Page 55 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Knowledge Organization: Classification and Cataloguing Theory

Notes
!
Caution It is important to note that the conceptual model and expression format are distinct
entities.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
13. A …………………notation system must be capable of describing all-digital, all-physical,
or hybrid art works.

14. A specific document instance of the notation system should comprise a guide to aid in the
……………………..of the work.
15. The notation system should employ an expression format that is ………………………..

16. The development of a system of formal notation for media art first requires the development
of a ……………………model.

3.5 Fundamental Categories of Notation

The full set of advantages attached to the use of decimal numbers appears to have come to
Dewey over time, although the fundamental advantages were clear from the beginning. Indeed,
the proposal Dewey made to Amherst College for his new classification system was limited to
a proposal regarding notation, with the basic principle (which he referred to as the “decimal
principle”) of dividing at any given class into no more than nine subordinate classes (plus a 0
subclass to mean no further subdivision) firmly in place.

In the 1st edition of the scheme, one- and two-digit numbers were used for classes that are now
numbered 001–099. Dewey (1876, 4) stated, “A General Cyclopedia or Periodical treats of no one
class, and so is assigned to the Class 0. . . . No difficulty is found in following the arithmetical law
and omitting the initial zero, so these numbers are printed 31, 32, etc., instead of 031, 032, etc.”
This omission of initial zeros might convey the impression that Dewey saw his numeric notation
acting as integers. And yet he also gives examples of four digit numbers, e.g., 5578 Geology of
Mexico, which were clearly not to be interpreted as integers. Indeed, his initial proposal for the
system spoke of a decimal point “as if it were written after the first figure”.
By the 2nd edition, Dewey’s language indicated that his thoughts on the nature of his notation
had coalesced. In this edition, all class numbers were given with at least three digits, including
leading zeros for Class 0, and within that, Division 0. “The decimal form means –– the heads are
grouped and numbered with the common arithmetical figures used decimally” (Dewey 1891, 9;
emphasis added). Dewey used the same phrase with reference to Cutter tables: “These tables
represent a name by its initial followed by figures used decimally (to allow intercalation)”
(Dewey, 1898, 54). Now integers do not allow for intercalation (i.e., interpolation) in the way
that decimal numbers do: we cannot insert another integer between 356 and 357, but we can
insert infinitely many numbers between .356 and .357. Indeed, in looking back at the beginnings
of the scheme, he suggested that he had seen it as a thoroughly decimal notation3 all along: “The
solution . . . was to get absolute simplicity by using the simplest known symbols, the Arabic
numerals as decimals, with the ordinary significance of nought”. (Of course, if he really had
conceived of the notation as thoroughly decimal, there would have been no need to fill out
three-digit numbers with trailing zeros.)

50 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY