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Non-Western Languages and Literatures in the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme

Published/Copyright: January 7, 2008
Libri
From the journal Volume 54 Issue 4

A classification scheme reinforces the social systems that were in place at the time the system was devised, and projects, no matter how subtly or ineffectively, the social, moral and intellectual values of that system. The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) scheme is the most widely used library classification scheme in the world today; it is based on the shape of the 19th century North American academic world, and shows a distinct bias no longer acceptable for libraries of the 21st century. Non-Western languages and literatures are given short shrift in classes 400 and 800 of the DDC. The situation of African languages and literatures is a case in point. Attempts at official and local revisions have been made, but more systemic efforts are necessary. The problem is complex and there are no easy answers. Nevertheless, national libraries should step forward to address the issue, and the new models for adapting the DDC should be investigated.

Eunice Kua, Current address: 921 Church St #301, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA. Phone: (734) 332-1569; Summer address: 8943 Lombard Place #310, San Diego, CA 92122, USA. Phone: (858) 587-9702; E-mail: . Homepage: http://wwwpersonal. si.umich.edu/~eskua/ekua_resume.doc
Received: 2004-05-28
Accepted: 2004-08-02
Published Online: 2008-01-07
Published in Print: 2004-December

© 2004 by K. G. Saur Verlag GmbH, Federal Republic of Germany

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  4. Avenues of Intellectual Resistance in the Ghetto Theresienstadt: Escape Through the Central Library, Books, and Reading
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  6. Non-Western Languages and Literatures in the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme
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  8. Table of Contents: Vol. 54, No. 1–4
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https://doi.org/10.1515/LIBR.2004.256

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Digital Visibility and Its Impact upon Online Usage: Case Study of a Health Web Site
  2. Measuring the Impact of Electronic Publishing on Citation Indicators of Education Journals
  3. Information Seeking Behaviour of Kuwaiti Journalists
  4. Avenues of Intellectual Resistance in the Ghetto Theresienstadt: Escape Through the Central Library, Books, and Reading
  5. Ottoman Foundation Libraries in the Age of Reform: The Final Period
  6. Non-Western Languages and Literatures in the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme
  7. 2005 Annual Award for the Best Libri Student Paper
  8. Table of Contents: Vol. 54, No. 1–4
  9. Author Index: Vol. 54, No. 1–4
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