Believe it or not, I’m still redoing the categories on my WordPress blog in the Dewey Decimal System. I’ve had 6 years of creating a taxonomy that doesn’t quite do what I want so why not?
Obviously I cover a lot of different topics on my blog.
While each post can be categorized by Dewey, tags exist outside the taxonomy and help identify lateral connections that may not have been obvious as I wrote the articles.
An additional problem is that most of the things I blog about didn’t exist in the 1870’s when Melvile Dewey created the system. I’ve used a number of web sites to help me convert the troublesome computer and technology categories. Fortunately OCLC maintains the DDC on an ongoing basis.
I’ve used a number of sites to help me create the taxonomy. I’d like to share them in case anyone else is considering standardizing their categories.
- http://www.oclc.org/ OCLC is a library service and research organization whose purpose is to improve access to the world’s information. OCLC owns the Dewey Decimal System which is used by libraries in over 135 countries to categorize their holdings.
- Dewey Decimal Classification / Linked Data This site provides Dewey Decimal classifications in either machine- or human-readable format.
- List of Dewey Decimal classes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wikipedia has everything, but I suggest you verify everything elsewhere.
- Dewey Decimal Classification System Bob Peck is a professional indexer whose list of DDC categories was invaluable.
- Dewey Decimal Classification Centennial 1876-1976 The 1976 edition of the DDC is available from Project Gutenberg, where you can download over 33,000 free ebooks to read on your PC, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, Android or other portable device.
- Site Index:
Dewey Decimal Classification Robert Teeter has listed a number of useful four-plus digit codes for technical topics.
Any thoughts on how to categorize self-referential blog posts, the category I’m presently calling “META”?
It has also dawned on me that I have not been adding metadata to the pictures I’ve uploaded. That’s another problem for another day.
Photo credit:
OZinOH
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