Does anybody know of a place where you can get a fairly comprehensive
list of Dewey (TM) codes and their descriptions that won't get me sued
by OCLC (R) and might actually be useful to non-librarians? I've been
experimenting with using Dewey (TM) in our faceted catalog [1] and so
far it doesn't seem tremendously useful as a way of finding things, at
least compared to other faceting options available.
Some of the descriptions are helpful but ones like "General principles
& musical forms" or "Biographies of works from specific subjects" seem
pretty much useless unless you're a librarian. And I am unclear on
whether it is even legal to use descriptions like these [2] in a catalog
without incurring the Almighty Wrath (SM) of OCLC (R).
I remember Tim from LibraryThing was talking a while back about
creating a "Melvil" or "Dui" classification system based upon an out of
copyright version of Dewey (TM). Has anybody done any work along these
lines?
--Casey
[1] http://catalog.spl.org/catalog/
[2] http://www.marcont.org/ontology/marcontddc.rdf
Dewey is a trademark of the Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
Almighty Wrath is a registered service mark of YHWH.
________________________________
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries on behalf of Karen Coyle
Sent: Thu 5/31/2007 4:32 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Prof. Burke's wish list
I like this educational component, and I do think that some of this is
what Burke may be seeking. The problem I see with Dewey as we use it
today is it is so very linear/one-dimensional that I think many
persons
standing before a shelf that is classified in DDC may fail to see the
connections. Using DDC or LCC to allow users to explore in a
hypertextual way, so that a book on veterinary medicine could link to
books on general biology and chemistry, as well as some added "see
alsos" to pets and careers, would illuminate the interactions between
the items in the library. In fact, the numbers themselves are not the
full set of information in either of these classification systems,
because they do have vocabulary and entry vocabulary, related topics,
etc., in the schedules that we don't present to the users. And there
is
a lot of information in the DDC "facets" that reveal geographical and
other information that again I don't think is obvious to the user at
the
shelf. I guess I'm saying that if you don't know what the numbers mean
you can still find a book but you can't really understand why it's on
the shelf it is on. And, yes, there might be some similar books near
it,
but similar HOW? Couldn't we do a better job of revealing the
information in the classification system?
kc
Rinne, Nathan (ESC) wrote:
> Sarah,
>
> What concerns me the most is that I think there is an educative
component in Dewey that is being lost.
>
> It seems to me that the purpose of all libraries, in one sense or
another, to one degree or another, is to
>
> -comprehensively take account of...
>
> -systematically organize...
>
> -and thereby make increasingly accessible / findable...
>
> knowledge of the world for the world - and of course doing so in a
timely manner.
>
> In addition, I believe *all* of these steps, in fact, help the user
to learn about the world.
>
> I think the Dewey system, though imperfect, exemplifies this.
>
> Again, LCSH classification and subject headings do the same thing.
While I think Karen's musings about Prof. Burke's wish list are
excellent and ought to be pursued with vigor, I wonder if in addition to
the advantages of LCSH's faceted searching (now finally being exploited
and appreciated by folks like Andrew Pace, Erik Hatcher, etc.), we have
considered enough the "guaranteed serendipity" that results when one
explores the holistic web of interconnectivity and interdisciplinarity
formed by linked vocabulary-controlled subject headings.
>
> And bring on the tags as well!
>
> Nathan Rinne
> Media Cataloging Technician
> ISD 279 - Educational Service Center (ESC)
> 11200 93rd Ave. North
> Maple Grove, MN. 55369
> Work phone: 763-391-7183
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Simpson, Sarah
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 3:14 PM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Prof. Burke's wish list
>
> I'm interested in how this works out, too. I am assuming this is a
small branch of the library. Our cookbook section, for one example)
takes up an awful lot of real estate - I would hate to be looking for
one particular book without a good identifier. I am very curious about
how shelving and paging will work. It's great for browsing, but it
seems like it will cause difficulties with getting the one book you are
actually looking for. Still, if the branch is small enough that their
sections aren't any bigger than those at Borders, it may work well for
them.
>
> I'm also curious about labeling/classification - it seems like they
will still need some sort of system. History books run from 930 to 990
and take up a LOT of space - here at our Central Library, we have almost
12,000 items in the 900s. It seems like someone would have to still
assign some sort of classification - Russian history, American history
(still an immense section), and so on. I hope they put something up on
the Web or publish something so we can get a look at what they are
doing!
>
> Sarah Simpson
> Technical Services Manager
> Tulsa City-County Library
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Stephens Owen
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 3:02 PM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Prof. Burke's wish list
>
>
>> Nathan wrote:
>> It will be interesting to see if the following incident gives birth
to
>> others:
>>
>> http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0530nodewey0530.html
>>
>> --------
>> There are a couple of things here. Firstly, it seems as if this is a
public
>> library. Išve never worked in a public library, so I canšt comment
from that
>> side of the counter, but I do use my local public library a lot, and
I can
>> safely say that the fact the library uses Dewey is completely
irrelevant to
>> me. The collection is too small to need anything more than a cursory
system
>> for ordering books on the shelf, and I know the sections I use
regularly so
>> well I donšt really need a guide.
>>
>>
>
>
--
-----------------------------------
Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net ( http://www.kcoyle.net/ )
<http://www.kcoyle.net/>
ph.: 510-540-7596 skype: kcoylenet
fx.: 510-848-3913
mo.: 510-435-8234
------------------------------------
Received on Fri Jun 01 2007 - 12:41:27 EDT