Joan Mitchell
Editor-In-Chief, DDC

Joan S. Mitchell is Editor-in-Chief of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system at OCLC. She has been closely affiliated with the DDC since 1985, when she became a member of the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee. She chaired the committee from 1992 until her appointment as Dewey editor in 1993. Prior to joining OCLC in 1993, Joan was director of educational technology at Carnegie Mellon University and an adjunct professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. She has also held various positions in academic and special libraries.

Joan has written and spoken extensively in the area of knowledge organization, and has a special interest in localization and interoperability in classification systems. Along with her Dewey colleagues, she blogs at 025.431: The Dewey blog. She serves on the editorial board of Knowledge Organization, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of ISKO. She is also a member of the UNT School of Library and Information Sciences Board of Advisors. In 2005, the American Library Association awarded her the Melvil Dewey Medal, which recognizes distinguished service to the profession of librarianship.

Joan received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Newton College of the Sacred Heart and her MLS from the University of California, Berkeley.

Joan is available to speak on topics related to Dewey Decimal Classification and knowledge organization in general.