Talk:Dewey Decimal Classification

Comparison with Library of Congress Classification

I think there is a typo in this part of the article. plz check. a word wit mn....? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.91.118.215 (talk) 22:17, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

Isaac Asimov

The Isaac Asimov comment seems unlikely. Someone should try to disprove it. Superm401 02:01, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

It's not true. He doesn't have any books in the Philosophy section. This is documented all over the place, including as an early sentence in Wikipedia's own entry on Asimov. I'm going to remove it. --Plumpy 08:09, Feb 25, 2005 (UTC)

No, but he does have a video... -- see this post from 025.431: The Dewey Blog. --zenohockey 03:09, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Debatable Ease of use

"Thanks to the use of pure notation, a mnemonics system and a hierarchical decimal place system, it is generally easier to use for most users."

Seems like like more of a personal sentiment than a fact. Speaking as someone who works in a library with about 5 million books, some sorted in Dewey, and some in Library of Congress, the Congress ones usually have far less confusing call numbers after you try getting the Dewey system to try and deal with that number of books. (Unsigned by 150.135.48.109)

Agreed. The article can discuss the relative success of these "goals" or "advantages", but it's too much of a leap to declare one better in all aspects. GUllman 18:11, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree. I've used both extensively, and LC is much easier to use in large libraries (such as at universities) in which Dewey needs unwieldy long numerical strings. In fact, at least LC has a 2-letter designation for each sub-area, and while it is a stretch to call this a mnemonic device, Dewey clearly has none at all, so this part of the statement is simply false. Unless someone can cite a scientific human factors study, this sentence is opinion and needs to get removed. Jpgs (talk) 01:04, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

So almost 5 years later this sentence still stands?? I guess no one pays much attention to the old Dewey Decimal classification? I'm not a librarian, but this entire article seems to be a pretty amateur piece of writing, even for Wikipedia.

Recent edits

I just added a few headers to break up the article in sections, since the text was already a bit long. This highlited some interesting facts which were buried in the final paragraphs. I also moved the description of the ten classes towards the beginning of the text, due to it's importance in illustrating how the DDC works.

Another edit

I added the ACM computer science classification link at the end. I think it might be relevant, since it's mentioned that the dewey system had lacked coverage on recent technology. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.125.163.218 (talk) 01:28, 30 April 2007 (UTC).

Website

Does anyone know if there's a website where you can put in a book's ISBN number and it will tell you the Dewey call number for that book? Because I could really go for one of those. Thanks. -Branddobbe, May 16, 2005

Just a nitpicky point--for some reason, your "ISBN number" is set to link to the article on Redundancy (language), rather than the one on International Standard Book Number. Maybe that's because ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, ISBN number means International Standard Book Number number.140.147.160.78 15:12, 22 February 2007 (UTC)Stephen Kosciesza

I have asked my librarian and she tells me:

"all libraries tend to be a little bit different in their assignment of Dewey and some don't use the Dewey System at all. However, you can usually get a general Dewey number that will allow you to at least browse around at that number eg 624.1513 for soil mechanics. However, the exact number will depend on the person cataloguing and the nature of the collection - it is a bit flexible."

So it looks like such a website would not work.--Commander Keane 06:20, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

Your local library's online catalog should be able to do this for you. For example, try www.sdcl.org

The Library of Congress catalog's website (catalog.loc.gov) is probably the closest you can get; if it doesn't work for a particular ISBN, try the ISBN for an earlier (or hardcover) edition. For example, search 0141439475 under "LCCN-ISBN-ISSN," then, on the resulting page, click "Full Record" and look for "Dewey Class No." --zenohockey 03:06, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Suggestion for edit

The opinion that the DDC is inferior to other systems of classification doesn't really have a place in the encyclopedia entry. The DDC is ideal for certain types of collections, just as the LCCS is ideal for others. The DDC is, in fact, superior in some instances in terms of categorization and ease of browsing. I'm not the person to change this, but someone should.

