What's the difference between a comprehensive and an interdisciplinary number?

A comprehensive number is a number (often identified by a "Class here comprehensive works" note) used for a work that treats a subject from various points of view within a single discipline. For example, the comprehensive number for invasion of privacy in law is 345.0256; but the number for invasion of privacy limited to the legal aspect of torts is 346.033.

An interdisciplinary number is a number (often identified by a "Class here interdisciplinary works" note) used for a work that treats a subject from the perspective of more than one discipline, including the discipline where the interdisciplinary number is located. For example, the interdisciplinary number for invasion of privacy is 323.448 in political science.

In the Relative Index display in WebDewey, the first class number displayed opposite a term without subheadings is often the interdisciplinary number, followed by entries for other aspects of the term. The discipline of the interdisciplinary number may be repeated as another entry if the discipline is not clear. For example:

Interdisciplinary numbers are not provided for all topics in the Relative Index.

For more information on comprehensive and  interdisciplinary numbers, see paragraphs 5.8, 7.17, 7.20 - 7.21 of the Introduction.

Last revised: 25 March 2005