Dewey Today: The British and European Scene

At a point halfway through this institute and at the commencement of the second evening session, I am appalled at the problem of making my contribution intellectually stimulating as well as entertaining. I cannot regard my paper as something other than a watershed. Earlier ones have stressed the history of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and its place in the North American scene, while I have been invited to survey somewhat wider horizons (with apologies to the North American continent) in the shape of British use and influence, with what I trust will be a suitable appendix on the European scene. My own direct involvement with DDC is relatively recent, although I have a professional relationship which goes back to the twelfth edition. As assistant editor of the British National Bibliography (BNB), 1 became relatively close with Dewey, although again only in an indirect sense as I was particularly responsible for cataloging rather than classification. I became more involved with DDC when, as Secretary of the Cataloguing and Indexing Group of the (British) Library Association, I was asked in 1968 by the Research Committee of the association to assist in the reconstitution of its Decimal Classification Revision Subcommittee. Such a subcommittee had existed in earlier years, and already had some contact with the editor of DDC and the Forest Press. It would be impolitic of me to examine publicly the reasons for the lack of growth in those earlier relations. What should be emphasized here, I think, is the tremendous degree of good faith that has been established between DDC and British librarianship since then.published or submitted for publicatio