Dewey Decimal Classification: Difference between revisions

Despite its widespread use, the classification has been criticized for its complexity and its limited capability for amendment. In particular, the arrangement of subheadings has been described as archaic and biased towards an Anglo-American world view.<ref name=alsc>{{cite web|last=Kaplan|first=Tali Balas|title=Done with Dewey|date=April 17, 2012|url=https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2012/04/done-with-dewey/|publisher=ALSC|access-date=15 December 2013|archive-date=December 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215035323/https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2012/04/done-with-dewey/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=udc-leichtenstein>{{cite journal|last=Fandino|first=Marta|title=UDC or DDC: A Note About the Suitable Choice for the National Library of Liechtenstein|journal=Extensions and Corrections to the UDC|year=2008|url=http://www.ukrbook.net/UDC_n/st_16.pdf|access-date=15 December 2013|archive-date=September 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914113033/http://www.ukrbook.net/UDC_n/st_16.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> This is particularly clear in the 800s section, in which most literature, particularly from outside the United States or Europe, is relegated to the 890s particularly when contrasted with the 900s—history. In 2007&ndash;08, the [[Maricopa County Library District]] in [[Arizona]] abandoned the DDC in favor of the Book Industry Standards and Communications ([[BISAC]]) system commonly used by commercial bookstores,<ref name=plo>{{cite news|last=Clarke|first=Rachel Ivy|title=Picturing Classification The Evolution and Use of Alternative Classification in Dutch Public Libraries|url=http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/05/picturing-classification-the-evolution-and-use-of-alternative-classification-in-dutch-public-libraries/|access-date=15 December 2013|newspaper=Public Libraries Online|date=May 7, 2013|archive-date=December 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215034322/http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/05/picturing-classification-the-evolution-and-use-of-alternative-classification-in-dutch-public-libraries/|url-status=live}}</ref> in an effort to make its libraries more accessible for their users. Several other libraries across the United States<ref name=fister2009>{{cite journal|last=Fister|first=Barbara|title=In the search for better browsability, librarians are putting Dewey in a different class|journal=The Library Journal|date=October 1, 2009|url=http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/05/public-services/the-dewey-dilemma/|access-date=9 February 2014|archive-date=February 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222154311/http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/05/public-services/the-dewey-dilemma/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and other countries (including Canada and the Netherlands) followed suit.<ref name=plo/> The DDC has also been criticized for being a [[proprietary name|proprietary]] system licensed by a single entity (OCLC), making it expensive to adopt.