A Handbook of History, Theory and Practice of the Dewey Decimal Classification System

by Alex Kyrios, M. P. Satija

Overview

The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), used in 200,000 libraries across 140 countries, has entered a new age, primarily maintained today as a continuously revised electronic system rather than an occasionally updated set of print volumes. Its editors have added newly emerging topics and made it an increasingly faceted, semantically rich, modern system. Simultaneously, the editorial process has become democratised and more responsive to global needs.

A Handbook of History, Theory and Practice of the Dewey Decimal Classification System is a comprehensive, practical guide to today's DDC. Coverage includes:

• a brief history of the system, its editors, and its development
• specialized examinations of specific parts of the classification
• extensive guidance on number building, with many examples
• a WebDewey-specific chapter, covering the system's benefits and features
• concise summaries of primary takeaways, a glossary, and extensive bibliography.

This book will be an indispensable guide to 21st-century DDC, an essential companion for DDC classifiers, and accessible for students and continuing learners as well.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783306091
Publisher:	Facet Publishing
Publication date:	02/16/2023
Pages:	198
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alex Kyrios is the Senior Editor of the Dewey Decimal Classification at OCLC, based out of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC USA. He is responsible for overseeing the continuous updating and revision of the classification, and works with partners and volunteers around the world to do so. Previously, he was a cataloguer at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. and the University of Idaho. He has an M.S. in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a B.A. in English from the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Professor M. P. Satija is an Emeritus fellow in the Department of Library & Information Science, Guru Nanak Dev University, India. In his long professional career he has written extensively on library classification systems, especially the Dewey Decimal Classification and the Colon Classification. He has authored textbooks on every edition of the DDC since the 19th (1979). He has collaborated with three successive editors of the DDC and his works have been translated in many European, and Asian languages. Dr Satija serves on the editorial boards of many international journals including the ISKO journal Knowledge Organization, and is a member of the UDC Consortium, The Hague.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: A Brief History of the Dewey Decimal Classification Chapter 2: Governance and Revision of the DDC Chapter 3: Introduction to the Text Chapter 4: Basic Plan and Structure Chapter 5: Subject Analysis and Locating Class Numbers Chapter 6: Tables and Rules for Precedence and Citation Order Chapter 7: Number Building Chapter 8: Use of Table 1 Standard Subdivisions Chapter 9: Use of Table 2 Geographic Areas, Historical Periods, Biography Chapter 10: Use of Table 4 Subdivisions of Individual Languages, and Table 6 Languages Chapter 11: Use of Table 3 Subdivisions for the Arts, for Individual Literatures, for Specific Literary Forms Chapter 12: Use of Table 5 Ethnic and National Groups Chapter 13: Multiple Synthesis: Deeper Subject Analysis Chapter 14: Classification of General Statistics, Law, Geology, Geography, and History Chapter 15: Using the Relative Index Chapter 16: WebDewey Chapter 17: Options and Local Adaptations Chapter 18: Current Developments in the DDC and Future Trends Appendix 1 A Broad Chronology of the DDC, 18511-–2022 Appendix 2 History of Other Versions of the DDC Appendix 3 Table of DDC Editors Appendix 4 Editors of the DDC Appendix 5 Takeaways Further resources

Editorial Reviews

"An essential volume for any library’s professional reference shelf— even if the library does not use the DDC as its main classification scheme. It also serves as a great instructional primer for newly-minted technical services librarians seeking succinct, easy-to-access information about how the DDC’s tables, charts, and indexes are arranged, governed, and function ... [It] has the potential to serve as the primary DDC handbook for years to come."
— Technicalities

From the Publisher

★ 08/25/2023

The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is used in more than 200,000 libraries worldwide as a knowledge- and information-management system. For small school libraries and immense national collections, the enumerative structure, developed 150 years ago, is familiar yet frequently mysterious and not without controversy. In this discussion of what has become a ubiquitous tool, coauthors Kyrios (senior editor, OCLC) and Satija (emeritus, library and information science, Guru Nanak Dev Univ., India) provide a fascinating look into the history, philosophy, administration, current use, and future of the DDC, along with concise explanations of both major categories and minor subdivisions. Some of the 18 chapters that deal with the more arcane facets and number-building features of the system may be of interest only to a few; however, the way in which these details, with myriad relevant examples, are presented is engaging. While focusing primarily on the strengths of both the print and electronic DDC, the authors do not shy away from describing its weaknesses, including its systemic bias. VERDICT Both an excellent reference resource and an interesting read for Dewey experts and non-experts alike. Highly recommended for professional-development collections.—Linda Frederiksen

Library Journal