WebDewey Number Building Tool: Music, Part 1

Note: The general approach to building numbers described here can be applied in any discipline, not just music.

Are you having problems using the WebDewey number building tool with the add tables in the 780 Music schedule?  

If so, let’s try an example: What to Listen For in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis, to which the LCSH "Rock music--Analysis, appreciation" has been assigned.

Here is a summary of the instructions for using the WebDewey number building tool to build the DDC number 781.66117, the number for Rock music--artistic principles.  (The format of the summary is modeled on the tables used in the WebDewey training modules for the WebDewey number building tool.)

Navigate to this number / span	Click	Number built so far	Caption of last number / notation added
781.66	Start	781.66	Rock (Rock 'n' roll)
781.63-781.69:11-15	Add	781.661	General principles
781.17	Add	781.66117	Artistic principles

Does that answer all your questions about how to build the number?  If not, keep reading for details.

First you need to find the record with the base number that you will use and the record with the add note that you will use.  Often—as in this case—the base number and the add note are in the same record.

A quick way to find the number for rock music is to browse the Relative Index for "rock music" and select this entry:

Rock music 781.66

Click the number to see the full record.  In the title bar of the Hierarchy window and in the middle of the hierarchy display, you will see 781.66 †Rock (Rock 'n' roll):

The base number that you will use is 781.66. In the Notes box, you will see the add note (in the form of a footnote marked with a dagger): †Add as instructed under 781.63-781.69

At this point, the Create built number box has no number in the title bar.  Inside the box appear only the number and caption 781.66 †Rock (Rock 'n' roll) plus a Start button:

Click Start in the Create built number box.  The Create built number box changes to show in the title bar that the number built so far is 781.66.  And—important!—the add note appears inside the Create built number box (†Add as instructed under 781.63-781.69). (This is a key to success: clicking Start gets the add note copied from the Notes box into the Create built number box.)  Now there are three buttons: Add, Edit Local, and Cancel. (For the purpose of this exercise, you will use only the Add button.)

If you look in the Hierarchy box, you will see that the number building tool has also taken you to the record for 781.63-781.69 Other traditions of music:

In the Notes box, you see the add table under 781.63-781.69:

How to express appreciation, using that add table? Because the complete add table is displayed in the Notes box, there are now multiple add notes visible in the Notes box. Of those add notes, which is relevant?

If you browse the Relative Index for "appreciation," you will find the entry:

Appreciation—music 781.17

You’ll get similar results if you browse the Relative Index for "music appreciation":

Music appreciation    781.17

If you click the number 781.17 in the Relative Index, you will see that the Hierarchy box focuses on 781.17 Artistic principles:

In the Notes box is a class-here note: "Class here aesthetics, appreciation, taste."

You decide to pursue the possibility of adding notation from 781.17. In order to do that, you need to look again at the add table under 781.63-781.69. The Create built number box is the same as you left it after you clicked Start:

To return to the add table under 781.63-781.69, click that number span in the add note inside the Create number box.  Looking again at the add table in the Notes box, you notice the following entry:

11-15 General principles

Add to 1 the numbers following 781 in 781.1-781.5, e.g., springtime music 15242, melody in springtime music 15242124

The add note under the span 11-15 General principles will allow you to add notation from 781.17 Artistic principles.  Click the span 11-15 in the Notes box.  Then the Hierarchy box changes to focus on that span: 781.63-781.69:11-15 General principles.

Now instead of the multiple add notes in the complete add table, the Notes box displays only the one relevant add note:

Click Add in the Create built number box.  The Create built number box changes to show that the number built so far is 781.661. Inside the Create built number box appears the number 781.63-781.69:1.  And—important!—the add note that you want to follow appears inside the Create built number box:

Now the Hierarchy box focuses on 781 General principles and musical forms, with an outline of its subdivisions, since it is the "numbers following 781" that you can add using the add note in the Create built number box:

Either by clicking down in the Hierarchy box or by searching for the number 781.17, you need to get 781.17 Artistic principles displayed as the focal point of the Hierarchy box:

Now click Add in the Create built number box.  At this point the number building tool will give you an opportunity to add a standard subdivision—but you don’t want to do that.  Look at the updated Create built number box; it shows that you have built the number 781.66117. (Note: you may have to scroll down to the bottom of the screen to see the Create built number box.) The number and caption 781.17 Artistic principles appear inside the Create built number box:

Click Save in the Create built number box.  Your newly built number will appear in the Hierarchy box:

You now have an opportunity to modify or add to the user terms associated with that new number, as explained in the "User Terms with Number Building" part of the WebDewey training modules.  Enough for now!  You have successfully built the number.

A key to success: at each step, find the record with the relevant add note, display the full record so that the add note appears in the Notes box, and click Start or Add to get that add note to appear inside the Create number box. If more than one add note appears in the Notes box, as when a complete add table is displayed, click to select the entry with the add note that you need. When only the one relevant add note is displayed in the Notes box, then click Start to get that add note to appear inside the Create built number box.