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29 September 2006

E. coli

An outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections from fresh spinach has been in the news.

Works on the incidence of disease-causing infections of Escherichia coli in humans are classed in 614.57 Bacterial diseases. Comprehensive medical works on disease-causing infections of Escherichia coli in humans are classed in 616.926 Escherichia coli infections. Subdivisions may be added to 616.926 for works that focus on a specific strain of bacteria, e.g., 616.926075 Diagnosis of E. coli O157:H7 infections (built with 07 from 075-079 Diagnosis, prognosis, death, immunity in the add table under 616.1-616.9 Specific diseases plus 5 from 616.075 Diagnosis and prognosis).

Works on public safety programs to reduce hazards from contaminated foods are classed in 363.192 Foods, e.g., 363.19264 Food inspection (built with 64 Inspection and testing from the add table under 362-363 Specific social problems and services). Works that focus on specific kinds of food such as fresh vegetables are classed in 363.1929 Specific foods.

Posted by Juli at 05:10 PM in 300-399 Social sciences, 600-699 Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

28 September 2006

One Zero or Two?

We have been asked, why do I sometimes find 821.008 used for collections of English poetry, sometimes 821.08?

Before DDC 17 was published in 1965, 821.08 meant collections of English poetry.

After publication of DDC 17, 821.008 meant collections of English poetry, and 821.08 meant English light and ephemeral verse, including greeting card verse. Many libraries, however, kept using 08 instead of 008 for collections of poetry. They made very little use of 08 for light and ephemeral verse.

With publication of DDC 22 in 2003, 821.08 became obsolete. Light verse was relocated to 821.07, joining the humorous and satirical poetry already there. Ephemeral verse that is not light or humorous, and greeting card verse, were moved to the base number 821. 821.008 continues to mean collections of English poetry.

The number 821.008 Collections of English poetry is built with 82 (following the instruction at 820.1-828 Subdivisions of English literature) plus 100 (following the instruction at T3B--1001-T3B--1009 Standard subdivisions; collections; history, description, critical appraisal) plus 8 Collections of literary texts from the add table at T3B--1-T3B--8 Specific forms.

We know these instructions can be confusing; for that reason, we supply many built-number examples in WebDewey that you can copy or use as a model. For example, if you browse in WebDewey for 821 you will find these and other built numbers:
821 English poetry
821.008 English poetry--collections
821.00803543 Love--poetry--English literature--collections, . . .
821.0080355 English poetry--social themes--collections, . . .
821.008036 English poetry--nature--collections, . . .
821.0080382 English poetry--religious themes--collections, . . .
821.009 English poetry--history and criticism
821.04 English poetry--lyric poetry, . . .
821.0708 Humorous poetry--English literature--collections, . . .

Posted by Juli at 10:14 AM in 800-899 Literature, DDC tables, DDC tip of the week | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

27 September 2006

Unbalanced Spans

We’ve received a number of queries lately about the “disappearance” of records under certain spans in WebDewey. This problem is associated with unbalanced spans (spans in which the notation at each end of the span is not at the same level of the notational hierarchy). In each case, the records are still in WebDewey, but don’t appear in the hierarchical display because of a clash between the hierarchical display algorithm and the unbalanced spans in the underlying data. For example, if you display the record for the unbalanced span 709.012-709.05, you won’t see the individual records associated with this span in the downward hierarchical display, but the records are indeed still in the database. The easiest way to see a list of the individual records is to hit the browse key associated with the record for the span, which then displays all the records in a sequential list in the browse window.

An unbalanced span is an example of a convention that works in the print presentation of Dewey table and schedule entries, but is less effective in the electronic presentation of the data. The browse trick is a temporary workaround. We do not plan to do more work on the WebDewey display algorithm itself in order to address this problem, which affects some (but not all) of the unbalanced spans in the system. Instead, we plan to undertake a project shortly to eliminate unbalanced spans in the underlying Dewey data.

Posted by Dewey at 11:42 AM in DDC tip of the week | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

26 September 2006

Missions to Mars

We are learning about the geology and physical features of Mars by means of astronautical exploratory missions. The European Space Agency's Mars Express mission's high resolution stereo camera photographs have provided spectacular views of the planet. "Mars Express has obtained images of the Cydonia region, site of the famous 'Face on Mars.'" These images show that the mystery face "is an unusual formation of mountains, valleys and landslides."

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is on the verge of exploring Victoria Crater. "The great lure of Victoria is the expectation that a thick stack of geological layers will be exposed in the crater walls, potentially several times the thickness that was previously studied at Endurance and therefore, potentially preserving several times the historical record."

Comprehensive works about the geology of Mars are classed in 559.923 Earth sciences of Mars (number built according to instructions at 554-559 Earth sciences by specific continents, countries, localities in modern world; extraterrestrial worlds with 55 plus notation T2--9923 Mars).

