New column on gcd_series table: classification_id

[Henry Andrews]

Hi folks,
Those of you who use the regular MySQL dumps will notice a new column on the
gcd_series table sometime around mid-November when we deploy release 0.4 "little
nemo". This field is being put in place for future expansion and will not
immediately be used. There is a related table, gcd_classification, which will
begin appearing in the dumps as well, but will be empty at first.

Classifications are intended to help the GCD distinguish between different
sorts of things that we index. The most obvious examples are monthly
periodicals (and things that act more or less like them) vs books (and things
that act more or less like them). Stand-alone books, in particular, are poorly
served by having to be part of a series, so the classification will help us
smooth out that mismatch. We have not yet determined exactly how this would
work. As usual, the rules will be determined on the gcd-policy mailing list and
the code will be reviewed on the gcd-tech mailing list. Feel free to follow
along. Otherwise, this is just to let you know what is coming in the future so
it's not a surprise.

thanks,
-henry

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Henry Andrews
GCD Lead Programmer