Linking the classes with square brackets

Shall I intelligently link the listed classes to their relevant articles with squre brackets, or will it be reversed? --81.105.251.160 06:02, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean to create articles on each of the ten classes or just links to the subjects represented by the classes? Either way, not sure it is a good idea. Pages about each of the classes would be to much detail when there is link at the bottom where you can get that info. Subject links might be confusing because people would associate the subjects with the classes, which is not completely the case. Nowimnthing 22:07, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

It would probably not be useful since users come here to learn about the Dewey Decimal System, not the subjects. If they wanted to browse Wikipedia articles DDC order, then they would go here. GUllman 18:57, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

The Book?

Ever since I started getting into the DDC, I always wondered what was up with 002. What the heck does it mean when 002 is listed as being "The book"? Phauge 03:23, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Books about books (the history of printing and bookmaking, things like that,) perhaps? That's a guess, but I just did a quick Google search and couldn't find an explanation. That's what I've always assumed it meant, though. - Square pear 19:12, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

That's my understanding. People frequently refer to books in general using the definite article (e.g., "art and history of the book"). --Benjamin Mako Hill ^{(talk•contribs)} 14:33, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I looked up some "books about books" and their DDC numbers did indeed begin with "002". LaMona 01:55, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Copyvio?

Is the list in the article (which might be better on a seperate list page) a possible violation of a database copyright (as the article itself says copyright is claimed on the system)? I think it could be fair use as it is difficult to talk about DDC in an encyclopedia without including a copy of the system. Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley _{talk contrib} 12:40, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

OCLC has a PDF on its web site that gives the DDC numbers for the first 3 digits of DDC. In their contract, they say that libraries can display the first 3 digits to the public, but no more. So I think this is the allowed portion and therefore there isn't a problem. LaMona 01:54, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

"Many libraries" do give more than three digits, to indicate subsections of a subject: and "many people" are unlikely to be interested in the numerical details. If there is a theoretical copyvio problem a "created example" - identified as such - would get around the issue. Jackiespeel 13:27, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

More expressive?

The article claims that that the DDC is "more expressive" than the LoC system. Why is this? Is expressive being used as a term of art here? If so, it deserves an explanation. If not, it seems POV. --mako 14:12, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

expressive simply means being able to express relationship between classes. For example UDC uses + to show a relationship between 2 concepts/classes. Aarontay 12:47, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

pros/cons

I added a few paragraphs of the pros and cons of DDC vs LCC etc. I don't have my books and papers with me now, I will add in a few references later. Aarontay 12:53, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Date

I'm 12 and the info on the date was wrong, it was 1873 121.45.40.54 09:55, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

It does seem that 1873 is Dewey's "development" date, while the first publication was in 1876. The introduction to the 1899 edition (the 6th edition, which I have in hand) says: "The plan of the following Classification and Index was developt early in 1873."(p.7) It also says "When the first edition was published in 1876...." (p.8) and it says that edition had "...12 pages of tables containing the thousand sections..." (p.8) Then at the end of the introduction(p. 41) it says: "New York State Library, Dec. 25, 1890. The previous editions have been dated "Amherst College Library, June 10, 1876; Columbia College Library, august 10, 1885; and Columbia College Library, Aug. 30, 1888." (This leads me to believe that this 1890 introduction was repurposed for the 1899 edition.) The copyright statement on the book lists these dates: 1876, 1885, 1888, 1891, 1894, 1899. LaMona 21:45, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

Dewey Decimalise Wikipedia?

