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This tip describes LC segmentation practice prior to 1 September 2005. For information on current practice, please see the revised version of the DDC Appendix: Segmentation.
What is the significance of the slashes or prime marks I see in Dewey numbers when I am doing copy cataloging; for example, 155.6/6 or 323?.025?73?
These are called segmentation marks. Their assignment and use is explained as follows in an appendix to the print edition of DDC 21, found in volume 4, page 1205.
Segmentation
One aid to reduction of the full DDC number is the segmentation provided [in WebDewey in CORC], in Dewey for Windows, and in DDC numbers assigned by such centralized cataloging services as the Decimal Classification Division of the Library of Congress and the National Library of Canada. The segmentation is indicated by a prime mark (′), a slash mark (/), or other comparable indicators.
The segmentation provided by the Decimal Classification Division is applied according to two different principles. A segmentation mark can indicate the end of an abridged number (as found in the abridged edition of the DDC), or the beginning of a standard subdivision.
Thus, a DDC number can consist of one, two, or three segments. For example:
| 155.6′6 | The psychology of midlife | ||
| 155.6 | Psychology of adults (the number found in the abridged edition) | ||
| 6 | Persons in middle adulthood (the remainder of the number found in the schedules in the unabridged edition) | ||
| 324.6′ | 23′ | 092 | A biography of Susan B. Anthony | ||
| 324.6 | Election systems and procedures; suffrage (the number found in the abridged edition) | ||||
| 23 | Women's suffrage (the remainder of the number found in the schedules of the unabridged edition) | ||||
| 092 | Persons (from unabridged Table 1) | ||||
| 323′ | .025′ | 73 | Directory of civil rights leaders and organizations in the United States | ||
| 323 | Civil and political rights (the number found in the abridged edition) | ||||
| .025 | Directories of persons and organizations (applicable standard subdivision from abridged Table 1) | ||||
| 73 | United States (area notation from Table 2 that can be added to the directories number [025] from unabridged Table 1) | ||||
Segmentation is indicated by slashes in WebDewey in CORC and Dewey for Windows; for example:
Be sure to exclude the slashes when typing a DDC number as a search term.
Last revised: 28 October 2005