Dewey Decimal Research Articles

Ditching Dewey and Developing a Love of Reading


 
 
 This short professional paper takes a look at how I developed a love of reading by removing the Dewey Decimal system from the school library. I detail how I came to the decision, the process I followed and how the library is arranged and used today. There is also reference to other practices that have encouraged life-long readers, such as removal of all reading “incentives”, parent helpers, and ways to encourage families to use the library.
 The actual presentation of this paper is in the form of a slideshow. There will be talking, but every stage of the process and the ideas shared have pictures to go with them. Come and see it!
 
 

Library Classification Systems in the U.S.: Basic Ideas and Examples

This article offers a basic introduction to classification in the context of librarianship in the United States with an aim toward filling gaps in formal education and practical experience. The article defines the concept of classification and discusses the goals and purposes of classification, both functional and intellectual. Overviews of two common classification systems frequently used in U.S. libraries are presented: Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), Library of Congress Classification (LCC), as well as an introduction to a group of classifications known as “reader-interest classifications.”

Collection Development in the Digital Age

In the digital environment where information is increasingly located by using online databases, it becomes even more important that school library books be current, age appropriate, and of outstanding quality. The presenter will review: (a) professional selection sources, (b) creating a school curriculum chart, (c) weeding guidelines by Dewey numbers, and (d) evaluating a library collection. Other topics will include recommended online reference materials and an explanation of how a Maryland consortium provides basic digital sources for all students in the state. Audience participants will be encouraged to share their experiences and suggestions for creating quality collections.

The Organizing of Philosophical curriculum texts based on Dewey decimal classification System- An analytical study

Libraries focus on collecting and streamlining their own information sources. It can be used properly only through the neat arrangement of library information sources. Libraries are difficult to use because information sources are not properly analyzed. Edition 23 of the Dewey Decimal Classification is mostly used in eastern countries such as Sri Lanka, despite the fact that a number of instrumental texts on the organization of information sources in libraries are in use. In the Dewey decimal classification, numbers 000 - 999 are used as notations for each subject. Philosophical syllabus texts are explained in this way in notations 100-199. Thus some ambiguity is found in the analysis of Philosophical texts from 100-199 in Dewey Decimal Classification. In particular, DDC 23 edition is designed to be flexible enough to be shelved from one location to another. Therefore, this study reveals such ambiguous situations and makes it clear that the reader can get the enough benefit by shelving such information sources anywhere in the library. The analytical method, descriptive method and comparative method are used for this study and all the data required for this study are obtained as primary and secondary data and the analysis is designed.

Pengaruh N-Gram terhadap Klasifikasi Buku menggunakan Ekstraksi dan Seleksi Fitur pada Multinomial Naïve Bayes

Libraries have the main task in the processing of library materials by classifying books according to certain ways. Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is the method most commonly used in the world to determine book classification (labeling) in libraries. The advantages of this DDC method are universal and more systematic. However, this method is less efficient considering the large number of books that must be classified in a library, as well as labeling that must follow label updates on the DDC. An automatic classification system will be the perfect solution to this problem. Automatic classification can be done by applying the text mining method. In this study, searching for words in the book title was carried out with N-Gram (Unigram, Bigram, Trigram) as a feature generation. The features that have been raised are then selected for features. The process of book title classification is carried out using the Naïve Bayes Multinomial algorithm. This study examines the effect of Unigram, Bigram, Trigram on the classification of book titles using the feature extraction and selection feature on Multinomial Naïve Bayes algorithm. The test results show Unigram has the highest accuracy value of 74.4%.

