025.431: The Dewey blog

Who knows but the world may end tonight

So the Dewey blog took a little break there -- you noticed, didn't you? Please tell us you noticed? -- but now we're back, back, BACK; and, oh my, it's just as well, because there's so much happening in the world of commemorative days, weeks, months, etc., that is the favorite haunt of any self-respecting, deadline-abiding, inspiration-free Dewey blogger. For starters, April is School Library Media Month (sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians [AASL]); not only that, but this week is National Library Week (sponsored by the American Library Association [ALA]); not only that, but today is National Library Workers Day (sponsored by the ALA's Allied Professional Association [ALA-APA]), on which all interested parties are asked to advocate for better compensation for librarians and library support staff, in recognition of their hard work, dedication, and expertise. And if you're looking for a particular second to celebrate, why not take a moment to prepare for the end of the world, which (in the US, at least) is due to occur in the early hours of tomorrow morning. At two minutes and three seconds past one o'clock.* Works on the measurement of time go at 529.7 Horology, under 529 Chronology; works on the end of the world are in good ol' 001.9 Controversial knowledge.

* I.e., at 01:02:03, 04/05/06. Non-US citizens will have to wait about a month.

Rain, rain, rain

Whilst idly perusing the enormous pile of unbelievably important documents stacked up in the Dewey blog's in-tray, we recently came across a pink Post-it® note inscribed with the inscrutable URL www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org. Hmm, we wondered, what could possibly be the subject of a web site called www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org? Curiosity killed the cat but that didn't deter our intrepid researcher, who ascertained within hours that www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org is actually the ingenious address concocted for the web presence of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which began in Washington, DC, last Friday and which commemorates the gift in 1912 of 3,000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to the people of DC. It's probably all very beautiful and lovely in DC right now; unfortunately, the Dewey blog wouldn't know, as we're away from the Manor once again -- this time in Dublin, OH, where it's currently neither beautiful nor especially lovely, to be honest. When we heard that bit on the radio the other day about the underwater hotel, we didn't realize we'd be staying somewhere similar so soon. Okay, that's enough of the royal "we" for today. Works on the National Cherry Blossom Festival (such as Ann McClellan's The cherry blossom festival: Sakura celebration [Bunker Hill Publications, 2005]) are classed at 394.262 Holidays of March, April, May; standing room in 910.46 Facilities for travelers is where we'd put interdisciplinary works on submarine hotels.

Gone in a puff ...

This latest dispatch from the Dewey blog is winging its way to you from Deepest Ohio, and, sho' 'nuff, the President is "visiting" Ohio this week, too. We think we might have given him the slip though -- no sign of him in Dublin so far. Anyway, as an insight into the top-level terminological discussions we regularly have, both at the Manor and at its satellite site we call the "Campus," we thought you might like to know that this morning's hot topic was "Combustion, Spontaneous human." (We said "hot" -- geddit?) As one might expect, in LCSH the broader heading is "Death--Causes." We're reluctant to link to any sites on the interweb that explain this particular phenomenon; while the accompanying photos are often helpful, let's just say they're not for the squeamish. We figured we'd put a work like Larry E. Arnold's Ablaze!: The mysterious fires of spontaneous human combustion (M. Evans, 1995) in 001.9 Controversial knowledge. But, hey, you might have evidence of the non-controversiality of SHC that we're not privy to. Be sure to let us know.

BRilliant!

Hope everyone was able to join the Dewey blog in celebrating Saint Paddy's Day (394.262) last week. Meanwhile, we know this is old news by now but we just came across it, and to be honest it has "quirky, offbeat news item suitable for wry, low-key recycling in the planet's fourth-best classification-themed web log" written all over it. It's British Rail's plan to build flying saucers powered by nuclear fusion, of course. Turns out the UK's national railroad, otherwise renowned around the world for its pinpoint timekeeping and delicious in-car dining, filed for a patent in 1970 for a super-speedy space vehicle -- a patent that was duly granted in 1973. But, fairly typically, BR didn't keep up with the patent renewal fees, and we never did get the Inter-City Spaceship. But you've got to love that a spokesperson for the UK government's Department of Transport was moved to make this statement last week: "We have no plans to introduce nuclear-powered flying saucers to the network." Well, it's good to have that confirmed. Interdisciplinary works on nuclear propulsion are classed at 621.485 under 621.48 Nuclear engineering; works on nuclear propulsion for spacecraft go in 629.4753 under 629.47 Astronautical engineering. Works on the physics of nuclear fusion (thermonuclear reaction) go in 539.764 under 539.76 High-energy physics; and the number for works on British Railways is 385.06541, adding T2—41 British Isles directly to 385.065 [Railroad transportation] Business organizations.

The coelacanth of rodents

Readers with good memories for rat-related rumor might remember the news from 2005 that a carcass discovered in a Laotian meat market had been identified as a member of a previously-unknown species of rodents, Laonastes aenigmamus. An article in this week's Science (reported here) now shows how the Laotian rock rat (or kha-nyou, as it is known in Laos) is the modern descendant of an ancient species belonging to the Diatomyidae family -- which everyone had thought had gone extinct 11 million years ago. The Diatomyidae had never gone anywhere, though. It was just that, in an example of the "Lazarus effect," scientists hadn't happened to find any Diatomyid fossils from any period between then and now. Current thinking places the Diatomyidae family in the suborder Hystricomorpha. Works on the Laotian rock rat should thus be classed at 599.359 Rodentia other than Castoridae, Muridae, Sciuridae ("Class here Hystricomorpha").

