[WEB4LIB] Re: Use of DDC in web displays

[Robert Tiess]

Eric Hellman wrote:
> a thought:
> 
> I imagine that it is only the definitions of the categories which are
> copyrighted by oclc. (You can only copyright an expression of an
> idea, you can't copyright the idea)  Given this, an open source
> project could do a clean-room clone of DDC by deriving category
> descriptions from samples of cataloged items.

But do we really want to reinvent the broken wheel?  DDC has been
a good tool, but its overt Westernness (refined somewhat over years,
yes), archaic synthesis (e.g. Cutter numbers), slow adaptation to
new technologies, fields of study, and media types, and generally
incomprehensible digits to many patrons who actually use the system
to retrieve materials, all converge at a compelling argument for
a new system that can be easily implemented and understood by all
those who use it, free of licensing red tape, immediately
extensible, and globalized to reflect all cultures and knowledge.

Simply enough, our information age demands a much better system.
While it is updated periodically, the overall DDC scheme was first
established in 1876.  That it lasted this long is not so much a
testament to its strong structure as it is to those who took steps
to revive it along the years through revisions.  This can occur
indefinitely, and the status quo can be effectively maintained
well into the new millennium.  Or, the networking technology that
helped establish Linux and bring it to the masses can be used to
do the same for a new and open classification system that frees
and empowers its users and is no longer esoterica among catalogers
alone but clear and navigable among laypersons.

If anyone has any feelings or ideas on this, I welcome posts on
this topic in the new "OpenClass" forum at
http://www.egroups.com/group/openclass

Robert Tiess
rjtiess at warwick.net
http://rtiess.tripod.com