Changing climates

My DDC career started in 2011, when I was the first ever DDC intern. Fresh out of the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science, I had assigned DDC numbers to around a thousand works in a side job for an environmental nonprofit in the area. I had seen firsthand how those works were going all sorts of places in the schedules, and during my internship, I thought I might put together a proposal to bring them together.

That never happened, because I realized that environmental studies is interdisciplinary by nature. That’s not to say one couldn’t bring them all together—the Chinese Library Classification largely does, in its X section—but doing so would have caused significant disruption elsewhere in the schedules.

I picked up the cause again a few years ago, both out of personal interest and requests from users and colleagues, such as those at the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Probably the biggest issue I found was a lack of the phrase “climate change” in the DDC at all. The closest thing we had was “global warming”. As much as there is warming around the globe, you probably hear “climate change” more often now, as we’ve come to understand there’s more to it than just warming, such as extreme weather events or even significant cold.

In EPC Meeting 144, we took a big step forward on the topic of climate change in the DDC. You can review the full exhibit for more of what went into this, or see the changes now live in WebDewey. Today, I just wanted to highlight some of the more significant aspects of it:

• Climate change and global warming are now in the class-here note at 363.7 Environmental problems. This recognizes climate change as the central environmental problem, allowing for number building throughout this hierarchy. Previously, global warming was in a class-here note at 363.73874 Greenhouse gases, a more technical number under pollution. Users often prefer shorter numbers, and this means climate change is at a number valid for abridged classification.
• We have designated 551.6 Climatology and weather as the comprehensive number for scientific works on climate change. Previously, the Manual note 551.5 vs. 551.6 seemed to push you more towards 551.5 Meteorology. That may still be appropriate for some works, but trying to separate climatology from climate change science would just be too confusing.
• New topics such as climate justice and social consequences of climate change have been added.

I say this is a step forward both because it’s a very active area in science and because, like many editorial efforts, it’s brought our attention to other areas. So what’s next? Economic aspects. Expect to see work on topics such as carbon trading, environmental credits, and sustainable investing.

And as always, I hope you’ll be a part of those next steps. What are some topics that you’re having trouble classifying? What does and doesn’t work about the schedules for you? Like addressing climate change, maintaining the DDC is a group effort too.

Comments

[Abhishek]

Hi alex
I was searching for a comprehensive classification of all human knowledge learned about sir dewey and his classification
My question is that is this classification scientific and rational
While classification of all the information and ideas (discipline, subject ,field of study)
What goes on in the mind of classifier
Does he judge all information without any presumption and baises
And judge it on the basis of logic and empirical evidence
And decide weather or not this information of field of study qualifies to be included in this classification
I read it is a general classification which encompasses entire human knowledge
That is all information including information which are not considered true
Or real in scientific sense
How do classifiers deal with it
They include it or not

[Alex]

Those are the ideals! But any system created and used by humans will have its biases. The best any of us can do is be aware of them and try to mitigate them. That's certainly something we're trying to do as we develop DDC, and something I recommend classifiers practice as well. A complex topic worthy of its own post!

[Abhishek]

Thanks for your reply alex
One more question
Since general classification by its definition cover entire human knowledge
And specific classification is for specific fields of study like physics etc
Ddc is general /universal
I read volumes of ddc
And it is so detailed and being revised since 1876
Melvil dewey in his dairy intended to classify all Human knowledge in print
So does ddc really cover all the relevant and important knowledge human have recorded till now
If not perfect
But nearly all the important and relevant

[Alex]

Yes, I believe so, although it's inherently subjective. In theory, every topic already has a place in DDC, whether or not it's explicitly mentioned. It's not always easy to find a place in practice, though, which is one reason why development on the system never ends.

[Abhishek]

Thanks for your reply