KOMPARASI PEMIKIRAN BERWICK SAYERS DAN MARY MORTIMER TENTANG SISTEM KLASIFIKASI PERPUSTAKAAN

<p>Tulisan ini membahas bagaimana sistem klasifikasi perpustakaan yang baik dan bersumber dari hasil pemikiran Berwick Sayers dan Mary Mortimer, kemudian dilakukan komparasi serta dilihat kerelevansian atas hasil pemikiran tersebut. Tulisan ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Analisis dilakukan secara deksriptif komparatif. Berwick Sayers dan Mary Mortimer telah dikenal banyak memunculkan pemikiran-pemikiran dan menghasilkan karya-karya salah satunya tentang sistem klasifikasi perpustakaan. Dari hasil komparasi pemikiran yang telah dilakukan tentang sistem klasifikasi perpustakaan, terdapat empat hal perbedaan yang mendasar diantara kedua tokoh tersebut. Perbedaan tersebut terletak pada 1) Bentuk klasifikasi yang baik itu adalah yang mudah digunakan, pernyataan tersebut secara tegas diberikan oleh Mary Mortimer, karena baik versi pustakawan belum tentu baik versi pemustaka, sehingga akan berbeda hasilnya, namun yang mudah digunakan bagi pemustaka, sudah pasti baik bentuk klasifikasinya, sedangkan Berwick Sayers tidak memberikan pernyataan yang menegaskan namun hanya menjelaskan perihal klasifikasi yang baik, 2) Notasi yang sederhana vs notasi yang spesifik, 3) Memiliki tabel geografis, 4) Alfabetis vs sistematis. Dan didapat pula empat persamaan yaitu 1) Meliputi seluruh bidang ilmu pengetahuan, 2) Mampu mengakomodasi subjek dan notasi ilmu pengetahuan yang baru, 3) Melakukan pengembangan pada ilmu pengetahuan baru, dan 4) Mempunyai suatu badan pengawas.</p>

Overdue: Collection development and deselection projects for a faculty-selected collection

Kent Library at Southeast Missouri State University is one of the only academic libraries in the United States to have a faculty-selected main collection. Three newly hired employees to the library updated a 28-year-old collection development policy and facilitated the reclassification of a half-million-item collection from the Dewey Decimal to the Library of Congress (LC) classification system. To complete these projects, the strengths and challenges of a faculty-selected collection were balanced through implementing research findings, collaborating, communicating, and being flexible.

Faceted Classifications as Linked Data: A Logical Analysis

Faceted knowledge organization systems have sophisticated logical structures, making their representation as linked data a demanding task. The term facet is often used in ambiguous ways: while in thesauri facets only work as semantic categories, in classification schemes they also have syntactic functions. The need to convert the Integrative Levels Classification (ILC) into SKOS stimulated a more general analysis of the different kinds of syntactic facets, as can be represented in terms of RDF properties and their respective domain and range. A nomenclature is proposed, distinguishing between common facets, which can be appended to any class, that is, have an unrestricted domain; and special facets, which are exclusive to some class, that is, have a restricted domain. In both cases, foci can be taken from any other class (unrestricted range: free facets), or only from subclasses of an existing class (parallel facets), or be defined specifically for the present class (bound facets). Examples are given of such cases in ILC and in the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC).

A Comparative Analysis of Structural Layout Changes in 1st To 23rd Edition of Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme

A Comparative Analysis of Structural Layout Changes in 1st To 23rd Edition of Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme

USC Illuminated Medieval Manuscripts: A second polymathic multimodal digital project

The University of Southern California (USC) Libraries’ collection of Illuminated Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Incunabula, and Rare Books includes 16 unique and invaluable illuminated medieval manuscripts, as well as 12 other medieval manuscripts (with pen-flourished initials or borders) originating in Europe. A substantial number of those manuscripts and rare books were acquired in the early to mid-20th century by Ralph Tyler Flewelling who joined USC in fall 1917. He became the first director of the School of Philosophy when it was established in 1929 with the completion of the Seeley Wintersmith Mudd Memorial Hall of Philosophy building. That growing collection of books, known as the James Harmon Hoose Library of Philosophy Collection, was cataloged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification. Hoose was the first head of the Philosophy Department, originally housed in the university’s administration building. In the latter part of the 20th century, this rare collection was relocated to the Special Collections Department in the Doheny Memorial Library.

Lively Roots: How the Grand Rapids Public Library Found Its Footing in the Early Years

