Content deleted Content added
m Reverted edits by 49.224.227.115 (talk) (HG) (3.4.12) |
unrelated Tags: Reverted references removed |
||
Line 1:
▲It was first published in the United States by [[Melvil Dewey]] in 1876.<ref>{{citation | last = Dewey | first = Melvil | url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12513/12513-h/12513-h.htm | title = Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library | format = Project Gutenberg eBook | year = 1876 | access-date = 31 July 2012 | archive-date = November 10, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121110175608/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12513/12513-h/12513-h.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> Originally described in a 44-page pamphlet, it has been expanded to multiple volumes and revised through 23 major editions, the latest printed in 2011. It is also available in an abridged version suitable for smaller libraries. [[OCLC]], a non-profit cooperative that serves libraries, currently maintains the system and licenses online access to '''WebDewey''', a continuously updated version for [[Cataloging (library science)|catalogers]].
The [[decimal]] number classification introduced the concepts of ''relative location'' and ''relative index''. Libraries previously had given books permanent shelf locations that were related to the order of acquisition rather than topic. The classification's notation makes use of three-digit numbers for main classes, with fractional decimals allowing expansion for further detail. Numbers are flexible to the degree that they can be expanded in linear fashion to cover special aspects of general subjects.<ref>Chapter 17 in {{cite book |last1=Joudrey|first1=Daniel N.|last2=Taylor|first2=Arlene G.|last3=Miller|first3=David P.|title=Introduction to Cataloging and Classification|date=2015|publisher=Libraries Unlimited/ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, CA|edition=11th|isbn = 978-1-59884-856-4}}</ref> A library assigns a classification number that unambiguously locates a particular volume in a position relative to other books in the library, on the basis of its subject. The number makes it possible to find any book and to return it to its proper place on the library shelves.<ref group="Note">Consider as an example a book on the network protocol IPv6. It will be located at 004.62, after general networking books (004.6) but before peripherals (004.7). It can thus be placed on the shelf in the correct location.</ref> The classification system is used in 200,000 libraries in at least 135 countries.<ref>{{cite web
| |||