International Women's Day

Today, March 8, is International Women's Day (IWD) -- first marked by the United Nations in 1975, during the UN's International Women's Year, but observed for the first time in 1911 (on March 19) by Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. (A national Women's Day had been designated in the US by the Socialist Party of America on February 28, 1909, in honor of the New York garment workers' strike of the previous year.) Historically, IWD has been "a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change, and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights." The theme of IWD this year is the role of women in decision making. In his message, Kofi Annan asserts that "[t]he world is ... starting to grasp that there is no policy more effective in promoting development, health and education than the empowerment of women and girls. And ... no policy is more important in preventing conflict, or in achieving reconciliation after a conflict has ended." Works on International Women's Day should be classed at 394.2 Special occasions, under 390 Customs, etiquette, folklore. Works on the social role and status of women go in sociology at 305.42; works on the civil and political rights of women go in political science at 323.34. A register of events related to this year's IWD is available here.

Unlikely winner

We know that readers will be expectantly awaiting the Dewey blog's review of Oscar night, but we're sorry to say that our representative had a prior engagement and couldn't attend or, indeed, even watch the ceremony on telly. In fact, he has no idea what happened and would like to keep it that way until he gets a chance to see the tapes (which may be a few days away, since he claims to have approximately 63 episodes of Cash in the attic to get through first). Still -- there can't have been any big shocks, right? Meanwhile, we are able to bring you news of the weekend's other big shindig: the awarding of the Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, which was won by Gary Leon Hill's People who don't know they're dead: How they attach themselves to unsuspecting bystanders and what to do about it (Weiser Books, 2005), in a very close contest that saw this early favorite triumph over the runner-up, Simon Milledge's Rhino horn stockpile management: Minimum standards and best practices from East and Southern Africa (TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa, 2005), by just two votes. Ancient starch research (Left Coast Press, 2006), by Robin Torrence and Huw J. Barton, took bronze. People who don't know ... is classed at 133.9 Spritualism under 130 Parapsychology and occultism. The second- and third-placed titles haven't yet made it into WorldCat, but we would suggest 333.959668 (adding the numbers following 599 in 599.668 Rhinocerotidae to base number 333.959 Specific kinds of mammals, under 333.95 Biological resources) for the former and 930.1 Archaeology for the latter.

Book-cart pushing: The new curling

Before we leave those lovely Winter Olympics for good, we thought readers might be interested in the efforts of the Manor's home territory -- the federal District of Columbia (T2—753) -- to send its own team to the next games. The unincorporated territories of American Samoa (T2—9613), Guam (in standing room at T2—967 Mariana Islands), Puerto Rico (T2—7295), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (T2—729722) have their own teams, so why not DC too? (Like the inhabitants of these other territories, residents of DC cannot elect voting members of the U.S. Congress; to add insult to injury, though, we do pay U.S. federal taxes -- hence the slogan "Taxation without representation" that appears on all new vehicle license plates issued in the District.) The District of Columbia Olympic Committee (DCOC) is currently focused on getting a curling team together. But the Dewey blog was wondering whether this might be a timely opportunity to begin campaigning for the recognition of synchronized library book-cart pushing as an Olympic event, because the DCOC wouldn't need to look any further than the Manor for some serious gold-medal contenders. We're in spring training already. Comprehensive works on dependent territories of the United States are classed at T2—171273, adding notation 73 United States to base number T2—1712 Noncontiguous empires and political unions; and works on the relation of the U.S. federal government to its dependent territories go at 325.373, adding notation 73 to base number 325.3 Colonization. Meanwhile, works on the right to representation go in standing room at 323.5 Political rights; and works on the law relating to voting rights in DC should be classed at 342.753072, adding T2—753 to base number 342 Constitutional and administrative law, and then adding the numbers following 342 in 342.072 Voting rights and qualifications for voting.

Sprengidagur

So much going on at the Manor today. There are 47 days until Easter Sunday ... which means it's Fat Tuesday! Carnival time (394.25)! Everyone's in their Mardi Gras outfits -- the dress code is strictly purple, to complement the green and gold of Edition 22 -- and the parade stretches all the way across the drawing room toward the water cooler just outside the Vicar's office. It's Pancake Day, too, of course, and we're having our very own pancake race later this afternoon (796.425 Non-track races). Remember: thin and crispy ... sprinkled with powdered sugar ... a dash of fresh lemon juice ... lovely. More like a crêpe than a US-style pancake, I'd say; fortunately, works on crêpes and pancakes alike are classed at 641.815 Bread and bread-like foods. Finally, to all our Icelandic readers: happy Bursting Day! And enjoy those peas.

George: best

It’s the third Monday in February! Washington’s Birthday! Also known as Presidents’ Day! A holiday for all federal employees since 1971! George Washington, the famous surveyor and Freemason who was unable to tell lies, was actually born on February 11 of the Julian calendar used at the time of his birth; in the Gregorian calendar adopted in 1752, that date corresponds to February 22. You can go ahead and celebrate the Rail Splitter’s birthday (February 12), too, if you like. Maybe you missed commemorating the birth of the Vicar’s favorite (Millard Fillmore) on January 7? But if there’s no particular president you’d like to pay your respects to, you can always go shopping! Hooray! Works on Washington’s Birthday go in standing room at 394.261 Holidays of December, January, February, while comprehensive biographies of George Washington are classed at 973.41092 (adding T1—092 Persons to 973.41 Administration of George Washington, 1789-1797 under 973 [History of] United States).