Melvil Deweys Ingenious Notational System

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Melvil DeweysIngenious Notational System

• North American Symposium on Knowledge
  Organization
• June 19, 2009
• Rebecca Green
• Dewey Decimal Classification

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Roadmap

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

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Shelf arrangement in the 1800s

• Institution-specific, using, e.g., accession
  order, broad subject classes, size, author name
• Duplication of effort
• Initial classification
• Reclassification

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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

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OSI model applied to shelf arrangement

• Shelf arrangement as bottom/physical layer of
  model
• Each layer provides services to layer above
• Support access to / use of intellectual/artistic
  content of collection as top/application layer of
  model

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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

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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

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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

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Hierarchical organization (2)

• Interoperable expansions
• 2455 5 Pisa province (Eng)
• Provincia di Pisa (It)
• 2455 51 Pisa (Eng)
• Comune di Pisa (It)
• 2455 52 Nordovest della provincia di Pisa
  (It)
• 2455 523 San Guiliano Terme (It)

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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

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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

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Number building (1)

• Mnemonicity
• China T251, 951
• Chinese language T6951, 495.1
• Chinese literature 895.1
• Chinese religions 299.51
• Chinese Communist Party 324.251075
• Chinese calendar 529.32951

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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
  T108905-T108999 Add to base number T1089
  notation T505-T59 from Table 5)

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Number building (3)

• Intrafacet relationshipscont.
• 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)

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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

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Language-independent representation (2)

• 713
• ????te?t????? t?p??? ??a a?t???e? µetaf????
• ??????????? ??????????? ???????????? ?????
• ???????? ??? ?? ???? ??????
• ? ???? ???????? ?????? ?????

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Potential for customization (1)

• Choice of level of specificity
• Shelf arrangement
• Full vs. abridged edition
• Local practice
• Search
• Truncated search plus wildcard operator

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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 244 for French painting and
  paintings

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Potential for customization (3)

• Display using personal citation order
• Standard citation order in Table 1 place time
• Europe, 19th century 1094034
• Europe, 20th century 109404
• Asia, 19th century 1095034
• Asia, 20th century 109504
• Africa, 19th century 1096034
• Africa, 20th century 109604

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Potential for customization (4)

• Display using personal citation order
• Reverse citation order time place
• Europe, 19th century 1094 034
• Asia, 19th century 1095 034
• Africa, 19th century 1096 034
• Europe, 20th century 1094 04
• Asia, 20th century 1095 04
• Africa, 20th century 1096 04

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Benefits arising from the notation

• Large amount of categorized content
• Worldwide user community
• Language-independent representation
• Interoperable translations
• Mappings and crosswalks