Those of you working in 583–584 in the past several days may have noticed some changes. Over a year ago we announced a proposal to revise the development under 583–584 to adopt the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group’s 2009 classification for flowering plants (APG III) as the basis for the DDC’s treatment of flowering plants. A follow-up blog posting earlier this year responded to some of the comments received from reviewers of the proposed revision. This revised development has now been rolled out to WebDewey.
In Dewey speak, the 583–584 revision qualifies as an extensive revision, having been prepared with little reference to earlier editions. In the past you would have reviewed the changes for an extensive revision through comparative and equivalence tables in the next print edition. But the times they are a-changin’ (to quote this year’s Nobel Literature Prize winner), and we are now making more extensive use of history notes to keep you apprised of how the meaning of a class has changed over time / of where a topic associated with a class may have come from or gone to.
For example, our understanding of what belongs together in the order designated as Saxifragales has shifted significantly, depending on whether the circumscription of the order reflects plant morphology or molecular phylogenetics. This order was previously classed in 583.72 Saxifragales. An extensive set of relocation notes under this number (now 583.72 Geraniales) indicates where plants previously considered part of Saxifragales are now to be found. At the same time an extensive set of formerly-located-in notes in the current 583.44 Saxifragales indicates where plants considered in APG III to be part of this order were previously classed.
The changes seen in WebDewey for the extensive revision under 583–584 are joined by other changes approved by EPC in conjunction with a recent electronic meeting, EPC 139A. We will be posting PDFs showing these updates later this week.
Several of our training modules have been changed to reflect changes in the angiosperm revision or other changes associated with EPC Meetings 139 and 139A:
- Introduction to 600
- Internal Tables Number Building
- Life Sciences Number Building
- Medicine Number Building
- User Terms with Number Building
In the coming weeks you can expect to see additional posts here exploring some of the other changes from EPC Meetings 139 and 139A.
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