Download 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
• Language-independent representation
• Potential for customization
Shelf arrangement in the 1800s
• Institution-specific, using, e.g., accession
order, broad subject classes, size, author
name
• Duplication of effort
• Initial classification
• Reclassification
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
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”
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
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
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
2—455 523
Nordovest della provincia di Pisa (It)
San Guiliano Terme (It)
Hierarchical organization (3)
• Flexible granularity
320.5
320.53*
320.532
320.532 2
Political ideologies
Collectivism and fascism
Communism
Marxism-Leninism
*Abridged edition stops here
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
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
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)
Number building (3)
• Intrafacet relationships—cont.
French masters 759.4074
759
(Painting and paintings) Historical,
geographic, persons treatment
4
France (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)
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
Language-independent
representation (2)
713
Αρχιτεκτονική τοπίου για αρτηρίες μεταφορών
Ландшафтная архитектура транспортных
путей
‫אדריכלות נוף של דרכי תחבורה‬
‫ﺗﺼﻤﻴﻢ ﺍﻠﻧﺎﻇﺮ ﺍﻠﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻄﺮ ﻕ‬
Potential for customization (1)
• Choice of level of specificity
• Shelf arrangement
• Full vs. abridged edition
• Local practice
• Search
• Truncated search plus wildcard operator
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
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
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
Benefits arising from the notation
• Large amount of categorized content
• Worldwide user community
• Language-independent representation
• Interoperable translations
• Mappings and crosswalks