Paola, (01)
The Dewey Decimal Classification was originally set up in 1870,
so if you look at the top level, it certainly does look old
fashioned and rather unbalanced. For example, the range of
numbers from 201 to 289 are devoted to Christianity, and all
other religions are squeezed into the range from 290 to 299. (02)
However, the only difference that a new top level would make is
to reduce some of the finer classifications from 6 or 7 digits
to 5 or 6 digits. That change is not worth the upheavals that
would be caused by replacing all the old numbers. (03)
> I am going through the Dewey Index, and it looks terribly
> outdated does anyone know of updates/scheduled maintenance? (04)
The OCLC bought the rights to it in 1988, and they have been
producing new extensions and updates. They have a web version
that is updated continuously. See (05)
http://www.oclc.org/dewey/
Dewey Services [OCLC - Cataloging and Metadata] (06)
I have no vested interest in the DDC, and I have no intention
of defending it against any other choice. But I don't believe
that the unbalanced top level creates much, if any problem. (07)
John (08)
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