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Melvil Dewey’s Ingenious Notational System

Melvil Dewey’s Ingenious Notational System. North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization June 19, 2009 Rebecca Green Dewey Decimal Classification. Roadmap. Shelf arrangement vs. subject collocation Decimal notation Hierarchical organization Number building

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Melvil Dewey’s Ingenious Notational System

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  1. Melvil Dewey’sIngenious Notational System • North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization • June 19, 2009 • Rebecca Green • Dewey Decimal Classification

  2. Roadmap • Shelf arrangement vs. subject collocation • Decimal notation • Hierarchical organization • Number building • Language-independent representation • Potential for customization

  3. Shelf arrangement in the 1800s • Institution-specific, using, e.g., accession order, broad subject classes, size, author name • Duplication of effort • Initial classification • Reclassification

  4. Eureka! • The insight • Use classification scheme to establish relatively fine-grained subject representation • Use decimal notation to govern order of shelf arrangement • Immediate benefits derived from the insight • Institution-independent relative location • Cooperative classification • Linear sequence + hierarchical organization

  5. Decimal notation (1) • DDC 1,1876 • Every class admitted of division into 9 subclasses (represented 1-9), plus 0 to represent no division • “No difficulty found in . . . omitting the initial zero;” some 2-digit numbers (e.g., 51 [051]) • Also some 4-digit numbers (e.g., 5545 [554.5]) • Notation incorporated decimal point “as if it were written after the first figure”

  6. Decimal notation (2) • DDC 2, 1885 • Leading zeroes retained • Decimal point between third and fourth digits • Effect • Notation more expressive • Filing order same whether interpreted numerically or alphanumerically

  7. Hierarchical organization (1) • New subjects can be accommodated by notational expansion, e.g., • 005.75 Specific types of data files and databases • 005.753 Temporal, spatial, constraint databases

  8. Hierarchical organization (2) • Interoperable expansions • 2—455 5 Pisa province (Eng) • Provincia di Pisa (It) • 2—455 51 Pisa (Eng) • Comune di Pisa (It) • 2—455 52 Nordovest della provincia di Pisa (It) • 2—455 523 San Guiliano Terme (It)

  9. Hierarchical organization (3) • Flexible granularity • 320.5 Political ideologies • 320.53* Collectivism and fascism • 320.532 Communism • 320.532 2 Marxism-Leninism • *Abridged edition stops here

  10. Hierarchical organization (4) • Expressivity of notation • Specificity • Psychology 150 • Emotions of children 155.4124 • Relationships among subjects • Oats 633.13 • Rye 633.14 • Corn 633.15 • Barley 633.16

  11. Number building (1) • Mnemonicity • China T2—51, 951 • Chinese language T6—951, 495.1 • Chinese literature 895.1 • Chinese religions 299.51 • Chinese Communist Party 324.251075 • Chinese calendar 529.32951

  12. Number building (2) • Intrafacet relationships • Ceramic arts of Jews 738.089924 • 738 Ceramic arts • 089 Ethnic and national groups • (from Table 1) • 924 Jews • (from Table 5 as instructed under T1—08905-T1—08999: Add to base number T1—089 notation T5—05-T5—9 from Table 5)

  13. Number building (3) • Intrafacet relationships—cont. • French masters759.4074 • 759 (Painting and paintings) Historical, geographic, persons treatment • 4France (from Table 2, as instructed at 759.3-759.8 Miscellaneous parts of Europe: Add to base number 759 the numbers following –4 in notation 43-48 from Table 2) • 074 Exhibitions (from Table 1)

  14. Language-independent representation (1) • 713 • Landscape architecture of trafficways • Arquitectura paisajística de las vías de tráfico • Aménagement paysager des voies de communication • Landschaftsgestaltung für Verkehrswege • Landskapsarkitektur for trafikkårer

  15. Language-independent representation (2) • 713 • Αρχιτεκτονική τοπίου για αρτηρίες μεταφορών • Ландшафтная архитектура транспортных путей • אדריכלות נוף של דרכי תחבורה • ﻕﻟﻠﻄﺮﺍﻠﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔﺍﻠﻧﺎﻇﺮﺗﺼﻤﻴﻢ

  16. Potential for customization (1) • Choice of level of specificity • Shelf arrangement • Full vs. abridged edition • Local practice • Search • Truncated search plus wildcard operator

  17. Potential for customization (2) • Search by subject component, using 085 - Synthesized Classification Number Components (MARC bibliographic format) • 085 ## $b759 $a759.3 $c759.8 $z2 $r4 $t4 $u759.4 • 085 ## $b759.4 $z1 $t074 $u759.4074 • Search on 75* and 2—44* for French painting and paintings

  18. Potential for customization (3) • Display using personal citation order • Standard citation order in Table 1: place + time • Europe, 19th century 1—094034 • Europe, 20th century 1—09404 • Asia, 19th century 1—095034 • Asia, 20th century 1—09504 • Africa, 19th century 1—096034 • Africa, 20th century 1—09604

  19. Potential for customization (4) • Display using personal citation order • Reverse citation order: time + place • Europe, 19th century 1—094 + 034 • Asia, 19th century 1—095 + 034 • Africa, 19th century 1—096 + 034 • Europe, 20th century 1—094 + 04 • Asia, 20th century 1—095 + 04 • Africa, 20th century 1—096 + 04

  20. Benefits arising from the notation • Large amount of categorized content • Worldwide user community • Language-independent representation • Interoperable translations • Mappings and crosswalks

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