Astronautical engineering aspects of exploratory and data-gathering flights to Mars are classed in 629.43543 Unmanned flights to Mars (number built with 629.4354 Planetary flights plus 3 from 523.43 Mars).

Posted by Juli at 02:43 PM in 500-599 Science, 600-699 Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

25 September 2006

Diamond hunting

Diamonds can be found around the world. Usually, the general public cannot go diamond hunting in known diamond-producing areas. However, for a fee of $6.00, the general public can go diamond hunting at Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro, Arkansas. If you find a diamond, you get to keep it. This rule was good for Melissa Lacey who found a 1.30 carat diamond last week.

Interdisciplinary works on diamonds are classed in 553.82 Diamonds. General works on the mining of diamonds are classed in 622.382 Diamond mining (622.3 Mining of specific materials + notation 82 from 553.82). The open-pit mine at Crater of Diamonds State Park is classed at 622.38209767485 (622.382 + T1--09 Historical, geographic, persons treatment + T2--767485 Pike County, Arkansas).

Posted by Winton at 02:13 PM in 500-599 Science, 600-699 Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

22 September 2006

Three versions of Sophie's Choice

Sophie's Choice, William Styron's best-selling novel, was published in 1979. In 1982, it was made into a movie (here is a link for the DVD version). The following year Meryl Streep won an Oscar for her portrayal of Sophie. Last night, the Washington National Opera presented the U.S. premiere of Nicholas Maw's Sophie’s Choice, an opera based on the novel.

An adaptation of a literary work that alters the form of the work is classed in the number appropriate to the adaptation. For additional information, please refer to Section 2 of the Graphic Novels in DDC: Discussion Paper. Thus, the novel is classed in 813.54 American fiction from 1945 through 1999, the movie is classed in 791.4372 Single films, and the opera is classed in 782.1 Operas.

Posted by Winton at 03:37 PM in 700-799 Arts & recreation, 800-899 Literature | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

13 September 2006

Gathering Clouds

A few months ago a colleague brought the Dewey cloud created by Steve Thomas to our attention. Steve used the Dewey Summaries to provide a visual presentation of the print collection of the University of Adelaide Library. In OCLC Research, we have also been experimenting with tag clouds. We recently generated Dewey clouds in English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, and Vietnamese for the top 100 Dewey classes in the WorldCat collection searchable through the DeweyBrowser. We also added some new features to the DeweyBrowser including a library shelf view and the ability to sort the title list. Please let us know what you think of these DeweyBrowser changes.

Posted by vizinegoetz at 01:20 PM in 000-099 Computer science, information & general works, DDC in the research lab, DDC in the weird and wonderful web-world, DDC translations | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

08 September 2006

Tallest tree

Until yesterday, Stratosphere Giant at 370 feet (112.8 meters) was known as the tallest tree in the world. However, three taller coast redwoods have been discovered in Redwood National Park, Humboldt County, California. These trees are Hyperion at 378.1 feet (115.2 meters), Helios at 376.3 feet (114.7 meters), and Icarus at 371.2 feet (113.1 meters). Redwood trees are classed at 585.5 Taxodiaceae. Because redwood is in the Including note, standard subdivision --09 plus Table 2 notation --79412 Humboldt County cannot be added to show where these trees are located.

Posted by Juli at 10:46 AM in DDC tables | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

07 September 2006

The Mosquito War

Steve Inskeep of National Public Radio recently interviewed science writer Jennifer Kahn about the war against disease-carrying mosquitoes (see her article in Outside magazine). Mosquitoes carry diseases such as Rift Valley fever (616.918 RNA virus infections), West Nile fever (616.9185 Flavivirus infections), dengue (616.91852 Dengue), yellow fever (616.91854 Yellow fever), and malaria (616.9362 Malaria). Works about mosquitoes as carriers of disease are classed in 614.4323 Mosquitoes, a subdivision of 614.43 Disease vectors and disease transmission by water. The note "Class here control of disease vectors" under 614.43 has hierarchical force; it means that medical aspects of the war against disease-carrying mosquitoes are also classed in 614.4323. Interdisciplinary works about mosquito control, including social aspects, are classed in 363.78 Pest control.

Posted by Juli at 02:17 PM in 600-699 Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

06 September 2006

An Emperor To Be

Earlier today (Japanese time), Princess Akishino (popularly known as Princess Kiko) gave birth to a son. The significance is that he is the first male to be born in the direct line of succession to the Japanese throne in 41 years. So the prince is third in line to the throne (after his uncle Crown Prince Naruhito and his father Prince Akishino), and is likely to inherit the throne rather than his cousin Princess Aiko or his older sisters Princess Mako and Princess Kako. This is because the Japanese throne only descends in the male line.

By tradition, the prince will not be named for seven days. However, we can assign him a Dewey number: 952.05092, which is built by adding to 952.05 History of Japan 2000- the standard subdivision 092 Persons from Table 1.

Posted by Giles at 01:25 PM in 900-999 History & geography | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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