Month: Dec 2023

Dewey Decimal Classification numbers for Irish Travellers/Mincéirí in 2023

Detail of Traveller/Mincéir Caravan Wheel, Buttevant, Co. Cork. 1954
Detail of Caravan Wheel, Buttevant, Co. Cork. 1954 from The Wiltshire Photographic Collection Reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.

The LAICMG are pleased to announce that their proposal to add a specific class number for Irish Travellers/Mincéirí to the Dewey Decimal Classification system was successful.

Irish Travellers are a distinctive ethnic community based primarily in Ireland. However, throughout their history they have experienced widespread discrimination, exclusion, and stereotyping. This fact was somewhat reflective in the DDC, as Irish Travellers were not specifically mentioned in previous editions of Dewey and so works on this indigenous group were often misclassified.

The project proposal for the new numbers was approved by the  Dewey Editorial Policy Committee  in August 2023, following months of hard work by LAICMG committee members, led by Dean Waters (Assistant Librarian, Griffith College, Dublin) and Ruth O’Hara (Assistant Librarian, Maynooth University). Work on the process included collating lists of publications to establish sound ‘literary warranty’ and putting together a solid proposal which involved consultation with key stakeholders, including Irish Traveller representative groups, library colleagues and academics. 

The new changes are as follows:

  • A new subdivision especially for Irish Travellers (Mincéirí) at T5—91623 Irish Travellers (Mincéirí), under T5—9162 Irish. 
  • Add the resulting built numbers for Irish Travellers in sociology (305.891623) and history (941.500491623) to WebDewey.