Use and Development the Oxford Decimal Classification and Co-operation of National Forest Bibliography Centers at International Level
THE JOINT FAO/IUFRO COMMITTEE ON BIBLIOGRAPHY
AT its Ninth Session at Oxford in July 1956, the Joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography (hereafter the Joint Committee) discussed and approved, together with a first set of amendments to subheadings submitted at the meeting, the whole method of procedure to be adopted for receiving and adjudicating on substantive amendments of the Oxford System of Decimal Classification for Forestry (O.D.C.) and for publicizing those approved by the Committee. It also agreed on further publicizing certain guiding principles for the use of the System, on the form that co-operation between national and international bibliographical centers should take, and on the advice to be given to national centers as to how they should compile their own national lists. All these are set forth below.
Some Guiding Principles for the Use of the O.D.C.
While nothing can replace a painstaking study of the six-page Introduction to the System, the following notes are offered in amplification or emphasis of important points:
1. Before referencing anything or searching a card catalogue, ALWAYS look at the text as well as the index of the System.
2. When referencing, it is important to REFERENCE TN DEPTH, i.e., to classify the material in adequate detail, at the outset, while the original is still at hand. This will obviate any need for painful recataloguing later on. Do the job once and well. Guide cards or file cases, however, need only be used to the extent necessary. Library shelf-marks call for only shallow (e.g., two-digit) classification, which need not, of course, be the O.D.C. in fact, though it is desirable that the O.D.C. should be used, it is equally possible to employ some other system for the arrangement of library shelves.
3. Keep general matter in general categories but use 'lumped' numbers, e.g., 811/812, as sparingly as possible; likewise the .9 Miscellaneous, numbers, the (0) Form numbers and the - -0 Auxiliary numbers of subject. The two latter are essentially classification tools for really large card catalogues.
4. Any exiting head may be subdivided domestically, at the risk of the user, the ' domestic ' part being either numerical (preceded by x) or alphabetical. But NO unoccupied number at any level, e.g., 21 or 232.411.7, can be so used; these are reserved for possible future use as new official subheads, i.e., to be passed by the Joint Committee. See paragraph 6 b on page 9 of the O.D.C. Introduction.
Some current examples of domestic usage are given below:
(1) An example of purely numerical subdivision:
Main head 3. Work Science (Work Studies), etc. Subhead 304. Hygiene. Safety. Accidents and their prevention
304x0 General
x2 Accidents and psychology, (e.g. accident proneness)
x3 Accident statistics
x4 Accident prevention: safety devices, tools and machines
x5 Accidents during forestry operations
x6 Accidents during the transport of wood
x7 Safety equipment, first aid, etc.
x8 Hygiene and work
x9 Miscellaneous[After Dr. Gläser, Joint Committee on Forest Working Techniques and Training of Forest Workers, FAO/ECE]
(2a) An example of mixed numerical and alphabetical subdivision:
Main head 1. Factors of the environment. Biology.
Subhead 146.7 Insecta
|
146.7x13 |
Taeniothrips laricivorus (where x13 signifies the order Thysanoptera without further numerical subdivision to family) |
|
145.7x19.92 |
Ips typographus (where x19 signifies the order Coleoptera and .92 the family Scolytidae, a family of great importance to foresters.) |
[For the complete scheme, see O.D.C. Appendix C](2b) An example of purely alphabetical subdivision:
Subhead 174.7 Coniferae
174.7 Abies alba
174.7 Abies balsamea
.......
174.7 Widdringtonia whytei
[See O.D.C., Introduction (1) (d), page 5, and (6) (b), page 9]
5. Since the System allows a certain latitude in e.g., the selection, order and combination of reference numbers, it is advisable to have one person in your institution to standardize your local practice. All local decisions should he kept on record for ' domestic ' consultation.
6. While the .0 of any set of numbers has been left open, so far as possible, for future official subdivisions of more general meaning than the heads .1 to .9, the .9 digit is always reserved, at any level, as a miscellaneous head. It is an ' overflow ' number for any subject that cannot properly be fitted to existing subdivisions and it can itself be subdivided, if necessary, almost ad infinitum.
Development of Amendments to the O.D.C.
A. Method of procedure
General
(i) All changes in the O.D.C. require the authorization of the Joint Committee.(ii) DOMESTIC usage is dealt with in Section 6 (b) of the Introduction to the System.
(iii) Individuals wishing to submit amendments are urged first to consult their national bibliography center and terminology committee (if separate).
Procedure
(i) Any proposals for new or altered subheads are to be submitted to the Joint Committee via the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau (C.F.B.), Oxford, England.(ii) If the C.F.B. considers, after any necessary correspondence, that a prima facie case has been made, it may refer the proposal to an appropriate quarter, e. g. a section of IUFRO, an institute or individual specialists.
