Page 60 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 3: Notational System

Notes
On each shelf the items are arranged in a numerical sequence from left to right by their
DDC number. Where several items have an identical DDC number, the letters are used to
further arrange them. For example,

Questions

1. Critically analyse the DDC system at Oxford Brookes.
2. Write down the case facts.
Source: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/guides/rg13dewey.pdf

3.7 Summary

Melvil Dewey, self-proclaimed library reformer, made numerous contributions to modern
librarianship.

Shelf arrangement is a key element of the library’s physical layer, while the uses to which
the library patron applies the intellectual or artistic content of library materials comprise
the library’s application layer.

The notation in Dewey’s Decimal Classification, in contrast, has always reflected the
subject matter of the item.

In order for such a system to be useful for subject cataloging purposes, the subjects
recognized needed to be more specific than the broad subject groups used in fixed location
systems.

While the notation system used in a bibliographic classification may appear on the surface
to have only utilitarian value, this analysis of the notational system used in the Dewey
Decimal Classification has provided ample evidence to the contrary

The principle of maintaining the integrity of the notation militates against generating
notational variants that adopt alternative citation orders.
All the hierarchical relationships referred to thus far are generic-specific relationships,
where a simple subject is made more specific through the addition of attributes associated
with its semantic type.

The DDC notation for jazz songs, 782.42165, reflects a combination of 782.42 Secular songs
+ 165 Jazz (from 781.65).
A formal notation system must be capable of describing all-digital, all-physical, or hybrid
art works.

The notation system should employ an expression format that is standardized so that the
development of software tools, training, documentation, and support is feasible for the
arts community and leverages larger community or industry efforts.
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.

3.8 Keywords

Attributes: A quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or
something.

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