- Classificationists (i.e. editor) - those who create and edit the conceptual places to put things
- Need to create workable classifications
- What is the basis for a classification?
- What are the ramifications of a classification?
- How hospitable is a classification to changes in knowledge over time?
- Classifiers - those who place things into these created places when organizing
- Need places to put things
- Is there a place for this thing?
- Is this think with other like things?
Classical Classification
- Aristotle and the natural world:
- Mutual exclusivity: "in or out" - something is an animal or it is not an animals
- Inheritance: based on the assumption that there is a natural hierarchy to the world (all animals share same characteristics that differentiate them from plants)
- Basis for scientific classification
- Medieval scholastics and their resources:
- Classification of scholarly materials based on the academic divisions of study of that time -
- This classification reflected those areas taught to scholars.
- Classification provides the basis for shelf arrangement.
Scientific (Linnaean) Classification
- Largest example of formal classification:
- Managed over time by classificationists
- Binomial nomenclature (genus/species)
- Specific rules for classifiers to follow (e.g., members of the same species are capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring)
- Follows classical approach:
- Mutual exclusivity of classes
- Inheritance
- EXAMPLES:
- Two species contexts:
- Dealing with changes in the classification itself:
- Evolution of existing species - e.g. newly emerging drug resistant infectious diseases.
- Newly discovered species - e.g., the division of Monera into two distinct kingdoms
Library Classification
- Inspired by scientific classification:
- Early library classificationists were leaders in the application of classification principles outside of the scientific domain
- However, book classification provided challenges in comparison to the classification of natural objects
- Is a book like a starfish?
- Historically U.S. libraries used classification for shelf arrangement, while European libraries used classification to facilitate retrieval of surrogates:
- Open stacks require a system for shelf arrangement of books
- Closed stacks rely on the catalog to provide logical groupings
The Nature of Book Classification
- Collocating objective: Bringing like things together on library shelves:
- Subject criterion: What about books on multiple topics?
- Author criterion: What about books by multiple authors?
- Subject/author criteria: What about books by the same author on different topics?
- Solving the need for a system of unique identification in open stack libraries through notational systems an call numbers.
Questions in Book Classification
- How do libraries provide for the collocation of like books (2nd Cutter objective) while at the same time facilitating the retrieval of known items (1st Cutter objective)?
- Cutter's solution - two part call number:
- Call number is made up of the class notation (classmark) and the Cutter number
- The classmark provides for the fulfillment of the collocation objective
- The system for Cuttering provides unique call within each library that provides for the known item retrieval objective - helps with unique idenfitifaction.
- A book is not a starfish:
- Books, as physical objects can only be in one place at a time, even if they are about multiple topics
- Libraries do not buy multiple copies
- Conceit of the cataloger revisited
- What about networked resources: Is a website a starfish?
- Comparison of I.S. and European libraries:
- U.S. libraries: open stacks and "mark and park"
- European libraries: closed stacks and classified cataloging (i.e., the assignment of book to multiple classes)
- How many books should be grouped together in the stacks (the efficient browsing problem):
- Broad classification
- Detailed ("close") classification
- How should books within each class be displayed (the subarrangement problem)
- We will compare the needs of the typical research library, with its larger collection of specialized books, with the typical public library, with its smaller collection of broader books.
Four Types of Library Classifications
- Universal: Intended to organize all of knowledge:
- DDC
- LCC
- UDC
- National General: Same as universal, but limited to a specific country:
- Nederlandse Basisclassifatie
- Subject Specific: Intended to organize a domain:
- NLM Classification
- Homegrown: Built as needed (e.g., Yahoo directory)
Classification Concepts
- Broad versus Close Classification
- General strategy employed by individual libraries.
- How many class numbers to use?
- The larger collection, the closer the classification (i.e., more books require more detailed class numbers)
- Can vary within a library's collections (i.e., a given library may have larger collections in a certain subject area)
- Otherwise, there will be too many books classed together or there will be too few books under each class (each of which impede efficient browsing)
- Classification of Knowledge versus Classification of a Particular Collection
- Relates to the intent of the classification:
- Classification of knowledge approach provides pigeonholes for all subjects in advance of the use of that classification
- Particular collection approach has mechanism to create new pigeonholes as resources are added to collection (literary warrant)
- DDC began as universal, but updates to the classification are now through literary warrant.
- LCC began through literary warrant, but the nature of the LC collection makes the LCC a de facto universal scheme.
- Notational Integrity Over Time
- Attempting to Maintain the same meaning of a class notation over time:
- Response to the problem of accounting for the growth of knowledge over time
- A challenge for the classificationist
- Classifications can be designed to handle the growth of knowledge
- Fixed versus Relative Location in Closed and Open Stack Libraries
- In terms of efficient storage, what is the most obvious characteristic of an open stack library?
- When storage space is at a premium, use the fixed location approach of closed stacks libraries.
- Resources can be efficiently stored by size
- The call number is an accession number
- Relative location approach is employed in open stack libraries:
- Physical spaces in collection allow for growth of the collection without a lot of shifting
- Relative addressing is the key
- A library collection is a single, linear sequence of books
- The Case of Journal Shelf Arrangement
- Alphaetic or classified?
- Alphabetic by title:
- Less costly to manage
- What about title changes?
- Problem: Journals on the same subject are scattered across the collection
- Classified by subject:
- Journals arranged by subject
- Title changes are accommodated
- Problem: Users must look up call number to find journal (this is not the case with alphabetical arrangement)
- Faceted Classification (Non-hierarchical)
- Can be part of a comprehensive system, e.g., Colon Classification:
- Can be part of hierarchical system as non-hierarchical specification of the aspects of a subject:
- DDC and LCC have tables for geographic and other facets
- Often used for web organization:
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