I've heard that WebDewey is "updated" every quarter.  What does this mean? 

This is a timely question: Sunday, April 29, marks the next quarterly update of WebDewey, the browser-based version of the enhanced DDC database. 

These quarterly updates encompass the two major aspects of WebDewey: functionality and content.  Functionality updates usually have their origins in requests from our users and always are designed to make WebDewey easier to use.  This quarter we are adding a "Browse Results" feature, analogous to the existing "Search Results" feature, which will make it possible for you to return to your list of browse results after viewing a record.  In addition, we are expanding the search box that appears at the top of schedule and table records to encompass browsing as well, giving you the option of initiating either a new browse or a new search without having to return to the opening screen. 

The content updates are as varied as the universe of knowledge covered by the DDC itself.  Each quarter we add many new mappings of LC subject headings to Dewey numbers.  The latest cover everything from digital signatures, public key cryptography, and web typography to space colonies in literature, cookery (canola oil), and the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943.  We also incorporate changes the editors have made to the Classification.  This quarter those include a revision and update of North Germanic languages in Table 6—395-398 and 439.5-439.8; a revision and update of North Germanic literatures 839.5-839.8; and the addition of a Dewey number for the new US president, George W. Bush. 

Last revised: 31 January 2004