(iii) These, after appropriate local consultation, should submit a considered reply to the C.F.B. which will then formulate concrete proposals for the Joint Committee's consideration.
(iv) All such proposals, as well as the correctness of their translation into the four main languages (E, F. G. Span.), will be dealt with at the Joint Committee's next session.
(v) Any decisions taken will be published as expeditiously as possible by the following methods:
(a) by notification in Unasylva, reprints being simultaneously sent to all national bibliographical centers in one or other of FAO's official languages, with the request that these be reproduced in the main national forestry and timber periodicals;(b) by notification in Forestry Abstracts;
The standard form will be:
OXFORD DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION FOR FORESTRYAmendment No...., as authorized by the Joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography (place, month and year)
B. First amendment, as authorized at the above cession:
OXFORD DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION FOR FORESTRY
Amendment No. 1, as authorized by the Joint FAO/IUFRO Committee on Bibliography (Oxford, July 1956)
182.1 add Pollen analysis
232.322.41 add subdivision as follows
.411 Nitrogen fertilizers
.412 Phosphate fertilizers
.414 Potassium fertilizers
.417 Calcium fertilizers; lime
.419 Miscellaneous
237.4 add [Subdivide, if necessary, as 232.322.4]
26 read COMBINATIONS OF FORESTRY WITH AGRICULTURE AND PASTORAL HUSBANDRY. IRRIGATED AND FLOODLAND FORESTS, SHELTERBELTS ETC., AND THEIR TREATMENT.
263 read Irrigated forests. Forests subject to flooding or seepage (Auewald)
339 add , e.g., salvage fellings
384 read Protective works, including torrent training [For other stream training see 386]
384.2 read Against erosion in general
add 384.3 Torrent training
386 in square-bracketed comment, read [For torrent training see 384.3, for installations... ]
add 450 General matters. Predisposing factors and causes (including forecasting of outbreaks). [arose-reference to other subdivisions of 45, as appropriate]
644.9 add , e. g., forest rights (servitudes) etc. ref. 935.5]
822.45 delete Re-saws and read Head saws, break (ing)-down saws
822.46 read Other rip-saws; re-saws, edgers, etc.
945.39 add, e.g., information on careers in forestry
Co-operation between National and International Bibliographical Centers
Preface
At its Ninth Session the Joint Committee examined the reports submitted, at its request, by the three international centers of Oxford, Reinbek and Washington outlining their functions, and then discussed the form that co-operation between them and national centers should take. These reports are reproduced below:
FUNCTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CENTERS
Scope
The library of the United States Department of Agriculture at Washington. with a branch at Madison to serve those engaged in research, differs from the international centers at Oxford and Reinbek in that it is not devoted exclusively or primarily to forestry. Any changes in methods or systems for forestry literature consequently affect the operation of the entire library.
Oxford and Reinbek scrutinize and abstract literature that carries material of interest to forestry. Oxford does this for all publications in every language - currently some 30 languages are dealt with; Reinbek covers 46 countries and 19 languages. Washington collects, indexes (currently in 13 languages) and lists all publications in the over-all field of agriculture.
Distribution of information
Oxford
i) Quarterly Forestry Abstracts from world literature, with regular review articles.ii) Week-by-week, postal 'Centralized Title Service' of 5 x 3 in. reference cards, with full O.D.C. classification and bibliographical citation, and often carrying short abstracts; available at cost price. Annual output 6,000 to 7,000 cards per set.
iii) Information service, photocopy work, occasional translations.
Reinbek
i) From 1950-55, Numbers 1 to 8 of the Bibliographie des ausländischen forst- und holzwirt-schaftlichen Schrifttums (Bibliography of Foreign Literature on Forestry and Timber Economy) classified on the Flury system for silviculture and the Kollmann system for timber. From 1955, a new two-monthly issue using the O.D.C., each containing over 500 titles. The end of-year issue contains a list of periodicals and an author-index. N.B. For Germany itself A complete bibliography is published annually by the Zentralstelle für Forstliche Bibliographie, (Forestry Bibliography Center), Freiburg i. Br.ii) Publication six times a year of abstracts (Referatenorgan) of world forest literature is under preparation.
iii) Extracts, reports, translations, photocopies of literature cited and copies of index cards are available on payment; also information on scientific publications and summaries of literature on specific problems.
Washington
i) Monthly Bibliography of Agriculture (a current list by subject; monthly author index, annual subject and cumulative author index).ii) Lending, reference, bibliographic and photo-reproduction service.
