Note: See also previous posts (1 and 2) on using the number building tool with standard subdivisions. See also posts 1 and 2 on using the number building tool in music, and posts on using the number building tool in literature and in natural resources. The general approach to building numbers described in those posts can be applied in any discipline. See also the WebDewey training modules for the WebDewey number building tool.
Are you having problems using the WebDewey number building tool to add standard subdivisions to three-digit numbers ending in zero? If so, let’s start with the simplest case: a division number where no extra zeros are needed with standard subdivisions. (We’ll look at more complicated situations in subsequent blog posts.) Division numbers have two significant digits plus one placeholder zero, e.g., 550 Earth sciences. Classifiers are taught to drop the placeholder zero when adding a standard subdivision to a division number. We plan to teach the number building tool to drop that placeholder zero, but that has not happened yet. In the meanwhile, here are instructions on how to overcome the problem.
Let’s consider an encyclopedia of earth sciences, e.g.: Macmillan Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences. Its first LCSH is "Earth sciences – Encyclopedias."
Browsing the Relative Index for "earth sciences" yields:
Earth sciences 550
If we click to see the full record, we get this Hierarchy box:
The focus is 550 Earth sciences, with downward hierarchy showing some numbers built with standard subdivisions, all with one zero. There is no indication that extra zeros are needed. One step up in the hierarchy is an entry with the placeholder zero greyed out (550) and the heading edited for browsing purposes as found in the DDC Summaries:
550 Earth sciences & geology
If we click to see the full record, we get this Hierarchy box:
In addition to the Hierarchy box, the full record has a Create Built Number box with the base number that we want: 55 without the placeholder zero:
If we click Start in that box, we get:
Now the Hierarchy box shows standard subdivisions:
In the Hierarchy box we click T1—03 Dictionaries, encyclopedias, concordances and get this Hierarchy box:
If we now click Add in the Create Built Number box, we get:
We have now built the number with the correct number of zeros. If we click Save, the newly built number appears in the Hierarchy box:
We now have an opportunity to change the user term and add other user terms—but enough for now! We have successfully built the number.
The key to success is to find the record with the placeholder zero greyed out, and click Start in that record.
Note: The WebDewey number building tool may be confused by bracketed standard subdivisions. For example, if there are bracketed entries indicating that standard subdivisions have been relocated from a double zero to a single zero (e.g., at 380 or 730), you will need to use Edit local to get the single zero.
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