Classification Dewey Decimal Classification

1
ClassificationDewey Decimal Classification
2
Classification in Context

• Obtain information package.
• Describe information package in surrogate record.
  
• Subject analyze information package in surrogate
  record
• Verbal
• Classification

3
Classification

• The intellectual process by which things or
  concepts are organized to have likeness or unity
  and by this likeness or unity are set in relation
  to one another
• The sorting and grouping of things
• Putting together of like things
• Sorting items into conceptual classes

4
Classification

• Context can be expressed in notation but must be
  understood to be useful.
• Notation brief symbols for subject terms in a
  classification scheme
• Functions
• Represent subjects
• Show relationships among subjects
• Provide a sequential order for a logical
  arrangement

5
Classification

• Purpose is to bring related items together in a
  helpful sequence from the general to the
  specific.
• Properties
• Must be inclusive as well as comprehensive. Must
  encompass the whole field of knowledge as
  represented in collectible media.
• It must be systematic
• It must be flexible and expansible
• It must employ terminology that is clear and
  descriptive with consistent meaning for both the
  user and the classifier

6
Classification Types

• Enumerative
• One that attempts to assign designations for all
  the single and composite subject concepts
  required in the system (eg., LCC)

7
Classification Types

• Hierarchical
• Based on the assumption that the process of
  subdivision and collocation must exhibit as much
  as possible the natural organization of the
  subject, proceeding from classes to divisions to
  subdivisions, and following a logic of
  subdivision (e.g., DDC)

8
Classification Types

• Synthetic
• A classification that assigns designations to
  single, unsubdivided concepts and gives the
  classifier generalized rules for combining these
  designations for composite subjects

9
Classification Types

• Faceted
• Combination, in prescribed sequence, of clearly
  defined, mutually exclusive, and collectively
  exhaustive properties, or characteristics of a
  subject

10
Draft of a Faceted Classification Scheme for
Literature
11
Classification by Discipline

• Basic classes are organized by traditional
  academic disciplines or fields of study. The
  parts of the classification are arranged by
  discipline, not by subject

12
DDC

• Built by Dewey on principles of organization
  advanced by Bacon, 1874-1876
• Most widely used worldwide
• 95 of U.S. public school libraries
• 25 of U.S. college university libraries
• 20 of special libraries
• Translated into 30 languages
• Developed and maintained by the Decimal
  Classification Division of LC
• LC supplied DDC for gt110,000 items/year

13
MELVILLE LOUIS KOSSUTH DEWEY (1851-1931)
14
6 THINGS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT MELVIL DEWEY

• he was born on the tenth day of the tenth month
• he sometimes spelt his name Dui
• he was very busy when he was 24
• he took a keen interest in co-education
• he used to have really bad seasonal allergies
• his country club was pretty exclusive

15
DDC

• Published by Forest Press
• a division of OCLC
• Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee
  (ALA LA (Great Britain))
• Decimal 000 through 999.9999999..
• Is enumerative, hierarchical, and decimal, and
  includes faceting
• Ten Main Classes ten subclasses, etc.

16
DDC

• Discipline based, not subject based
• Synthetic Number building
• Relative Index
• Tables
• Standard Subdivisions
• place or time but not both except when
  specified

17
Relative Index

• Disciplinary focus of DDC causes subjects to be
  scattered across the classification therefore, a
  centralized subject index (the Relative Index) to
  the schedules is needed.
• Relative index relates subjects to the various
  disciplines to which they may belong
• Journalism generally found at 070.4
• Journalism civil rights issues at 323.445
• Journalism sociology at 302.23
• Deweys theoretical contribution to library
  classification

18
COMPONENTS

• Volume 1 Introduction, Tables 1-7
• Volume 2 Schedules 000-599
• Volume 3 Schedules 600-699
• Volume 4 Index, Manual
• Relative Index one of Deweys most important
  contributions
• entries partly based on LCSH

19
Conceptual Framework of DDC

• Basic classes are organized by discipline (i.e.,
  fields of study).
• Divisions of DDC
• Ten main classes (0XX, 1XX, 2XX, etc), which
  together cover the entire world of knowledge
• Each main class is divided into ten divisions
  (100 total divisions in DDC)
• Each division is divided into ten sections (1000
  total sections in DDC)

