UDC Capability

In our 4,000 item home library, we use the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) system. It is a very extensive system that makes it straight forward to incorporate different types of media, and to have a highly nuanced classification that is very helpful when searching for reference materials. At the moment, we use the field “Other Call Number System” to hold the UDC number. The structure of UDC was based on Dewey, but it has evolved to be significantly more extensive and nuanced than Dewey. The inherent logic and structure of UDC means that given a title’s Dewey and LoC classifications, it is possible to derive a preliminary UDC to which modifiers in the form of “auxiliary tables” can be added.

It would be great if LibraryThing could incorporate some of the basics of UDC, for example maybe deriving “suggested” UDC classes based on existing LoC and Dewey classes. Having a UDC class field would also be great.

What do people think about this?

That's what the Other Call Number field is for.

Actually, they don't presently have Dewey as a suggested item either. That's done by aggregate data from all books in the database.

>2 gilroy: I think the proposal is about integrating it to some degree into LT. For starters, UDC classification does not get imported from sources that use it, which is most of European libraries as far as I know. As a result, when I import data from our national library I get no classification data whatsoever. If I wanted to maintain it under Other Call Number, I'd have to check it on their page every single time and manually enter, even though it's a part of their data just as title and author. It just isn't among the recognized MARC records.

When Other Call number was added, Tim looked into somehow marking it as various other existing systems, but came to the conclusion that it would be too difficult, and there were too many competing systems, and most users would be entering idiosyncratic systems anyway.

The big libraries I know here in Vienna:
The public library system uses its own classification. Example: NN.FN FS.E Shel
The City Library in the Rathaus uses call numbers based on size and date received, which works because it has closed stacks.
The Austrian National Library signatur doesn't look like your example. The one I looked at is Signatur: 2099739-C. Again, closed stacks, so it probably is not by subject.

So some European libraries may prefer UDC to the Anglocentric classifications, but it is not in use everywhere here.

I'm in support of this.

I would also be in support of adding this capability.

>5 GraceCollection: >6 Valiha: Would you switch to this system if LT supported it? Do your preferred sources offer this information, so that you would get the data?

>7 MarthaJeanne: I would switch if LT supported it. I have a paperback edition of the UDC so I can manually check the classes I want to use for classifying the books, and then I can also check COBISS. It's a network of libraries in Southeast Europe with shared cataloging; they use UDC so that way I can make sure my classification is correct. They don't offer any data export so I'd need to manually copy and paste the class.

We could capture and use the UDC call numbers, but there's no free or open-source version of the schedules. They're in copyright. So it would just be numbers, without meaning. This could go into catalogs, but it would make a lousy feature to browse and look at.

From my understanding, DDC is under copyright as well, not that it should be but whatever, and yet MDS is a helpful... substitute. Would it be feasible for LT to provide a... substitute for UDC?

Either way, I think for people who already use & have familiarity with UDC, having that information captured, even if there is no schedule or ability to browse, would be appreciated.

>10 GraceCollection:

So MDS is possible because there are out-of-copyright editions of DDC. That's what we started with. Members add to it, but are told not to use the current DDC manuals to do so.

I guess UDC is old enough that there should be an out-of-copyright edition. If someone finds it for me, especially in English, I'll take a look?

>11 timspalding: https://ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in/lisp2/chapter/introduction-to-major-classificatio...

Looks like the first full English version was compiled over decades in small fascicules, many of which would still be in copyright. So you'd either be looking at French or German, or at working based on an abridged version.

ETA unabridged options look like:

The first UDC editions

Manuel du Repertoire Bibliographique Universel, Brussels: IIB, 1905-1907.
Classification Décimale Universelle, (FID 151), Brussels: IIB, 1927-1933.
Dezimal-Klassifikation (Gesamtausgabe), (FID 196), Berlin: DNA. ,1934-1953.

https://udcc.org/index.php/site/page?view=editions

So we're looking at translating an old edition, which isn't in a data format now. Then there's the EU being much worse on copyright issues generally. I don't know.

I realize it's been quite a while since the last message, but there's a selection of 2600 classes provided by UDC Consortium under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license: https://udcsummary.info/php/index.php.