–2099 by decade by adding period notation from Table 1.  Then, rather than trying to expand explicitly for contemporary art styles or movements, we will give guidance for them through mapping newly created arts-related headings from external sources (e.g., Library of Congress Subject Headings [LCSH], Art and Architecture Thesaurus [AAT] descriptors) to the appropriate DDC class.

2008 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences

The 2008 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Paul Krugman “for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity.”  Here is an excerpt from the press release:

Traditional trade theory assumes that countries are different and explains why some countries export agricultural products whereas others export industrial goods. The new theory clarifies why worldwide trade is in fact dominated by countries which not only have similar conditions, but also trade in similar products – for instance, a country such as Sweden that both exports and imports cars. This kind of trade enables specialization and large-scale production, which result in lower prices and a greater diversity of commodities.

Economies of scale combined with reduced transport costs also help to explain why an increasingly larger share of the world population lives in cities and why similar economic activities are concentrated in the same locations. Lower transport costs can trigger a self-reinforcing process whereby a growing metropolitan population gives rise to increased large-scale production, higher real wages and a more diversified supply of goods. This, in turn, stimulates further migration to cities. Krugman's theories have shown that the outcome of these processes can well be that regions become divided into a high-technology urbanized core and a less developed “periphery.”

Works on theories of international trade are classed in 382.104 Theories (a subdivision of 382.1 General topics of international commerce), e.g., Theories of International Trade and International Trade Theory: A Critical Review. Works on a specific theory of international trade that does not have its own number, such as Krugman's theory, are also classed in 382.104 Theories.

The broadest works on economic geography are classed in 330.9 Economic situation and conditions, which has the note “Class here economic geography.” Examples are The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography and The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade.

Works that focus on specific topics of economic geography are classed with the topic.  For example, works that focus on location of production with an emphasis on the rationale for its location are classed in 338.6042 Location, a subdivision of 338.604 Special topics of organization of production.  At 338.6042 is the note: “Class here proximity to sources of power, raw materials, labor supply, transportation, markets.”  Examples of works classed in 338.6042 are Geography of Production and Economic Integration and Industrial Location Economics.

2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

According to an October 6 press release:

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2008 with one half to Harald zur Hausen for his discovery of “human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer” and the other half jointly to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for their discovery of “human immunodeficiency virus” [HIV].

General works on cervical cancer and works on human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer are both classed in 616.99466 Uterine and cervical cancer (built with 616.994 Cancers plus 66 from 611.66 Uterus, which has the note “Including uterine cervix,” following instructions at 616.9942–616.9949 Cancers of other organs and of regions).  No further addition is possible for a specific aspect of cervical cancer because the uterine cervix is in an including note and thus in standing room at 611.66 Uterus.  Examples of works classed in 616.99466 are Comprehensive Cervical Cancer Control: A Guide to Essential Practice and Human Papillomaviruses and Cervical Cancer: Biology and Immunology.

General works on HIV infections are classed in 616.9792 Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), which has the note “Class here HIV infections,” e.g., Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of HIV/AIDS Infections.   Works that focus on microbiology of HIV/AIDS are classed in 616.979201 Microbiology of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), a number built with 616.9792 Acquired immune deficiency syndrome plus notation 01 Medical microbiology from the add table at 616.1–616.9 Specific diseases, following the footnote instruction at 616.9792, “Add as instructed under 616.1–616.9,” and instructions at 616.1–616.9 and under 01 Medical microbiology.  The following note appears under 01 Medical microbiology:

When the cause of a disease or class of diseases is known to be a single type of microorganism, use 01 without further subdivision for works about the type of microorganism

Because of that note, one does not add the final 9 in 019 Medical virology.   An example of a work classed in 616.979201 is The Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Biology, Immunology, and Therapy.

Geothermal Energy

A recent article in the Washington Post, “Filipinos Draw Power from Buried Heat,” focuses on successful use of geothermal power in the Philippines:

Geothermal power now accounts for about 28 percent of the electricity generated in the Philippines. With 90 million people, about 40 percent of whom live on less than $2 a day, this country has become the world's largest consumer of electricity from geothermal sources. Billions of dollars have been saved here because of reduced need for imported oil and coal.

An article on the web site of the International Geothermal Association (“What is Geothermal Energy?”) gives a full description of geothermal energy with an emphasis on science and technology.

Interdisciplinary works on geothermal energy, and works that emphasize resource economics of geothermal energy, are classed in 333.88 Geothermal energy.  At that number is the note: “Class here electricity derived from geothermal energy, thermal waters.”  Geothermal Energy: The Reliable Renewable: Geothermal Resources Council 2004 Annual Meeting is an example of a work classed in 333.88.  Geothermal Energy Resources for Developing Countries is classed in 333.88091724 Geothermal energy for developing regions (built with 333.88 Geothermal energy plus T1—09 Geographic treatment, following the footnote instruction at 333.88 to add as instructed under 333.7-333.9 Natural resources and energy, where the add table shows that standard subdivision T1—09 is regular and does not need  an extra zero, plus T2—1724 Developing regions, following instructions at T1—093–T1—099 Treatment by specific continents, countries, localities; extraterrestrial worlds). 

Comprehensive works on engineering aspects of geothermal energy are classed in 621.44 Geothermal engineering, e.g., Geothermal Power Plants: Principles, Applications, Case Studies and Environmental Impact.