College and Research Libraries and Sir J a m e s M . B a r r i e ; about the English language in g e n e r a l ; and about the American speech in particular, since our speech has in- herited so much f r o m the Scots." I t is regrettable that the editors are p r i n t - ing such a few sets of the dictionary—only 2 0 0 0 . — G e o r g e P. Wilson, professor of English, Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, and secretary of the American Dialect Society. Standard Dewey Classification Decimal Classification, devised by M e l v i l Dewey, S t a n d a r d ( 1 5 t h ) edition. L a k e Placid Club, N . Y . , F o r e s t P r e s s [01951] I V , 661 p. $16.00. T h e fifteenth edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification is the long awaited s t a n d a r d library edition. I t is a complete revision de- signed to meet the needs of " t h e greatest n u m b e r of libraries," or small to medium- sized libraries, with the tables "evenly and broadly expanded," eliminating the over- elaboration of some classes found in earlier editions. Each schedule has been studied, r e w r i t t e n and simplified by librarians and subject authorities in the light of c u r r e n t developments, changing concepts and t e r - minology. M u c h unnecessary m a t e r i a l has been omitted. Issued in a green buckram binding (a g r e a t improvement over the d r a b bindings of earlier editions), the entire book has been reset and s t a n d a r d spelling is used t h r o u g h o u t . V a r i - ous type faces are used in the tables making it easy to consult them. T h e a r r a n g e m e n t follows earlier editions closely. T h e " I n t r o d u c t i o n " is followed by summaries of the main classes, divisions, sec- tions, f o r m divisions, tables and index. C o m - pared with the f o u r t e e n t h edition which con- tained 80 pages of introductory material, 1047 pages of tables, 737 pages of index, and 50 pages of supplementary material, the fifteenth edition contains 55 pages of introductory m a - terial, 469 pages of tables, and 190 pages of index. T h e supplementary tables are omitted in this new edition. A special effort has been made to bring the terminology up-to-date. Definitions, scope notes and references to related materials have been given liberally, adding considerably to the usefulness of the tables. Occasionally the obvious has been defined and a f e w defini- tions are r a t h e r vague, but on the whole the definitions are helpful. T h e length of the notation has been kept down to a maximum of f o u r decimal places, found principally in the 621's, 629's, and goo's. T h e relative index has been shortened con- siderably. I t includes personal names f o r artists, philosophers and theologians, but many names included in scope notes in the tables are not listed here. M a n y subjects which should be included have been omitted, and it is u n f o r t u n a t e t h a t some typographical e r r o r s have crept in, e.g. Egypt. H i s t o r y . M o d e r n . — 9 2 6 instead of 962; Libya—960.2 instead of 961.2; Red Cross—361.506 instead of 361.5; Tunisia—960.1 instead of 961.1; and W e s t e r n A u s t r a l i a 984.1 instead of 994-1- Since reclassification is a physical and finan- cial impossibility in most libraries, the editors made "no very drastic changes." Even so, in adopting this edition many libraries will be faced with the problem of some reclassifica- tion. N u m b e r s f o r which no books could be found have been dropped. Subject division numbers falling in this category include: 017- 019, 061-068, 083, 087, 114-119, 122, 125-127, 129, 141-149, 163, 165-169, 214, 216-217, 219, 255, 257, 313-319, 569, 689, 764, and 768. F o r m divisions and subdivisions have been omitted in many cases, e.g. 202-209, 501-509, etc. W h e n a subject is shifted f r o m one class or subdivision to another, it is recorded in the tables in the f o r m of a recommendation, e.g., 614.9. I t is recommended t h a t VETERINARY SANITATION be classified in 636.0894. I m - p o r t a n t changes are shown in the accompany- ing table. T h e main classes or divisions which have been changed include the f o l l o w i n g : 128 Soul : 218 or 233.5; ! 