For use in schools and libraries only. Explains how the Dewey decimal system of classification for libraries was invented and how it works.

2021 version of the Dewey Decimal Classification. DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION, 2021 (200-599) (Volume 2 of 4) Classification: What It Is and What It Does Classification provides a system for organizing knowledge. Classification may be used to organize knowledge represented in any form, e.g., books, documents, electronic resources. Notation is the system of symbols used to represent the classes in a classification system. In the Dewey Decimal Classification, the notation is expressed in Arabic numerals. The notation gives both the unique meaning of the class and its relation to other classes. The notation provides a universal language to identify the class and related classes, regardless of the fact that different words or languages may be used to describe the class. History, Current Use, and Development of the Dewey Decimal Classification The Dewey Decimal Classification-conceived by Melvil Dewey in 1873 and first published in 1876-is a general knowledge organization tool that is continuously revised to keep pace with knowledge. The system is further extended through number building, interoperable translations, association with categorized content, and mappings to other subject schemes. The DDC is published by OCLC, Inc. The DDC is accessed through WebDewey, a frequently updated subscription service maintained by OCLC. OCLC owns all copyright rights in the Dewey Decimal Classification and licenses the system for a variety of uses. The DDC is the most widely used classification system in the world. Libraries in more than 138 countries use the DDC to organize and provide access to their collections, and DDC numbers are featured in the national bibliographies of more than sixty countries. Libraries of every type apply Dewey numbers on a daily basis and share these numbers through a variety of means (including WorldCat). Dewey is also used in a variety of applications on the web in support of categorization, browsing, and retrieval. The DDC has been translated into over thirty languages. Since 1988, authorized translations of the full and abridged editions of the DDC have been published or are under way in Arabic, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese. The DDC Summaries, the top three levels of the Dewey Decimal Classification system, have been translated into Afrikaans, Arabic, Chinese, Czech, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Vietnamese. One of Dewey's great strengths is that the system is developed and maintained in a national bibliographic agency, the Library of Congress. The Dewey editorial office is located in the Dewey Section of the Library of Congress, where classification specialists annually assign over 60,000 DDC numbers to records for works cataloged by the Library. Having the editorial office within the Dewey Section enables the editors to detect trends in the literature that must be incorporated into the Classification. The editors prepare proposed schedule revisions and expansions and forward the proposals to the Decimal Classification 3 Editorial Policy Committee (EPC) for review and recommended action. EPC is a ten-member international board whose main function is to advise the editors and OCLC on matters relating to changes, innovations, and the general development of the Classification. EPC represents the interests of DDC users; its members come from national, public, special, and academic libraries, and from library schools.

Can the Dewey Decimal System meet the needs of the rapidly changing information environment? Moving Beyond the Presentation Layer explores the Dewey Decimal System from a variety of perspectives, each of which peels away a bit of the “presentation layer”—the familiar linear notational sequence-to reveal the content and context offered by the DDS. Library professionals from around the word examine how the content and context offered by the DDS can evolve to meet the needs of the changing information environment, with a special focus on the impact of the Internet on current and future developments. Moving Beyond the Presentation Layer examines whether the Dewey Decimal System is a rigid structure best suited to a physical information environment or a polymorphic one that can be adapted to meet a variety of physical and virtual needs. This unique book reviews the 40-year history of the online use of classification systems, the development of the Relative Index over 22 editions of the DDC, recommendations to ensure the viability of the DDC in a time of mass digitization, using DDS in an environment where it hasn’t been used before, teaching the DDS, special issues related to the use of the DDS in Europe, North America, and Africa, and the future of online classification. Topics examined in Moving Beyond the Presentation Layer include: using the DDC as the browsing mechanism for resource discovery classification as an online cataloging tool classification as an online end-user tool browser behavior in a DDC-based Web service the role of the DDS in the ongoing HILT (High-Level Thesaurus) project using the DDS to organize Web resources localization and interoperability in knowledge organization mapping terminologies to classification systems the DeweyBrowser and much more Moving Beyond the Presentation Layer is an essential professional resource for librarians, information scientists, computer scientists, and metadata and Web services specialists.

The Dewey Decimal Classification system (DDC) is the world's most popular library classification system. The 23rd edition of the DDC was published in 2011. This second edition of The Theory and Practice of the Dewey Decimal Classification System examines the history, management and technical aspects of the DDC up to its latest edition. The book places emphasis on explaining the structure and number building techniques in the DDC and reviews all aspects of subject analysis and number building by the most recent version of the DDC. A history of, and introduction to, the DDC is followed by subject analysis and locating class numbers, chapters covering use of the tables and subdivisions therein, multiple synthesis, and using the relative index. In the appendix, a number of academically-interesting questions are identified and answered. - Provides a comprehensive chronology of the DDC from its inception in 1876, to the present day - Describes the governance, revision machinery and updating process - Gives a table of all editors of the DDC