Where should books about the medical aspects of dealing with biological and/or chemical weapons go? It seems there is no real place in the 610s (Medicine & health) to place them. The numbers which might work are 613.69 Survival, or perhaps 616.025 Medical emergencies, or even under 614.44 Public preventive medicine.

The book in hand is the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) Guide to Biological and Chemical Warfare Response and the Dewey number given in the bibliographic record, 623.4/59 is not correct. The book deals with medicine, not military engineering of nonexplosive agents. Any information about where to classify such material would be very helpful.

Thank you for your question, which illustrates the importance of checking for accurate Dewey numbers in bibliographic records. We have not seen your work, but it appears to be equally about biological and chemical weapons. We are guessing that with respect to biological warfare, it emphasizes quarantine procedures, biohazard masks and hoods, vaccines, and other measures to prevent spread of disease, while including some information on diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases. If that is correct, it is best classed in 614.4 Incidence of and public measures to prevent disease; this is the comprehensive number for public-health measures to combat biological warfare. If the emphasis were on diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases, then the comprehensive number for biological warfare would be 616.9. If the book were limited to or predominantly about chemical warfare, it would belong in 615.9 Toxicology; this is the comprehensive number for medical measures to deal with chemical warfare. Comprehensive works on both 614.4 and 615.9 are classed according to the first-of-two rule in 614.4. Comprehensive works on both 615.9 and 616.9 are classed according to the first-of-two rule in 615.9.

A similar book limited to care of military personnel facing biological and chemical warfare would best be classed in 616.98023 Military medicine.

Last revised: 09 January 2004