The Committee expressed the wish that Oxford, Reinbek and Washington should explore common grounds for closer co-ordination in the interests of avoiding duplication of effort and of mutually more rewarding results. The Committee feels, however, that there is room in forestry for several centers functioning internationally.
Co-operation with National Bibliographical Centers
Where national centers publish regularly a title list of national forest bibliography, such lists should be produced with as little delay as possible and a copy sent to the international centers for checking against their own coverage lists. In the case of national center'; that do not yet publish title lists, the Committee expressed the wish that these undertake to check whether the international centers adequately cover their country's forestry literature. Following this check, they should regularly bring to the notice of the international centers:
(i) any missing periodicals or series, whether purely forestry or not, that regularly or from time to time carry material of forestry significance;(ii) any important missing items (e.g., book';, monographs) of forestry significance.
National centers in each country should take steps to have their own literature, both present and past, systematically indexed by subject, using the O.D.C. system from January 1951; and to see that such lists have the appropriate abstract reference(s) appended to any item for which an abstract exists.
Recommendations for Compiling National Bibliographies
Letter G/F-14 dated 8 May 1954 from the Director-General, FAO, to all member countries, offered some initial guidance on the compilation of national bibliographies in the form of title lists. After further consideration by the Joint Committee, the following recommendations are made in amplification, in the hope of ensuring a reasonable minimum of uniformity and so rendering the bibliographies of maximum utility to both national and international users:
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Scope of the bibliographyFirst, by the term 'national forestry bibliography' is to be understood a list of the literature actually published in that country, i. e. EXCLUDING material published (a) about that country, and (b) by a national of that country but appearing in some foreign publication; should, however, the national bibliographical centers prefer to include such references, the fact should always be stated in each issue and the country of publication clearly indicated for each reference.
2. Periodicity
Bibliographies should be produced at least annually and as promptly as their completeness will allow. supplements should be avoided.
3. Classification
(a) While it is not necessary to publish a detailed decimal classification of each bibliographical reference, a nominal subject classification according to the O.D.C., at about a 2- to 3- figure level, is highly desirable. If so classified, an author index will be essential.
(b) If no subject classification is employed, references should be alphabetically by AUTHOR rather than by any other method.
In both the author index and the bibliography arranged by authors, references in which no author is mentioned should be grouped under the Latin word ANON(YMUS) and arranged in a single alphabetical series by periodical title or (for non-periodicals, including books) by publishing body (not by title of the book). Title of publishing body may be abbreviated.
For example, in the case of Germany:
ANON
Bauzeitung (periodical)
Bayer. Stforstverw. (serial)
Bundesanst. Forst- u. Holzw. (serial)
Dtsch. Baumschule (periodical)
Deutscher Ammoniak Vertrieb (book)
Deutscher Forstwirtschaftsrat (serial)
Forst- u. Holzw. (periodical)
4. Details of citation
Each reference should include the following essential data:
(1) Author(s), if ally, in CAPITAL LETTERS.(2) title of article or work IN FULL; if this is not in English, French, German or Spanish, a translation in one of these would be welcome.
(3) name of periodical or of series set, or if books, monographs, etc., name of publisher and place of publication
(4) the usual details of volume or series number, edition number, year, pages, etc.
(5) current price, at least of hooks
For example:
JABLOKOV, A. S. Slechteni drevin se základy lesního semenárství: Cast 1. Genetika. [The Selection and Breeding of Trees, with the Bases of Forest. Seed Husbandry: Pt. T. Genetics.] Lesn. Knihovna (malá Rada) No. 45, 1954. pp. 197. Price Kcs. 16.90.
ANON items, which are grouped under the letter A(NON) should have a full or abbreviated form of periodical title or of publishing body in place of author, and then follow the above order, omitting 4 (1).
For example:
[ANON: DANM. GEOL. UNDERS.]Studies in vegetational history in honour of Knud Jessen, 28th November 1964. Danmarks Geologiske Undersögelse (Ser. 2), Köbenhavn No. 80, 1954, pp. 308 + 21 plates. Price Kr. 16.
SPECIAL NOTE ON AUTHOR CITATION
General
Besides the surname, at least the initial letters of an author's other names must be given.
Names in Spanish or Portuguese
If only ONE surname is given, this must always be distinguished from the Christian name(s), e.g., by using initial letters only for the latter.
Names in French
The M. for ' Monsieur ' must not be used in a position where it could be mistaken for the initial letter of a Christian name.
5. Size and format
For bibliographies published in book form, the size and format should be as nearly as possible those adopted by the German National Bibliography Center. If the references are published as separate cards, these should measure 125 x 75 mm. (5 x 3 in.). It is not essential that bibliographies be printed, especially if other means of reproduction, e.g. mimeograph, can obviate 1 or 2 months' delay. But the paper must be of good quality.
