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Who needs Dewey?

Who needs Dewey?. A Norwegian perspective. My talk. Norway : 5 million people scattered around …. 19 counties 428 municipalities , ranging from 201 inhabitants (Utsira) to ca. 600 000 inhabitants (Oslo). (2012)

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Who needs Dewey?

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  1. Who needs Dewey? A Norwegian perspective

  2. My talk

  3. Norway: 5 million peoplescatteredaround … • 19 counties • 428 municipalities, ranging from 201 inhabitants (Utsira) to ca. 600 000 inhabitants (Oslo). (2012) • Public Library Act: Eachmunicipalityshall have a publiclibrary, which is administered by themunicipalityalone or in cooperationwithothermunicipalities

  4. Is smallbeautiful? Public libraries: Report to the Storting 23 (2008-2009): • 108 publiclibraries have less staff thanone man-year • 56 % ofthepubliclibraries have less thantwo man-years • 124 municipalities (29 %) have noprofessionally qualifiedhead librarian This shows thatthere is need to have an efficientbibliographic system whichallows for thereuseof (classification) data Main provider to public and schoollibraries: Norwegian Library Bureau. DDK5 (latest Norwegian DDC translation used).Subject headings and classifiactionnumbersmapped: *650 1$aBoliger$0husholdning$1643.1$2BS$9nob

  5. Academic and speciallibraries Library units in all: 314 (Statistics Norway, 2011) • 1 nationallibrary • 146 academiclibraries (universities and university colleges) • 36 libraries in healthinstitutions • 109 publicspecial/researchlibraries • 22 private special/researchlibraries 112 libraries in researchinstitutions and highereducationalinstitutions + theirsubunitsparticipate in the BIBSYS sharedcataloguing system. No unifiedclassification and subject data policy

  6. Haakon Nyhuus «imported» Dewey • Newberry Library, Chicago Public Libray • Head of Oslo Public Library in 1897 • Library reformer ofthecentury! • IntroducedDewey in thelibrary 1898 • Mildlysceptical to Dewey: «… theoldcarriagewithitstenwheels,someofwhichare a littleloose and shaky from wear and tear…»

  7. Arne Arnesen – disseminatedDewey • Head ofcataloguing, later head ofthelibrary • Publishedarticles/booksaboutcataloguing and classification • Publishedcataloguingrules and DDC schedules in Norwegian • Initiatedcourses in librarianship

  8. All editions up to 1983 namedafter Arnesen • Bøkenes opstilling og nummerering, 1914 • (1. ed.) • Klassifikasjon etter MelvilDeweys system, 1920 (2. ed.) • Klassifikasjon etter MelvilDeweys system, 1969 (3. ed.)

  9. Historically: Dewey = publiclibraries • The nationalbibliography (Universityof Oslo Library) startedusingDewey in 1956 • Academic/speciallibraries: • «Home grownsystems» • UDC • Dewey • No officialcoordinationbetweenthetwosectors, Deweyremained «publiclibraryproperty» • 1977: National Office for Research Documentation, Academic and Special Libraries (RBT) establishedthe Norwegian General Classification Committee, DDC Section

  10. 1970s – Turning point • Surveys/seminars/workshops ontheuseofclassification and indexing systems in Norway • Thoroughinvestigationsinto general classification systems: Library ofCongressClassification, BibliographicClassification (Bliss), UDC and DDC. National classification policy published (1977): • Norwegian academic and speciallibrariesareadvised to useeither UDC or DDC. DDC is recommended for smallerlibraries and librarieswith a «general» collectionprofile. UDC is recommended for largercollectionswhereitsgreaterlevelofspecificity is needed

  11. National classification policy (1977) • The long term aimwas a nationalthesauruswhich covers all subjects. The database shouldpoint from thesubject terms to DDC/UDC. The need for Norwegian terms is emphasizedsincetheresultswill be communicated to «students, pupils and the general public» • Since Norway is a small country we have to refrain from translating theinternationalclassification systems in full

  12. National classification policy (1977) • Abbreviated, nationaleditions is an option, but have proved hard to update • Translate terms as an «input vocabulary» to theinternationalclassificationsystems • Centralizeclassification, reuse data from bibliographiccentres (national or international) • Show librarieswheretheycanshortenthenumber (DDC: 331´886)

  13. Results … • The useof «homemade systems»reduced • Move from UDC to DDC (ca. 60 UDC usersremain) • Beforedeveloping DDK4 (published 1983) oneoftheoptionsfor updatingDewey in Norway was to translate the relative indexofthe full editiononly • DDK4 a (more or less) «true» subsetof DDC whichmade it easier for libraries to use DDK in combination with full DDC

  14. Intermediaryeditions (DDK4 and DDK5) • Updatingcontinuesto be a problem • Intermediaryeditiontoosmall for thelarge or specializedcollections, oftentoodetailed for thesmallestlibraries(and thereforealsodifficult to use) Too small: manyeditionsofDewey still in use, littleharmonizationofvocabularies Too detailed: Example (book on dog massage): DDK5: 636.7089582 No suggestion as to where to shortenthenumber

  15. When replacing DDK5 • Surveys/seminar/workshops on the use ofclassification and indexing • Little reuseof DDC numbers (partly due to thenumberofeditions in use, partlythatclassificationnumbersareadjusted to thecollections) • Pilot projectonmixed English/Norwegian (an attempt to createoneDeweyeditionapplicable to all types and sizesoflibraries+ «quickfix»)

  16. Reasonsfor choosing a full translationof DDC: • One sizefits all • The need for Norwegian vocabularythroughoutthe system to form subject headings • End usertoolsneed to be in Norwegian • Updatingofmixededition time consuming and costly • The universitylibrariesprefer a full translation • One source • Easier to reuseclassification • Improveconsistency in OPACs • Facilitatefederatedsearches

  17. Cultural diversity … BIBSYS

  18. Classificationissueswhichneedattention • Acceptance for reuseofclassification from centralizedsources • Convince libraries that Dewey is more than a shelving system! • Experiment with, develop and implement end-userbrowsingtools • Support themappingofvocabularies to WebDewey • Manylibrariesfind DDK5 toodetailed, show where to abbreviate • Affordablelicence

  19. Hanna Lund, Universityof Oslo Library, 1943 «Life is tooshort to allowtheneglectofclassification»

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