The use of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) for the organisation of national bibliographies: Switzerland and Germany/Austria

The paper describes the efforts of three national libraries to use the DDC to improve access in German to the national bibliographies of Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The reasons that led to the use of the DDC for the organisation of the bibliographies and the difficulties in adopting a common approach will be explained. The paper will deal with the approach of using the Second Dewey Summary and the adaptations made to suit the bibliographic requirements of each country’s bibliography. The presentation will also explain the challenges of incorporating German requirements in the new outline of the different series of the Deutsche Nationalbibliograpfie and will show how these were successfully resolved.