Andrew Marlow wrote:
> I have found there is a copy of the Dewey Decimal system in project
> gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12513/12513-h/12513-h.htm.
> The release date is 4th June 2004. I am not sure if this is the release
> date of the gutenberg file or of the actual Dewey Decimal document
> itself
The Dewey Decimal classification given in Gutenberg #12513 dates
from 1876 (the actual etext is from a facsimile reprint issued in 1976),
so it's quite a bit older than the current version. Some
portions, like 070-099 and the 120's, were not even filled in
at the time.
Older versions of the DDC like this one are indeed out of copyright.
OCLC does claim a trademark on "Dewey Decimal", though, so even
if you use an older version, OCLC could in theory come after you if
you *called* it Dewey Decimal.
Alternatives to DDC include the Library of Congress classification
(which has no rights issues that I'm aware of), and UDC (where I
don't really know what rights issues might exist).
All of these schemes have the limitation that they're essentially
a single hierarchy designed for linear shelf orderings, and they
don't have the rich network of relationships that you can get with
full taxonomies (like, say, LC subject headings or MeSH). One of the
nice things about online repositories is that you *don't* have to
settle for linear orderings like we do for shelving physical books.
I started The Online Books Page with LC call number browsing, and
later added LC subject heading browsing. The latter seems to be
substantially more popular, based on my usage statistics, but requires
some nontrivial programming and metadata to do well.
(I provide both alphabetical and relationship-based
navigation of subject headings.)
To see the difference, you can go to
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp36851
(which is my listing for the Gutenberg Dewey Decimal book)
and click on the call number "Z696 .D51"
to do LC call number-based browsing, or the subject
"Classification, Dewey decimal" to do LC subject-based browsing.
John Mark Ockerbloom
I know that the DDC was revised in 2004. Anyway, the point is
> that the gutenberg project publishes stuff that is out of copyright.
> They tend to be quite careful about that. So doesn't this mean that
> DSpace could use the classification categories described in this
> document? I am ware that the DDC was copyrighted in 1876 by Melvil
> Dewey. I presume gutenberg has the document because that copyright expired.
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Andrew M.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> SF.Net email is Sponsored by MIX09, March 18-20, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
> The future of the web can't happen without you. Join us at MIX09 to help
> pave the way to the Next Web now. Learn more and register at
> http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;208669438;13503038;i?http://2009.visitmix.com/
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> DSpace-tech mailing list
> DSpace-tech@lists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/dspace-tech
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SF.Net email is Sponsored by MIX09, March 18-20, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The future of the web can't happen without you. Join us at MIX09 to help
pave the way to the Next Web now. Learn more and register at
http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;208669438;13503038;i?http://2009.visitmix.com/
_______________________________________________
DSpace-tech mailing list
DSpace-tech@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/dspace-tech