It's probably an unworkable idea, but would it be useful to have a project that assigns Wikipedia entries to Dewey decimal categories? Shiftaling 10:31, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

It would take a lot of work with no real benefit. The purpose of Dewey decimal numbers is to arrange physical books in a linear order on the shelf so that similar subjects are located near each other. Wikipedia articles cover very specific topics from a paragraph to a few pages long, and each one is related to many other articles like a web or network. Even the articles on very general subjects, such as academic fields, do not exactly match the words that are used by Dewey. Browse through List_of_Dewey_Decimal_classes, and see how few Dewey categories exactly match the scope of Wikipedia articles. GUllman 20:46, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

The UDC would be more suitable than DDC for the task, but I don't see any real point. GNUSMAS : TALK 21:01, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Introduction

This article lacks an introduction. I've never head about it before - Is it widely used? Where is it used? By whom is it used? I suspect it was written by an American, for Americans, with no regard for what isn't obvious to non-Americans. Thanks. CapnZapp (talk) 22:22, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Are you just trolling? The article does have an introduction, and then gives the answers to all of your questions. If this is a serious post, then you have never used a library. Most libraries in the English-speaking world use the DDC. Visit your local public library and see.--Iacobus (talk) 04:26, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Popular culture - Seinfeld

I don't really see how this citation serves to explain anything about DDC. It's just a crazy comment by Kramer. Any objections to removing the citation? If so, please explain why it should be in this article.--Iacobus (talk) 04:28, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

"How it works" section

Confused... "How it works" starts with "The DDC attempts to organize all knowledge into four main chapters." and then says "The ten main classes ". How did we go from four chapters into ten classes? Thanks! Hendrixjoseph (talk) 02:37, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

There should be a mention of what the other modern systems are...

Also, what about the criticism of its racism and Eurocentricity? For example, under religion- numbers 200-289 are reserved for Christianity, whereas Judaism and Islam get one number each. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.247.7.195 (talk) 00:58, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

The entire system is outdated with search and find

You go to a library. You're looking for a book written by a partnership of people, part fiction, part biographical, part scientific, utilizing more than one language, and covering more than one subject, while listing recipes. Where to start? How did the librarians and bookstores decide which shelf to put it on? Search and find knowing a few key words handles the problem of finding it. However, it's for the browser, looking for similar works, that gets floored. Amazon online handles the problem well. Any practical person reading this article for clues will get nowhere. JohnClarknew (talk) 20:27, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

No library or bookshop intends its classification scheme to be the sole means of finding items, and either should have an electronic catalogue that can be searched using key words. (Amazon's catalogue may sometimes make it easier to find a given item, but not consistently in my experience.) EALacey (talk) 21:06, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

What I mean is Amazon's ability to put up similar titles under a "if you like this book, you might also like ..." which is for the browser. Bookstores and libraries don't do this. JohnClarknew (talk) 05:37, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Criticism of LC

Is it necessary to have the paragraph criticizing the LCCS at the end of the criticisms of the DCC? This seems more an attempt to 'salvage' the DDC at the end of the criticisms. Everything has its shortcomings. I don't think we need to list the shortcomings of similar/competing ideas just to make this one feel better. Ffenliv (talk) 18:24, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

no such word as "hospitability"

this requires an alternative. word not found in 4 dictionaries (including cambridge, onelook, merriam-webster, and dictionary.com). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.250.5.248 (talk) 00:25, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Maintained how?

Besides its frequent revision, DDC's main advantage over [LCC]...

At another point we say that DDC is "infinitely hierarchical". Does that mean classifications are infinitely long, in principle? Does revision merely extend the strings? If they change more fundamentally, as US zipcodes or telephone exchanges do, what happens to the stock of books?

What is the scope of one decimal, by design? all printings of one edition? (more than that, I learn from the article) all fiction by one author? etc

Probably the article should give an example or three in order to help define the DDC. For one idea, what is the longest current DDC? Is DDC part of a standard system that incorporates but extends it? Or do specific users of the DDC assign all of the prefixes or suffixes (separated by spaces or newlines, i think)? --P64 (talk) 17:38, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

(afterthought) Alternatively, do users commonly use only part of the DDC? If a book is called as "813.5 x1alphanumeric", is its DDC almost sure to be 813.5 or likely to be longer "813.5.numeric"? --P64 (talk) 23:00, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Source 2

There is very important information in source 2 that should be in the article.

walle1357, a nice wikipedian :) (talk) 18:06, 9 December 2011 (UTC)