4 ° Philosophic systems : 180-190; 172 Political ethics : 177; 173 Family ethics : 177, M a r r i a g e and the f a m - ily: 301.422; 174 Professional or Business ethics : classified with Profession or Business; 384 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 175 Ethics of recreation : 177; 176 Sexual ethics : 177, P r o s t i t u t i o n as Social Problem : 301.424; 178 Ethics of T e m p e r a n c e : 177, Alcoholism and D r u g Addiction as Social Problems : 301.46; 243 Evangelistic readings : 269; 256 Societies f o r Parish W o r k : 267; 272 Persecutions of Christians : 270.1-.8 or with country, 274-279; 273 Heresies : 270.1-.8 or with country, 274-279; 348 C h u r c h L a w : 262.9; 363 Political Societies : 329.8, Ku Klux Klan : 366.6; 393 T r e a t m e n t of D e a d : 392; 416 Prosody : 808.1; 426 Prosody : 808.1 ; 524 Astronomical maps and tables—classified with subject, O b s e r v a t o r y publications : 522.1; 538 M a g n e t i s m : 537, T e r r e s t r i a l magnetism : 551.16; 577 Chemi- cal properties of living m a t t e r : 574.19, Physi- cal properties : 574.191; 619 V e t e r i n a r y 002 T H E B O O K V a l u e Influence I t is recommended that the History of books be classified in 655-4. M o s t of the changes made have eliminated shortcomings in earlier editions and are all to the good. Libraries adopting the s t a n d a r d edition will have many decisions to make re- garding the changes effected. P e r h a p s a compromise will be reached to adopt the new edition but retaining certain numbers f r o m the f o u r t e e n t h edition as an alternative to reclassifying large collections. Although this new edition has shortcom- ings, the editorial committee has developed a good book classification which, it is hoped, will continue to be developed with f u t u r e editions. Although it does not solve all the Distribution of Important Changes, Dewey Decimal Classification Class/Division 1 Decimal Number 2 Decimal Numbers 3 Decimal Numbers 4 Decimal Numbers ODO 0 1 0 0 0 IOO 8 1 0 0 0 200 4 3 0 0 0 3OO 3 \2 11 12 0 4OO 2 I 3 0 0 500 3 25 18 3 0 600 8 27 14 5 1 7OO 6 17 4 1 0 800 0 0 3 0 0 9OO 2 2 21 6 0 36 90 74 27 1 medicine : 636.089; 626 Ship canals and locks : 627.13, Irrigation canals : 627.5; 644 Household heating and ventilation : 697, Lighting : 621.32; 645 H o u s e furnishing : 747; 654 Communication : 384, Electric communication engineering : 621.38; 656 T r a n s p o r t a t i o n : 385-388; 686 Binding : 6 5 5 4 5 ; 699 Carbuilding : 625.22; 721 Archi- tectural construction : 624, 690-698, 729; 762 Intaglio W o r k : 765-767; 774-777 P h o t o - mechanical Processes : 655.32; 931 Ancient Chinese H i s t o r y : 951; 934 Ancient Indian H i s t o r y : 954. In addition to the changes noted in the table above, many minor subdivisions or phases of subjects have been changed and are indicated in the tables in the following m a n n e r : problems, it is a step in the right direction. L i b r a r i a n s who have been awaiting this edi- tion with patience will find many of the changes f o r which they have been looking. L i b r a r y school instructors and students will certainly find this new edition much easier to use and less confusing than earlier editions. I t is reported t h a t the H . W . W i l s o n Company will use the s t a n d a r d edition f o r the numbers used on its printed cards, and the Decimal Classification Section at the Li- b r a r y of Congress is debating the issue and w a n t s the reaction of libraries using the numbers on its printed cards. H e r e is one vote favoring the use of the s t a n d a r d edition f o r the D e w e y numbers on L . C . cards.— Richard O. Pautzsch, Brooklyn Public Library. OCTOBER, 1951 32 7