[Koha-devel] Some thoughts about the "Dewey" field (was: What's a "Dewey"?)

[Ambrose Li [CCCGT]]

On Thu, Nov 28, 2002 at 11:01:44AM -0500, Andrew Arensburger wrote:
> 	So while we're at it, can anyone clarify the general form of a
> Dewey number? I've seen "123" and "123.45", of course, but also
> apostrophes and slashes: "123.45'67". Would

The apostrophes and slashes are like the middle dots you see in
dictionaries; they help the cataloguer to know where the "word
break" in the code is. In the case of a code like "123.45'67",
it means that the library has the liberty to choose between
assigning "123.45" (less detail in the catalogue) and "123.4567"
(more detail). AFAIK deployed Dewey codes should not have slashes
or apostrophes.

Caveat: I am not a librarian, so perhaps my understanding is not
right either.

-- 
Ambrose Li

``A good style should show no sign of effort;
  what is written should seem a happy accident.'' ~ Somerset Maugham