Dewey Classification

A presentation introducing the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system

1. Nature of bibliographic
control systems (Dewey)
IST 603
November 15, 2006
Denise A. Garofalo

2. Bibliographic control
systems
zAllow for the organization of the
bibliographic universe into some
systematic order
zIn libraries, provide the systematic
arrangement by subject of materials
in a manner most useful for retrieval

3. What is classification?
zA bibliographic control system
zA system of arranging a library’s collection
on the shelves which provides formal and
orderly access to the materials shelved
zA means of bringing together related items
in a useful sequence from general to
specific
zA way to lead the user to the needed items

4. Shelf types--open stacks
zOpen stacks: allows for a direct
search of the shelves by a user
yencourage browsing
ystimulate awareness of collection
yrequire comprehensible classification
system

5. Shelf types--closed stacks
zClosed stacks: a library staff
member retrieves requested items
from the shelves
yonly staff are permitted in the stacks
ylessen chance that items will be mishandled,
misplaced or taken
yrequire patron to limit searching to the
catalog and wait for staff to retrieve items

6. Catalog
zPrimary source of reference to the
collection by users
zMust be complete and current in order to
be useful
zProvides information about items through
access points

7. Call number
zThe call number contains the information
about where the item is shelved
yMay have a location or collection prefix--j or REF
or VIDEO
yNext element is the classification number--736 or
917.3 or PZ4
yNext is the Cutter number, an alpha-numeric
related to the main entry or author--H74 or Q14
yMay include a copy or accession number as the
final element

9. Classification--background
zCollections have always had some sort of
arrangement
ygroupings by title or broad subject or date or
size, etc.
yarrangements generally involved a fixed shelf
location for materials
zSubstantive developments in library
collection arrangement occurred in the
19th century

10. Classification--background
zThomas Jefferson is one of the best
known early American classifiers—he
adapted elements from Francis Bacon’s
outline of knowledge
yUsing this outline materials are classified
under functions of three basic faculties--
history under memory, philosophy under
reason, and poetry under imagination
ythe outline enjoyed widespread influence

11. Classification--background
zThe Catalogue of Benjamin Franklin’s Library
Company of Philadelphia also was based on
Bacon’s outline
zThe 1812 Catalogue of the Library of Congress
was a variant of Franklin’s Philadelphia scheme
zIn 1815 Jefferson’s Catalogue of the Library of
the United States was installed at LC (based on
Bacon’s outline)

12. Classification--background
zWilliam Torrey Harris inverted the Baconian
system and created an independent American
classification
z1876 saw the birth of the Dewey Decimal
Classification
ybased on W.T. Harris’s system
yis a hierarchical system, subdivision and
collocation must show the “natural” organization of
the subject
ythe DDC spread across America and around the
world

13. Classification--background
zCharles A. Cutter began working at the
Boston Athenaeum
ysought a practical method of arranging library
materials, not a classification of knowledge
yhis Expansive Classification does indicate
other influences and contains subordinate
classes

14. Classification--background
zBy the early 1900s LC’s collection had grown to
almost 1 million items
zThe DDC was not robust enough for LC
zJ.C.M. Hanson and Charles Martel designed an
independent system governed by the actual content
of the collection--the LC classification system
ynot a philosophic approach
yis an enumerative classification because it
seeks to assign designations (to enumerate) all the
subject concepts required in the system

15. Classification--background
zAnother type of classification is synthetic,
where lists of designations are confined to
single, unsubdivided concepts and
providing generalized rules from which to
construct headings for composite subjects

16. Classification schemes
zMost traditional schemes are enumerative
zRecent schemes are synthetic
zNote that materials on shelves or in files
are arranged in a single order
ymay have multiple access points (subject,
author, title, etc.)
ycan only by organized by one of these at a
time

17. Questions?

18. Classification schemes--
overview
zA general works class accommodates items
so broad in scope that no one class can be
chosen--encyclopedias, dictionaries
zForm classes organize materials according to
how information is presented rather than
content--poetry, plays, fiction, scores
zForm divisions group items according to
form--philosophical treatments, biographies
zIncludes an index for an alpha approach to
the classified part of the scheme

19. Faceted classification
zUses clearly defined, mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive aspects of a class or
subject
yS.R. Ranganathan’s Colon Classification (1930s)
yPMEST formula--five basic facets: personality,
material, energy, space and time (Wynar, p. 285)
yserves not just for shelving but for arranging items
for bibliographies and access service dbs
ydiscernible in verbal subjects (List of Subdivisions
in Sears is a list of generally applicable facets)

20. Classification criteria
zInclusive as well as comprehensive
(encompass the whole field of knowledge)
zSystematic (bring together related topics
in logical fashion)
zFlexible and expansible (new subjects can
be inserted with dislocating the general
sequence)
zEmploy clear and descriptive terminology

21. Classification--broad, close
zClose classification: classing each work
as specifically as possible, using all
available subdivisions (LC classification)
zBroad classification: groups works
under the main divisions and subdivisions,
without using breakdowns into narrower
concepts (most useful in smaller
collections; DDC)

22. General principles

23. Choosing the best location
zPlease note: Classification
schemes vary in their
flexibility regarding local
manipulation
zTry to be consistent to avoid confusion

24. General precepts
zClass first according to subject, then by form
(except in generals, where form may be
paramount)
zClass where it will be most useful
zPlace it in the most specific subject division that
will contain it, rather than with the general topic
zIf it deals with 2 or 3 subjects, place it with the
predominant subject or the one treated first.
More than 3 subjects--place it in the general
class which combines all of the subjects

