4.16+Practice+Classification

Dewey Classification

Because the classification number is so closely related to the subject headings. Normally, cataloging classes would spend a lot of time building Dewey numbers from the //Dewey Decimal// //Abridged Edition 15// (about $150 from OCLC) by looking at tables and schedules but we're not going to do that. We will look at the process as a theoretical model but not as a practical model, for the most part. I believe that 99% of you will get the Dewey classification number for the few things that you will catalog in your library by:

> >> > >
 * 1) **looking at the number given to a similar title either in your own library or in a library copy cataloging source, or you will consult**
 * 1) **using** **OCLC Classify**, **a free service on the Web service**
 * **OCLC Classify** will tell you the most common Dewey (and LC) number used by libraries for a title. If there is more than one number used, it will give you a graph indicating the "popularity" of the number assigned to that volume. You can search Classify by title, author, or ISBN.
 * 1) **or by using your //Sears List of Subject Headings//** (or the out-of-date version that I linked to in the subject practice week) **that you have at hand which shows you just how closely subject headings and classification are related or**
 * 1) **your //Abridged Dewey// (currently Edition 15) which will be the last printed edition or by**
 * 1) **building Dewey numbers using //LibraryThing's// "Melvil Dewey System" where you start with one of the 10 classes of Dewey, and then click on the next row beneath to narrow your focus a bit more which adds one digit to the right, and then continue clicking on the rows beneath until you have a classification number that you are comfortable with. In addition, there are titles with each Dewey number to guide you to let you know if you are on the right track. Try creating the Dewey number for the Watergate Scandal during the Nixon administration:**
 * **9 Biography and History > 97 North America > 973 United States > 973.9 Roosevelt Administration and Beyond >**
 * **973.92 Eisenhower Through Clinton Administration > 973.924 Richard Nixon** //(I would stop at 973.92 or 973.924 for a high school library but the number could be built all the way to 973.92409 which is way too specific except for the largest Nixon library.)//


 * Dewey Decimal Classification, Edition 20, 1989** (the current edition is 23, published in 2011) **-** The way a real cataloger would specify a Dewey number would be to use a Dewey Classification volumes. Your librarian should have a copy of Abridged Dewey in order for you to get an idea of the process that goes on to **build** a classification number. For a reference, you can also consult the four-volume 1989 edition that is free on the Web. If you want to use these volumes, I find it easier to use these volumes if I download the PDF files to my computer. It is faster to find specific information using the //find// feature rather than trying to scan through the Web version. I can't find a free version of the Abridged Dewey and so for class purposes, we will look at the full four-volume set.
 * **https://archive.org/details/deweydecimalcla01dewe** **(Volume 1 - Introduction and Tables)**
 * **https://archive.org/details/deweydecimalcla02dewe** **(Volume 2 - Schedules 000-599)**
 * **https://archive.org/details/deweydecimalcla03dewe** **(Volume 3 - Schedules 600-999)**
 * **https://archive.org/details/deweydecimalcla04dewe** **(Volume 4 - Relative Index and Manual)**

The only field we will add to this week's practice on classification is the good old 082.

 * [|**082 $a Dewey Classification Number**]

=** PREPARATION - THEORY PRACTICE AND QUIZZES  **=
 * 1) Read chapter 7 of your textbook for general background information.
 * 2) Read "Assigning a Dewey Decimal Classification Number"
 * 3) Read "How to Find a Dewey Number for a Book"
 * 4) Look at each of the four volumes of DDC 20 above online. DOWNLOAD volume 4 as a PDF file in order to follow along with the index exercise in the ABLE course below and to use as part of this week's practice assignment.
 * You could just use the find feature of the Web version of volume 4 but it is so slooooow that you will be frustrated - so save yourself some bother and use the find feature in the PDF for that section of the ABLE course.
 * 1) Work through the first 43 outline sections of ABLE 7 - Introduction to Dewey Classification
 * You will not generally be creating Dewey classification numbers from the four-volume DDC, and rarely from the abridged version, but I want you to have some idea of how Dewey numbers are created. It can be a very tedious process and each digit of the Dewey number has a meaning. I'm not asking you to work through the entire ABLE course because once you get past the index discussion, the gruesomeness of this particular course reaches such proportions that I would incur your enmity forever.
 * I recommend that you search in the PDF version of the index during the outline sections 38-42 of the course. It makes the examples clearer.
 * Since you are not asked to work through the entire ABLE 7 Dewey course, and thus not required to send me a screen grab of the final examination certificate, you will need to send me screen grabs of your successful completion of the first four (4) quizzes. **The quizzes are 5 points each and worth 20 points on your grade.**
 * 10. Quiz: Classification of Library Materials
 * 28. Quiz: Dewey Decimal Classification
 * 34. Quiz: The Steps in Classification
 * 43. Quiz: The Index

=ASSIGNMENT - PRACTICAL PRACTICE= Since you will almost always classify an item in your collection through some means besides using //Abridged Dewey//, I want you to see how different the possible answers might be -- plus, there is always the chance that you will change the Dewey number because it fits in better subject-wise with other items in your collection. You won't turn this in but keep your version to compare with my results.
 * 1) Create a new Google Sheets.
 * 2) Label the columns in this order: Titles, OCLC Classify, Library Catalog, Dewey Index
 * 3) Label rows in the Title Column with the title of the books listed below.
 * 4) There are 10 books listed below that you've just had donated to your library and you need to catalog them. Using three different approaches, what would you guess the Dewey number would be? You can try searching for the books by title in hopes of finding a Dewey, but you will more likely have to search by keywords.
 * For library searches, use a favorite large library catalog, e.g. MOBIUS, OhioLINK, or the University of Illinois Library -- the latter uses only Dewey and others may have the LC classification for some titles which won't help you with this practice.
 * For the Classify and Library Catalog searches, look for books with similar titles that would give you a reasonable guess for the Dewey of the book you are cataloging.Classify will give you multiple Dewey number suggestions in order of popularity.
 * Using the //Abridged Dewey// Index, look up what you think the subject would be for the third possibility.
 * You may see (hopefully) correlation among the three -- but maybe not.

What Dewey classification would you give these? (Only no. 10 has titles in BestMARC).
 * 1) //Odds On: Betting at the Horse Track//
 * 2) Pre-Adult Developmental Psychology (Equal treatment of developmental psychology for age groups from birth to 18)
 * 3) //Current Religions of the Middle East// (Discusses Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism)
 * 4) //Successful Second Grade Readers// (Contains about equal information on whole language approach to reading, oral reading, and evaluating reading skills.)
 * 5) //Drawing Rooms: A Comparison of Victorian Paintings from England and America// (Emphasis on British)
 * 6) //Adding to Your Family through Adoption// (Combines information about the practice of adoption, including the adoption of children from foreign countries, and laws relating to adoption).
 * 7) //Canned Foods// (Discusses both home preservation and commercial food processing.)
 * 8) //You Can Be as Photogenic as a Model: Health Diet and Exercise for Teenage Girls// (Material discusses how to balance proper eating habits with reasonable exercise.)
 * 9) //Dictionary of Child Psychology//
 * 10) //A History of France, 1870-1945//


 * I will post my exercise suggestions on Monday as well as the correct answer as given by the cataloging librarian who created these examples.**

=**How I grade your Dewey classification in all future assignments**= @http://somup.com/cFhVoyVEGm