20
Conceptual Framework of DDC

• Class 000 is most general
• Used for works not limited to any on specific
  discipline (e.g., encyclopedias, newspapers,
  general periodicals)
• Used for certain specialized disciplines that
  deal with knowledge and information (e.g.,
  library science, computer science, journalism)
• Each of the other main classes (1XX to 9XX)
  comprises a major discipline or group of related
  disciplines.
• DDC IS ARRANGED PRIMARILY BY DISCIPLINE AND NOT
  BY SUBJECT therefore, a given subject is likely
  to appear under more than one class numbers.

21
Principle of Hierarchy

• Structural hierarchy (inheritance)
• Whatever is true of the whole is true of the
  parts
• This is termed hierarchical force
• Example
• All classmarks under 5XX are related to the
  natural sciences and/or mathematics
• All classmarks under 612.1 are related to blood
  and circulation
• Notational hierarchy (relationships between
  concepts)
• Subordinate 621.4 is subordinate to 621
• Coordinate 621.4 is coordinate with 621.6
• Superordinate 621 is superordinate to 621.4

22
STRUCTURE OF SCHEDULES

• 0 Generalities
• 1-7 Realm of reason
• Sciences and Arts
• 8 Realm of imagination
• Literature (Belles-lettres) and rhetoric
• 9 Realm of memory
• Geography, history, and auxiliary disciplines

23
REALM OF REASON

• 1 Philosophy, paranormal phenomena, psychology
• 2 Religion
• 3 Social sciences
• 4 Language
• 5 Natural sciences and mathematics
• 6 Technology (Applied sciences)
• 7 The arts Fine and decorative arts

24
SCHEDULE ENTRIES

• class number (or span of numbers)
• heading
• notes
• on what is found in that class
• on what is found in other classes
• explaining changes or irregularities
• directing to Manual
• on number-building (Add notes)
• notes are the key to correct classification

25
DDC The Ten Main Classes

• 000 Computers, information general reference
• 100 Philosophy psychology
• 200 Religion
• 300 Social sciences
• 400 Language
• 500Science
• 600 Technology
• 700 Arts recreation
• 800 Literature
• 900 History geography

26
DDC The 100 Divisions

• 500 Science
• 500 Science
• 510 Mathematics
• 520 Astronomy
• 530 Physics
• 540 Chemistry
• 550 Earth sciences geology
• 560-590 Life sciences

27
DDC The 1000 Divisions

• 510 Mathematics
• 510 Mathematics
• 511General principles of mathematics
• 512 Algebra, number theory
• 513 Arithmetic
• 514 Topology
• 515 Analysis
• 516 Geometry
• 517 Unassigned
• 518 Unassigned
• 519 Probabilities and applied mathematics

28
DDC

• The longer the number, the greater the
  specificity
• 372.6561044
• Methods materials for teaching Spanish in the
  elementary school

29
Number Building

• 2 methods of number-building
• without instructions, using Table 1
• only on instructions by Add notes, using
• Tables 2-7
• schedules

30
372.6561044

• 3xx Social Sciences
• 37x Education
• 372 Elementary education
• 372.6 Language arts
• 372.65 Foreign languages
• 372.6561 Spanish
• 372.6561044 Teaching methods
  materials

31
Another example

• 325.2 class number for immigration
• geographic notation for New York City is -097471
• geographic notation for Italy is -45
• Both of these could be added 325.2, to create a
  specific number for emigration from Italy to NYC
• 325.245097471

32
Segmentation

• Dewey number that is divided with prime (') or
  slash (/) marks, often in the Cataloging in
  Publication (CIP) data
• practice developed by Library of Congress
• 363.73'94526'091638
• could be cut off after the first mark by a small
  library
• after the second by a medium sized library.

