NLM® Classification 2008 Edition Now Available

The NLM Classification, available online at //wwwcf.nlm.nih.gov/class/, incorporates all additions and changes to the schedules and index from April 2007 through March 2008. The PDF version will be updated with 2008 classification data by April 30, 2008.

The WA (Public Health) and WB (Practice of Medicine) schedules were the major areas of focus for the 2008 edition, along with Table G.

Some WA and WB class numbers were revised to better reflect the scope of the number. For example:

• At WA 275, the caption Traffic accidents. Public health aspects of automobile driving was changed to Traffic accidents. Public health aspects of driving.
• At WA 105, the following note was added: Classify works on the specialty and on the specialty methods here. Classify works on epidemiologic methods alone in WA 950.
• Table G additions are now permitted with more WA classification numbers.

Class Numbers Added — 2008

New Number	Class Name	Former Number
	QT Physiology
QT 260.5.V6	Volleyball	None
	WA Public Health
WA 115	Immunization	WA 110
WA 300.1	General coverage (Not Table G) [Health issues of special population groups]	None
WA 305.1	General coverage (Not Table G) [Mental health of special population groups]	None
WA 306	Men's health	None
WA 309.1	General coverage (Not Table G) [Women's health]	None
WA 310.1	General coverage (Not Table G) [Maternal welfare. Maternal and child welfare. Maternal health services]	None
WA 325	Child abuse	WA 320
	WB Practice of Medicine
WB 55	Traditional medicine (General or not elsewhere classified	WB 50
WB 55.A3	African traditional medicine	WB 50
WB 55.A7	Arabic traditional medicine	WB 50
WB 55.A9	Ayurvedic medicine	WB 50
WB 55.C4	Chinese traditional medicine	WB 50
WB 55.F3	Far East traditional medicine	WB 50
WB 55.K3	Kampo medicine	WB 50
WB 55.K6	Korean traditional medicine	WB 50
WB 55.T5	Tibetan traditional medicine	WB 50
WB 55.U5	Unani medicine	WB 50
WB 65	Euthanasia. Assisted suicide	WB 60
WB 102.5	Evidence-based medicine	WB 102
WB 543	Breathing exercises	WB 541
	WD Disorders of Systemic, Metabolic or Environmental Origin, etc.
WD 380	Systemic lupus erythematosus	WR152
	WM Psychiatry
WM 167	Psychological aspects of crime victims	WM 165
	WO Surgery
WO 515	Regenerative medicine	None
	WZ History of Medicine
WZ 112.5.A6	Anatomists	None
WZ 112.5.G4	Geneticists	None

No class numbers were canceled in 2008.

Table G (Geographic Notations)

The following Table G numbers were added.

III. UNITED STATES (as geographical area)
AN95	Northwestern United States
AP1	Pacific States
IV. AMERICAS
DA6	Antigua
DA95	Atlantic Islands
DD5	Dominica
DG1	Greenland
DG45	Guadeloupe
DS1	Saint Kitts and Nevis
DS12	Saint Lucia
DS15	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
VI. EUROPE
GS2	San Marino
GT7	Transcaucasia
GV2	Vatican City
VII. AFRICA
HA25	Southern Africa
HB7	Burkina Faso
VIII. MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA
JA12	Central Asia
JA14	Far East
JA25	Southeastern Asia
JA26	Western Asia
JB5	Bhutan
JB8	Burma
JO6	Oman
IX. AUSTRALASIA
KA1	Australasia
X. ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC AND INDIAN OCEANS
LA3	Oceania
LA5	American Samoa
LG3	Guam
LI2	Independent State of Samoa
LM5	Melanesia
LP1	Palau
LS2	Samoa
LT6	Tonga
XI. INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES
ME8	European Union

The following Table G numbers were made obsolete.

OBSOLETE NOTATION	GEOGRAPHIC NAME	NEW NOTATION
	EUROPE
GC8	Czechoslovakia	None
GY8	Yugoslavia	None
	MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA
JA7	Arabia	None
JM9	Myanmar	JB8

Other Changes to the Schedule

Class number captions were also revised in other schedules. For example:

• At QV 748, ‘Dosage calculations’ was added to the caption.
• At WO 511, ‘Laser surgery’ was changed to ‘Laser therapy’.

Instructional notes were added or modified to clarify classification practices as needed, e.g., a note was modified at WZ 290 to clarify the types of works to be classified there.

Changes to the Index

Seventy-one new index entries were created of which forty-one are from the 2008 MeSH; the remainder are MeSH terms from previous years. Numerous main index entries and cross references were modified to reflect changes in the MeSH vocabulary. In particular, some major categories of index terms affected by MeSH changes were:

Publication types, e.g.,

          Biography [Publication Type] to Biography

Topical terms that duplicate publication types, e.g.,

          Biography changed to Biography as Topic

All index entries pertaining to the aforementioned schedule additions and changes were modified.

To learn more about the NLM Classification see the Fact Sheet.