Lively Roots:How the Grand Rapids Public Library Found Its Footing in the Early Years Colleen Alles A few days before Christmas, on December 21, 2021, the Grand Rapids Public Library will celebrate a big birthday: its sesquicentennial—150 years of providing a library free to all. Few things can last a century and a half without being open to change. This public library, established in a city that, in the 1870s, was in some ways a rival to Detroit, survived in part due to the inclusion of one key idea: a willingness to grow—changing and adjusting its operations to fit whatever the community needed at the time, and in how it could best serve its patrons in the face of logistical constraints and realities.1 Founded in 1871, the Grand Rapids Public Library (GRPL) has been a beacon in a west Michigan city with its own rich history and place as the second largest city in the state. The idea for the GRPL began several years after the end of the Civil War, when members of the Grand Rapids Board of Education agreed to combine their book holdings with those of two other organizations—the Ladies Literary Association (known then as the Ladies Library Association) and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).2 A library committee hired the first librarian, Miss Frances Holcomb, at an annual salary of $500, and the library was born.3 The history of the GRPL involves a number of evolutions—everything from introducing the Dewey Decimal System and eschewing traditional card catalogs for online platforms, to streaming audiobooks directly to patrons' devices. Julie Tabberer, the current head of the GRPL History & Special Collections department, notes how "the things that [End Page 127] Click for larger view View full resolution An entry from the 1872-73 Grand Rapids city directory shows the first appearance of the Grand Rapids Public Library, humbly listed among residents and businesses in the "L" section. Source: J. D. Dillenback, ed., Godfrey's Annual City Directory of Grand Rapids, Mich, 1872-3 (Grand Rapids: Daily Eagle Steam Printing House, 1872), 157. we've provided access to have changed over the years, but [access is] a constant."4 The story of the GRPL as told through its branches makes it clear that above all—and despite many types of circumstances—the library has demonstrated a commitment to growing and changing along with its city. What began above a dry goods store downtown evolved into a large institution that serves thousands of patrons annually. The library piloted branches early in the twentieth century when the idea of branches was new. It embraced traveling branches and bookmobiles when budget concerns made operating hours tricky in the 1950s. Through two world wars, the Great Depression, pandemics, economic hardships, and tumultuous social change—hallmarks of the twentieth century—the GRPL opened new branches, closed branches when circumstances dictated, and, overall, ensured its citizens access to a free library, guaranteeing a legacy of inclusion that the city hopes will endure for years to come. Impermanent Spaces In the early years, the GRPL called several downtown spaces home, changing locations every few years. Those spots included a room above a dry goods store, space in the prominent Ledyard Building, and several rooms inside city hall. [End Page 128] Click for larger view View full resolution This was the first home of the Grand Rapids Public Library. The library was on the second floor of H. Leonard and Sons dry goods store, seen here as the second building from the left. Source: Collection 18, George E. Fitch Collection, box 3, folder 3, image 248, Grand Rapids Public Library History & Special Collections, Grand Rapids Public Library (hereafter GRPL). The population of Grand Rapids when the library opened its doors in 1871 was approximately 16,000. "Like other cities across the nation, Grand Rapids had a hodgepodge of libraries and book collections, but the system stood in unconnected pieces, awaiting the glue that would fit them together," noted former city historian Gordon L. Olson.5 Print books were, of course, in addition to being more precious than perhaps they are today, available via school libraries and through the Grand...

Analysis of Concentrations of Loans by Using Book Circulation Data in Korea University Library

In this paper, data of almost 8 million loans of books recorded for 15 years by the Korea University Library are analyzed by using big data analytic techniques. During this period, book circulation decreased with an average annual rate of decline of 4.4%. The use factor of books in each Dewey decimal classification (DDC) class was evaluated to measure how efficiently books were used by library users. Loan frequencies of books were analyzed and meaningful results regarding loan concentrations and the half-lives of books were obtained. It was observed that 50% of the total loans in each year were for 20% of all borrowed books in that year. This phenomenon will be called the 20/50 loan rule, and the set of the top 20% most borrowed books, whose cumulative loan frequencies reach 50% of total loans, will be called a core collection. The 20/50 loan rule shows the loan concentration of library books. The extent of loan concentration gets stronger if loans for two or more consecutive years are concerned. It was found that with high probability, books in a core collection at a specific year are also categorized as a core collection in next years. Moreover, books categorized as a core collection in consecutive years have longer half-lives compared with all other circulating books.

German National Library: thematic search for M. Dewey's classification

The article deals with the means of thematic search by library classification in the electronic catalog of the German National Library. It has been found that it is important to submit a classification system in the form of an interactive hierarchical thematic tree of knowledge that enables the user to limit their search to a specific topic area. The classification of the library with the electronic catalog has been expanded, which is an important factor in ensuring the completeness and accuracy of the thematic search, as well as the convenience and speed of functioning of the automated library search engine. An analysis of the thematic search tools in the electronic catalog of the German National Library by classification schemes and a complex of navigation and search tools of the information library system is carried out. It is emphasized that a necessary element of modern interlibrary communication is also the mandatory introduction into the system of thematic search of a national library of an international classification system, such as the M. Dewey classification. It has been found that providing relevant search results based on M. Dewey's Decimal Classification is the basis for enabling users to effectively use the resources collected in the online catalog of the German National Library.

