Relocation: Mythology

[Sean R. Corbin]

First post! Thanks for reading.

I'm in the middle of a major weeding/cataloging project and I've run into a snag. One of many... but this one also raises a couple of fundamental issues that I'd like feedback on.

Subject: Mythology

I'm currently in 201.3 but one of the Campbell works there pointed to other books in the Masks of God series which, when consulting OCLC Classify, can end up anywhere from 201.3 to 291.3 to 292.13. (And for this topic, I'm eliminating 398.2 and considering only works that present themselves as "religiously-based work," to borrow the Dewey Blog's term.)

Per the 2022 DDC:

201.3 > Mythology and mythological foundations

291 > Unassigned (Was previously Comparative religion?)

292.13 > Classical religion (Greek and Roman religion); Mythology

Main questions:

1) Relocation: What should we do when a previous number is now unassigned? Is it good practice to relocate items in your collection out of the no longer used number and into something else? (Note: I consulted DDC (note 7.5) but found the discussion in 7.24-7.25 referred to WebDewey, which I do not have.)

2) What is the difference between 201.3 and 292.13? In the 398.2 vs. 201.3, 230, 270, 292-299 (pg. 153) notes, the DDC suggests using "201.3 and similar numbers elsewhere in 200"—is that last part down to personal interpretation?

Also:

3) Are the terms Mythology and Religion, in this context, more or less interchangeable (see 292.13)?

Thank you and I look forward to everyone's input.

Sean

[Alex Kyrios]

I'm always interested to hear from users. In the meantime, I can give my perspective as an editor.

1) Yes, it's good practice to relocate. WebDewey is by far the best way to find information about changes. Without it, you could use a recent print-on-demand version to see where a topic is now, but that wouldn't tell you where it used to be. We do know that implementing relocations means work for libraries, so you'll never see me scolding anyone for not doing so. I know many institutions reclassify along with other projects, such as weeding. No sense in changing a work's DDC number if you decide you're not even going to keep it!

2) 292.13 is limited to Greco-Roman ("classic") religion, whereas 201.3 is for religious mythology generally, not limited to specific religions, or to a grouping of religions that wouldn't fit elsewhere. For example, a work giving equal treatment to Christian, Zoroastrian, and Greco-Roman religious mythology would class at 201.3.

3) No, I wouldn't say that, or there would be no reason for numbers like 201.3 or 292.13 to exist (you'd just class at 200 and 292, respectively). What is the difference, then? Follow how a work presents itself. If it's not framed as mythology, it probably shouldn't be classed as such. As often, Wikipedia has a good primer on the topic, at Religion and mythology. There's even discussion of classification--my favorite!--and a mention of the DDC. As that article mentions, the term "myth" has some connotations that make this difficulty, namely that in common usage, it means something that isn't true. All the more reason to defer to an author's perspective, I think.

Alex Kyrios

Senior Editor