Meeting 139 of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) was held in Dublin, Ohio, at OCLC headquarters, June 6 and 7, 2016, with all members present. EPC extended a vote of appreciation to outgoing EPC members, Pat Riva and Anne Robertson, and to the former DDC product manager, Libbie Crawford, and welcomed new EPC members, Sylvie Leblanc (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec) and Melissa Parent (Australian Catholic University), and the current DDC product manager, Sandi Jones. Jonathan Furner was elected to serve another two-year term (2017-2018) as Chair; Michelle Zwierski was elected to fill out the current two-year term (2016-2017) as Vice-Chair.
Exhibits were approved that will provide for, or improve treatment of, the following topics: subtropics, Mediterranean climates, second-level administrations in Italy, computer security, data curation, Internet governance, conservatism as a political ideology, Internet banking, nondominant legal systems associated with specific ethnic groups, medieval European law, heavier-than-air aircraft, dementia, new chemical elements, organic compounds, sports biographies, martial arts, historical period notation in 930-990, and open-ended adminstrative periods. Approved changes will be distributed to WebDewey in the coming months. Before the end of 2016, changes will be made in the including and class-here notes of the 580s and 590s, where common and scientific names will be found consistently in separate notes.
In addition to reviewing proposals for specific changes, EPC considers discussion papers, which examine larger-scale issues before specific proposals are submitted. EPC Meeting 139 included discussions on the displacement of T1--08 Groups of people and the representation of indigenous groups as sovereign nations in Table 2. (If any of you are members of an indigenous people and would be willing to give feedback on the options under consideration, please contact Rebecca Green, [email protected].)
Mary Sauer-Games, OCLC Vice President, Global Product Management, addressed the group, summarizing several areas of OCLC focus in fiscal year 2016 resulting in improved technology environments and infrastructure. Going forward, there will be increased emphasis on what can be done with linked data. Dewey is likely to play a role in the entification of Topics/Concepts, paralleling the work already done at OCLC on the Person entity and the Work entity. John Chapman, Senior Product Manager in Metadata Services, elaborated on the character of "true" linked data, distinguishing between (1) the conversion of name forms to URIs ("linkification") and (2) resolving those name forms into references to entities / representations of the objects of description ("entification"). John also spoke about the recently concluded Linked Data Person Entity Pilot, which enabled participants to find WorldCat Person entities using either various identifiers (e.g., ISNI, VIAF, LCNAF) or keywords.
The results of a prioritization exercise of major activities for 2016-2020 undertaken by the editorial team were presented. Preliminary results of a data-driven approach to development were also presented; of the five top areas identified as being potentially ripe for further development, one EPC member confirmed that two of the numbers were "dumping grounds" in her library system and are sorely in need of expansion.
Interesting news . . .
Pine Hills just went back to the Dewey Decimal System; how do you feel about it?
I’m not sure who was happier—the staff or the patrons! The branches had been using a “bookstore model” for a few years, where books are more loosely arranged by topic, not by the official Dewey numbers and categories. The theory was that it would make browsing easier, and perhaps it did, but it made finding a specific book much harder. Dewey is a quicker and more logical way of locating items—and we have had nothing but positive responses all around.
Scott Jarzombeck, _Lauren Cardinal, a home-grown librarian_, Albany Times Union (June 2, 2016), http://blog.timesunion.com/scottj/lauren-cardinal-a-home-grown-librarian/203/.
Posted by: Charles Campbell | 30 June 2016 at 10:52 AM