Proposta de expansão da classe Espiritismo na Classificação Decimal de Dewey

Propõe a expansão da classe Espiritismo na Classificação Decimal de Dewey. Justifica a proposta devido ao grande número de adeptos e à produção literária espírita. Evidencia que o Espiritismo é a oitava religião com mais praticantes no mundo e a terceira no Brasil. Apresenta a importância da doutrina espírita ao redor do mundo e no Brasil. Utiliza a teoria proposta por Vanda Brougthon para religião e acrescenta as facetas ciência, filosofia, religião e aspectos gerais da Doutrina Espírita. Analisa propostas de expansão de classes existentes e elabora uma revisão de literatura acerca da história do espiritismo. Utiliza a metodologia de Barité para modificação de esquemas de classificação. Os termos foram coletados a partir do tesauro espírita e da obra de referência da Federação Espírita Brasileira e sistematiza os conceitos hierarquicamente. Propõe a expansão da classe 202 – Doutrina a partir da identificação e sistematização dos conceitos, colocando-os de forma notacional. Conclui que uma doutrina com tantos adeptos e com uma grande produção literária deve ser representada adequadamente na Classificação Decimal de Dewey e a que a mesma oferece pouco espaço de representação na classe 200 para as diversas religiões praticadas no mundo.

Abandoning the Dewey Decimal System in Public Libraries

ABSTRACT Within the last fifteen years, a growing number of public libraries throughout the United States have started to rethink how their materials are cataloged and arranged. While the Dewey Decimal System has dominated library catalogs to this point, an increasing number of libraries are choosing to replace Dewey with variations of the Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) model. This paper offers a case studies on four public libraries, two of which transitioned successfully, one in process of adopting a new scheme, and one that has since reverted to Dewey. It argues that libraries that successfully transition do so because they achieve staff embracement and public acceptance of the new system through effective communication and descriptive signage.

Exploring the renaissance of wayfinding and voyaging through the lens of knowledge representation, organization and discovery systems

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis from an ethical perspective of how the concept of indigenous wayfinding and voyaging is mapped in knowledge representation, organization and discovery systems.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the Dewey Decimal Classification, the Library of Congress Subject Headings, the Library of Congress Classifications systems and the Web of Science citation database were methodically examined to determine how these systems represent and facilitate the discovery of indigenous knowledge of wayfinding and voyaging.FindingsThe analysis revealed that there was no dedicated representation of the indigenous practices of wayfinding and voyaging in the major knowledge representation, organization and discovery systems. By scattering indigenous practice across various, often very broad and unrelated classes, coherence in the record is disrupted, resulting in misrepresentation of these indigenous concepts.Originality/valueThis study contributes to a relatively limited research literature on representation and organization of indigenous knowledge of wayfinding and voyaging. This study calls to foster a better understanding and appreciation for the rich knowledge that indigenous cultures provide for an enlightened society.

Suppressing communities: An analysis of LGBTQ+ censorship in libraries

Librarians serve as defenders of intellectual freedom and social responsibility, and this includes speaking out against censorship. Censorship of information, materials, and books occurs in the public, but censorship can also occur in libraries themselves. Those impacted the most by this censorship are marginalized communities, such as the LGBTQ+ community. The purpose of this paper is to explore how internal, external and institutional censorship affects the LGBTQ+ community and what librarians can do to uphold their defense against censorship. Internal, or self-censorship, occurs at the librarian level where LGBTQ+ materials may be hidden by librarians or library staff or simply not ordered due to pressure from the community the library serves. External censorship occurs at the community level where the community culture pushes for the censorship of LGBTQ+ materials. Lastly, institutional censorship occurs at the classification level where classification models such as the Dewey Decimal System or subject headings may not provide accurate representation for LGBTQ+ materials. In order to put an end to these forms of censorship, trained and certified librarians must act as agents of change, committing to their due diligence to provide information to all members of their communities.

Automatic Classification of Swedish Metadata Using Dewey Decimal Classification: A Comparison of Approaches