25. Refining precepts
zA work discussing the Spanish influence
on Portuguese literature should be classed
with Portuguese literature--class works
dealing with two subjects where one
influences another are placed in the
subject acted upon or influenced
zMonographic sets--class either all together
under a broad number or class separately
under each individual volume’s subject

26. No classification is perfect
zEach classification scheme is limited
zA scheme can be logical within itself but
have inconsistencies
ylanguage is separate from literature and
history from social sciences in DDC
ylanguage is classed with literature and history
close to social sciences in LCC
zDDC and LCC are linear and uni-
dimensional

27. More limitations
zReorganization and relocation cause
problems
ynew numbers for new concepts
ymoving concepts to more logical locations
zNotations become more complex when
keeping a scheme up-to-date
zPurchased cataloging is only as good as
the vendor’s catalogers

28. Questions?

29. Break time

30. Dewey Decimal Classification
zThe oldest and most widely used in
America
zBorn Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey, he
shortened his name to Melvil Dewey (he
wanted it to be Dui)
yfounded ALA
yfounded the first American library school
(Columbia University)

31. Dewey Decimal Classification
zDewey never claimed to have originated
decimals
zHis relative index was his claim to
originality in his classification
ya key to the diverse material included in his
tables
yhowever his most significant contribution IS
decimals, in the hierarchical divisions

32. Dewey Decimal Classification
zFirst DDC came out anonymously in 1876
and was titled A Classification and Subject
Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the
Books and Pamphlets of a Library
zThe second, revised and greatly enlarged,
edition came out in 1885 under Dewey’s
name
zUDC (Universal Decimal Classification) is
based on the DDC

33. DDC--basic concepts
zArranges all knowledge (library materials)
into 10 broad subject classes numbered
from 000-900
zNumbers can be expanded to cover
aspects of general subjects
zThe more specific the item being classified
the longer the number grows
zLong numbers may be accurate but are
impractical and unwieldy

34. DDC--basic concepts
zA compact scheme--4 volumes total (22
nd
)
zIncorporates mnemonic devices transferred
from one class to another (-03 at the end of a
class number of any length indicates a
dictionary of the subject at hand)
zAllows for a great detail of specification
zArranges subjects from the general to the
specific

35. DDC--basic premise
zUnder Dewey there is no one class for any
given subject
zPrimary arrangement is by discipline
zAny specific topic may appear in any
number of disciplines
zAspects of a topic are brought together in
the relative index

36. DDC--schedule format
zSummaries
yDDC provides three summaries
x10 main DDC classes
xDivisions of a typical DDC class
xSections of a typical DDC division
yTypical DDC hierarchical sequences or
multilevel summaries can be found in eight
places in the schedules

37. DDC--basic concepts
zNotes are a helpful source of information
ynotes that tell what is found at a class #
ynotes that tell what is found at other class #s
ynotes that ID topics in “standing room” (topics that
don’t have enough works about them to justify a
separate number--computers were like this for
awhile, 001.6 then 004-006)
ynotes that explain changes in schedules and tables
ynotes that instruct in number building
ynotes that prescribe precedence order
ynotes that explain options

38. DDC--basic concepts
zNumber building
yway to expand existing numbers in the
schedules
yin tables these numbers are preceded by a
“-” to indicate they cannot stand alone
(omit the dash when attaching to a
number)

39. Standard subdivisions
zOriginally “Form divisions”
zSome treat format
zOthers represent modes of treatment which
cover theoretical or historical aspects of the
subject (such as philosophy and theory,
history, etc.)
zUnless specific instructions indicate otherwise,
these can be used with any number if
application is meaningful
zMore info available

40. Geographic areas
zWhen a given heading can be subdivided
geographically and the library has many
books dealing on the subject use Table 2
(area table)
zThe number can be expanded by region
or site
zThe bulkiest table

41. Individual literatures
zTable 3 is actually three tables
zThey are never used alone but under
the instructions given at 808-809 and
810-890

42. Individual languages
zTable 4 is used with base numbers for
individual languages
zSee 420-490 for explanation
zDoes provide mnemonic form divisions
y-1 for writing systems
y-2 for etymology
y-3 for dictionaries

43. Racial, ethnic groups
zTable 5 is used according to specific
instructions in the schedules or other
tables
zMay also be used through -89
interposition
zUse is parallel to that of Table 2

44. Languages
zTable 6 is a basic mnemonic table to
indicate the particular language of the
work or the language which is the
subject

45. Groups of persons
zTable 7 is used as instructed in the
schedules or in other tables
zDeals with various characteristics or
persons (social groups)

46. Adding from other parts
zThere are many places in the DDC
schedules where the classifier is directed
to find a number elsewhere in the
schedule and add it whole to the number
at hand
zCheck DDC itself for examples

47. Relative index
zClaimed to show relationships of each
specific topic to one or more disciplines and
to other topics
zContains terms found in the schedules and
tables and synonyms for those terms
zAlso has names of states, provinces, cities,
geographic features, some personal names
zDoes not contain phrases that begin with
adjectival phrases (Portuguese plays)

48. Relative index
zEnumerates alphabetically all the main
headings in the class schedules
zAlso contains certain specific entries not
actually listed in the schedules
zIndex terminology varies from that found
in the schedules (Perspiration)
zShould never become a substitute for the
schedules

49. Other DDC info
zDDC segments
y636.6/01
ysmall libraries may just use 636.6
ylarger libraries would use 636.601
zUpdating--new edition every 8 years or so
zAbridged editions are available for the
very small libraries (can “grow” into full
DDC) (14
th
)

50. Questions?

51. Assignment
zDo DDC classification
assignment
zRead Wynar
yBrown cover—Chapters 14, 16,17
yBlue cover—Chapters 9, 11, 12