Editing Dewey Decimal Classification (section)

== Administration and publication ==

Dewey and a small editorial staff managed the administration of the very early editions.  Beginning in 1922, the Lake Placid Club Educational Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded by Melvil Dewey, managed administrative affairs.  The ALA set up a Special Advisory Committee on the Decimal Classification as part of the Cataloging and Classification division of ALA in 1952. The previous Decimal Classification Committee was changed to the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee, with participation of the ALA Division of Cataloging and Classification, and of the Library of Congress.<ref>{{harvp|Comaromi|1976|p=416}}</ref>{{qn|date=March 2017}}

Melvil Dewey edited the first three editions of the classification system and oversaw the revisions of all editions until his death in 1931. May Seymour became editor in 1891 and served until her death in 1921. She was followed by [[Jennie Dorcas Fellows|Dorcas Fellows]], who was editor until her death in 1938. Constantin J. Mazney edited the 14th edition. Milton Ferguson functioned as editor from 1949 to 1951. The 16th edition in 1958 was edited under an agreement between the Library of Congress and Forest Press, with David Haykin as director.<ref name=timeline>{{cite web|title= Timeline|url= https://www.oclc.org/dewey/about/timeline.en.html|publisher= OCLC|access-date= 8 December 2013|archive-date= December 11, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131211224834/https://www.oclc.org/dewey/about/timeline.en.html|url-status= live}}</ref> Editions 16–19 were edited by [[Benjamin A. Custer]] and the editor of edition 20 was John P. Comaromi. Joan Mitchell was editor until 2013, covering editions 21 to 23.<ref>{{harvp|Chan|2007|p=323}}</ref> In 2013 Michael Panzer of OCLC became Editor-in-Chief.<ref name=mitchell-oclc>{{cite news|last= Mitchell|first= Joan|title= Michael Panzer named Editor-in-Chief of the Dewey Decimal Classification system|url= https://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2013/20134.en.html|access-date= 17 November 2013|newspaper= OCLC Press Release|date= 24 January 2013|archive-date= September 6, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130906014506/https://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2013/20134.en.html|url-status= live}}</ref> The Dewey Editorial Program Manager since 2016 has been Rebecca Green.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ddc.typepad.com/025431/2016/07/a.html|title=Announcing Dr. Rebecca Green as new Dewey Editorial Program Manager|website=025.431: The Dewey blog|access-date=2018-05-22|archive-date=May 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523011434/https://ddc.typepad.com/025431/2016/07/a.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dewey himself held copyright in editions 1 to 6 (1876–1919). Copyright in editions 7&ndash;10 was held by the publisher, The Library Bureau.<ref>{{Cite book |publisher = Forest Press |location = Lake Placid Club, N.Y. |title = Decimal classification and relative index for libraries and personal use |last = Dewey |first = Melvil |date = 1922 | oclc = 1367992  | page = 2  |ol = 6648895M }}</ref> On the death of May Seymour, Dewey conveyed the "copyrights and control of all editions" to the Lake Placid Club Educational Foundation, a non-profit chartered in 1922.<ref>{{harvp|Comaromi|1976|p=286}}</ref>  The [[OCLC|Online Computer Library Center]] of [[Dublin, Ohio]], U.S., acquired the trademark and copyrights associated with the Dewey Decimal Classification system when it bought Forest Press in 1988. In 2003 the Dewey Decimal Classification came to the attention of the U.S. press when OCLC sued the [[Library Hotel]] for trademark infringement for using the classification system as the hotel theme.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|last= Luo|first= Michael|title= Where Did Dewey File Those Law Books?|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/23/nyregion/where-did-dewey-file-those-law-books.html|access-date= 17 November 2013|newspaper= The New York Times|date= September 23, 2003|archive-date= March 25, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170325203813/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/23/nyregion/where-did-dewey-file-those-law-books.html|url-status= live}}</ref> The case was settled shortly thereafter.<ref>{{Cite news |title = OCLC and The Library Hotel settle trademark complaint |date = October 24, 2003 |publisher = Library Technology Guides |url = http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=15488 |access-date = October 21, 2013 |archive-date = October 21, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131021223727/http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=15488 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

The OCLC has maintained the classification since 1988, and also publishes new editions of the system. The editorial staff responsible for updates is based partly at the [[Library of Congress]] and partly at OCLC. Their work is reviewed by the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee, a ten-member international board which meets twice each year. The four-volume unabridged edition was published approximately every six years, with the last edition (DDC 23) published in mid-2011.<ref name=oclc-latest>{{cite web|title= Latest versions|url= https://www.oclc.org/dewey/versions.en.html|publisher= OCLC|access-date= 8 December 2013|archive-date= December 8, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131208090827/https://www.oclc.org/dewey/versions.en.html|url-status= live}}</ref> In 2017 the editorial staff announced that the English edition of DDC will no longer be printed, in favor of using the frequently updated WebDewey.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ddc.typepad.com/025431/2017/08/dewey-print-editions.html|title=Dewey Print Editions|website=025.431: The Dewey blog|access-date=2018-05-22|archive-date=May 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523011407/https://ddc.typepad.com/025431/2017/08/dewey-print-editions.html|url-status=live}}</ref> An experimental version of Dewey in [[Resource Description Framework|RDF]] was available at dewey.info beginning in 2009,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://old.datahub.io/dataset/dewey_decimal_classification|title=Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) - the Datahub|website=old.datahub.io|language=en|access-date=2018-05-22|archive-date=May 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523095447/https://old.datahub.io/dataset/dewey_decimal_classification|url-status=live}}</ref> but has not been available since 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oclc.org/developer/news/2015/dewey-down.en.html|title=Change to Dewey Web Services {{!}} OCLC Developer Network|website=www.oclc.org|language=en|access-date=2018-05-22|date=2015-06-15|archive-date=May 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523011138/https://www.oclc.org/developer/news/2015/dewey-down.en.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition to the full version, a single-volume abridged edition designed for libraries with 20,000 titles or fewer has been made available since 1895. The last printed English abridged edition, Abridged Edition 15, was published in early 2012.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = https://www.oclc.org/dewey/versions/abridged/default.htm
 |title        = Abridged
 |year         = 2012
 |publisher    = [[Online Computer Library Center|OCLC]]
 |access-date  = 23 January 2013
 |archive-date = July 1, 2011
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110701051412/https://www.oclc.org/dewey/versions/abridged/default.htm
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Full edition !! Publication year !! Abridged edition !! Publication year
|-
| 1st || 1876 || ||
|-
| 2nd || 1885 || ||
|-
| 3rd || 1888 || ||
|-
| 4th || 1891 || ||
|-
| 5th || 1894 || 1st || 1895
|-
| 6th || 1899 || ||
|-
| 7th || 1911 || ||
|-
| 8th || 1913 || 2nd || 1915
|-
| 9th || 1915 || ||
|-
| 10th || 1919 || ||
|-
| 11th || 1922 || 3rd || 1926
|-
| 12th || 1927 || 4th || 1929
|-
| 13th || 1932 || 5th || 1936
|-
| 14th || 1942 || 6th || 1945
|-
| 15th || 1951 || 7th || 1953
|-
| 16th || 1958 || 8th || 1959
|-
| 17th || 1965 || 9th || 1965
|-
| 18th || 1971 || 10th || 1971
|-
| 19th || 1979 || 11th || 1979
|-
| 20th || 1989 || 12th || 1990
|-
| 21st || 1996 || 13th || 1997
|-
| 22nd || 2003 || 14th || 2004
|-
| 23rd || 2011 || 15th || 2012
|}