33
Finding DDC Numbers

• 1st Choose among the 10 classes
• 2nd Choose among the 10 divisions under the
  chosen class
• 3rd Choose among the 10 sections under the chosen
  division
• 4th Go to the schedule
• -Alternately, use the relative index, but
  dont class from the index
• 5th Follow all the instructions at that number

34
DDC Tables

• Table 1 Standard Subdivisions
• Contains mnemonics for standard subdivisions
• Used to add facets to the class number (education
  is 072, geographical is 09, etc)
• Table 2 Geographic Areas, Historical Periods,
  Persons
• Contains mnemonics for geographical areas, etc
• Used to add geographic facets to the class
  number
• United States is 973
• Southeastern states is 975
• Alabama is 976.1
• Tuscaloosa County is 976.184

35
DDC Tables

• Table 3 Subdivisions for the Arts, for
  Individual Literatures, for Specific Literary
  Forms
• Contains mnemonics for subdivisions for the arts,
  for individual literatures, for specific literary
  forms
• Table 4 Subdivisions of individual languages
  and language families.
• Table 5 Racial, ethnic, national groups.
• Table 6 Languages.
• Table 7 Groups of persons.

36
Using Table One

• Used to connect a subject with a standard facet
• 01 Philosophy and theory
• 02 Miscellany
• 03 Dictionaries, encyclopedias,
  concordances
• 04 Special topics
• 05 Serial publications
• 06 Organizations and management
• 07 Education, research, related
  topics
• 08 History/description w/ respect to
  kinds of persons
• 09 Historical, geographic, persons
  treatment

37
Using Table One

• When analyzing Table One numbers (and Table One
  numbers ONLY), looking for the connecting 0
  between subject and facet.
• Look up subject class in the schedules.
• Look up facet class in Table One.
• Most of the time, the connecting 0 is the first
  occurrence
• 635.13074 635.13 for Carrots and 074 for
  catalogs
• But not always 020.25 020 for LIS and 025 for
  Directories

38
Cutter Numbers

• Used to create call numbers for individual
  library collections.
• Provides the link between the surrogate record
  and the actual item in the collection.
• Alpha-numeric representation of main entry
• Sub-arranges works in the same class

39
Cutter Numbers

• After the class notation is determined, then the
  cuttering process begins.
• Use a cutter table
• C. A. Cutters Two-Figure Author Table
• C. A. Cutters Three-Figure Author Table
• Cutter-Sanborn Three-Figure Author Table
• OCLC Dewey Cutter Macro (four-figure)
• Cuttering is a flexible process only use table
  as a guide

40
Steps for Cuttering

• Determine first letter of main entry (most often
  taken from 100 tag but could be 245 tag)
• Use number associated with second letter of main
  entry
• Add additional numbers until call number is
  unique
• Add date

41
Cutter Numbers

• Smaller libraries alpha-only
• Air Transportation by Robert Bartlett
• 387.7
• Bar
• Judith Watkins
• Cutter 2-Figure
• W32
• Cutter 3-Figure
• W325
• Cutter-Sanborn 3 Figure
• W335

42
Strengths of DDC

• Most commonly used classification scheme in the
  world
• Practical
• Relative location places topics in an
  intellectual framework rather than physical
• Pure numerical notation is understandable across
  languages and cultures
• Self-evident numerical sequence facilitates
  filing and shelving

43
Strengths of DDC

• Hierarchical nature of the notation expresses the
  relationships between class numbers, enables
  online searching
• Infinitely expandable
• Mnemonic nature helps library users navigate
• Continuous revision of the schedules ensures
  currency

44
Weaknesses of DDC

• Anglo-American bias
• Related disciplines are separated (e.g. Social
  sciences is 300, Geography History is 900,
  Languages is 400, Literature is 800)
• Within 800, works by the same author may be
  divided by form
• Base 10 limits capacity for putting subjects at
  the same level to 9

45
Weaknesses of DDC

• Different rates of growth have resulted in uneven
  structure -- Social sciences 300s, Natural
  sciences 500s and Technology 600s are all very
  crowded!
• You can't put a new subject between numbers, say
  between 610 and 620, without it being a subclass
  of 610.
• Even though the system can expand infinitely,
  those numbers get mighty long and awkward!
• The occasional complete relocations and
  revisions, while necessary, are a pain

46
Quote of the Week

• The smallest error at the subject analysis stage
  of classification can defeat the purpose of
  classification, because misclassed works are lost
  to readers. ... Thus, care and circumspection
  must be constant companions in subject analysis.
• Chan et al. 1996