Two appointed to Dewey editorial committee

Richard Baumgarten and Lucy Evans have been appointed to the Decimal Classification Editorial Policy Committee.

Mr. Baumgarten, cataloger at Johnson County Library in Overland Park, Kansas, has been appointed for a six-year term. He succeeds Peter J. Paulson, who retired in December 1998.

"Richard Baumgarten has worked extensively in public and community college libraries, and has served as a school library consultant," said Joan S. Mitchell, editor in chief of the Dewey Decimal Classification and executive director of OCLC Forest Press. "His experience in a variety of library settings and his activities in many professional associations will prove of immense value to the committee."

In addition to a wide variety of cataloging activities, Mr. Baumgarten's responsibilities include assisting with revision of cataloging policy and working with database technicians. He also serves as a reference librarian at Longview Community College in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, where he is also involved with collection development.

Ms. Evans, head of West European and Open Access Cataloguing in the British Library's Acquisitions Processing and Cataloguing Department, has been appointed by the Library Association to represent the United Kingdom on the committee, succeeding Susi Woodhouse. She will complete Ms. Woodhouse's term, which ends in December 2003.

"Lucy Evans is a strong supporter of the Dewey Decimal Classification," said Ms. Mitchell. "Ms. Evans recently organized a seminar at the British Library aimed at demonstrating the power of the DDC as a retrieval and organizational tool. She is currently actively working to extend the use of the DDC throughout the British Library."

Ms. Evans made extensive comments on the revision of the 004-006 computer science schedule published in 1985 and has had a long involvement with the application of the DDC at both practical and strategic management levels.

The Editorial Policy Committee is an international board that includes representatives from OCLC Forest Press, the American Library Association, the Library of Congress and the Library Association (UK). The committee works with the editors of the Dewey Decimal Classification and advises OCLC Forest Press on matters relating to the general development of the classification. The committee’s 10 members include public, special and academic librarians, and library educators.

OCLC Forest Press, a division of OCLC since 1988, publishes the Dewey Decimal Classification and a variety of related materials to help librarians and library users keep pace with knowledge.