Abstract Purpose With more and more digital collections of various information resources becoming available, also increasing is the challenge of assigning subject index terms and classes from quality knowledge organization systems. While the ultimate purpose is to understand the value of automatically produced Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) classes for Swedish digital collections, the paper aims to evaluate the performance of six machine learning algorithms as well as a string-matching algorithm based on characteristics of DDC. Design/methodology/approach State-of-the-art machine learning algorithms require at least 1,000 training examples per class. The complete data set at the time of research involved 143,838 records which had to be reduced to top three hierarchical levels of DDC in order to provide sufficient training data (totaling 802 classes in the training and testing sample, out of 14,413 classes at all levels). Findings Evaluation shows that Support Vector Machine with linear kernel outperforms other machine learning algorithms as well as the string-matching algorithm on average; the string-matching algorithm outperforms machine learning for specific classes when characteristics of DDC are most suitable for the task. Word embeddings combined with different types of neural networks (simple linear network, standard neural network, 1D convolutional neural network, and recurrent neural network) produced worse results than Support Vector Machine, but reach close results, with the benefit of a smaller representation size. Impact of features in machine learning shows that using keywords or combining titles and keywords gives better results than using only titles as input. Stemming only marginally improves the results. Removed stop-words reduced accuracy in most cases, while removing less frequent words increased it marginally. The greatest impact is produced by the number of training examples: 81.90% accuracy on the training set is achieved when at least 1,000 records per class are available in the training set, and 66.13% when too few records (often less than 100 per class) on which to train are available—and these hold only for top 3 hierarchical levels (803 instead of 14,413 classes). Research limitations Having to reduce the number of hierarchical levels to top three levels of DDC because of the lack of training data for all classes, skews the results so that they work in experimental conditions but barely for end users in operational retrieval systems. Practical implications In conclusion, for operative information retrieval systems applying purely automatic DDC does not work, either using machine learning (because of the lack of training data for the large number of DDC classes) or using string-matching algorithm (because DDC characteristics perform well for automatic classification only in a small number of classes). Over time, more training examples may become available, and DDC may be enriched with synonyms in order to enhance accuracy of automatic classification which may also benefit information retrieval performance based on DDC. In order for quality information services to reach the objective of highest possible precision and recall, automatic classification should never be implemented on its own; instead, machine-aided indexing that combines the efficiency of automatic suggestions with quality of human decisions at the final stage should be the way for the future. Originality/value The study explored machine learning on a large classification system of over 14,000 classes which is used in operational information retrieval systems. Due to lack of sufficient training data across the entire set of classes, an approach complementing machine learning, that of string matching, was applied. This combination should be explored further since it provides the potential for real-life applications with large target classification systems.

Senake Bandaranayake library classification system for archaeology (SBC)

Senake Bandaranayake library classification system is based on the Library collection of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR), University of Kelaniya. It was introduced by Emeritus Professor Senaka Bandaranaike in 1987. It has formulated its own classification system to suit the needs of a small to medium scale library. Archaeology is a multi-disciplinary subject. Therefore the use of a general classification system was problematic when organizing a specialized collection, such as archaeology. The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) are the most widely used classification systems in the world. It is observed that neither the DDC nor UDC is suitable to classify an archaeological collection of this nature. There is no other generally accepted scheme for a special collection such as archaeology. Therefore, Prof. Senake Bandaranayake has decided to formulate its own classification scheme to serve the needs. This classification system is designed mainly for the purpose of organizing a collection of archeology and related subjects, giving priority to Sri Lanka. This makes it easier for the reader to access the information they need. For over 30 years, this classification system has been used by the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology to organize their library collection. However, this classification has not been discussed in the field of Library Science in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this article is to introduce the Senaka Bandaranayake classification system for archaeology and to get suggestions and ideas from the library community.

An academic Arabic corpus for plagiarism detection: design, construction and experimentation

Advancement in information technology has resulted in massive textual material that is open to appropriation. Due to researchers’ misconduct, a plethora of plagiarism detection (PD) systems have been developed. However, most PD systems on the market do not support the Arabic language. In this paper, we discuss the design and construction of an Arabic PD reference corpus that is dedicated to academic language. It consists of (2312) dissertations that were defended by postgraduate students at the University of Jordan (JU) between the years 2001–2016. This Academic Jordan University Plagiarism Detection corpus; henceforth, JUPlag, follows the Dewey decimal classification (DDC) in the way it is structured. The goal of the corpus is twofold: Firstly, it is a database for the detection of plagiarism in student assignments, reports, and dissertations. Secondly, the n-gram structure of the corpus provides a knowledgebase for linguistic analysis, language teaching, and the learning of plagiarism-free writing. The PD system is guided by JU Library’s metadata for retrieval and discovery of plagiarism. To test JUPlag, we injected an unseen dissertation with multiple instances of plagiarism-simulated paragraphs and sentences. Experimentation with the system using different verbatim n-gram segments is indeed promising. Preliminary results encourage that permission be sought to enrich this corpus with all the theses in the Thesis Repository of the Union of Arab Universities. The JUPlag corpus is intended to function as an indispensable source for testing and evaluating plagiarism detection techniques. Since the University of Jordan is seeking to become a center for plagiarism detection for Arabic content and being a non-profit organization, it will charge a nominal fee for the use of JUPlag to finance the maintenance and development of the corpus.