UNIT 3
BASICS OF CLASSIFICATION
Knowledge classification is used to organise books, databases and other reading
material both in print and electronic form. Classification is a tool for making library
useful to users, increasing the utility of library material, and providing an exhaustive
view of the collections of a library by subject. Classification facilitates subject access;
it helps identify what books a library has on a subject, where to stack them and how
to locate them in a library. Following are discussed here:
o A brief introduction to basics of knowledge classification,
o Definition of classification and know its various meanings
o Concepts of library classification
o Library classification systems in use world over, in particular the Dewey
Decimal Classification system.
o Steps to assigning classification numbers to books and other items in a
library.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Classification is something that we all do intuitively in our daily life and see around
us lots of examples that illustrate classification. We classify animals, plants, birds,
languages and many other entities into groups based on what is common in them.
For example, in a grocery store frozen foods and canned foods are found in
separate areas; in a mall electrical goods and cooking goods are kept in separate
areas.
We group like things together so that it is easier to find.
1.2 CLASSIFICATION BASICS
Classification is simply the process of bringing in order in a chaos; categorisation is
done for bringing in order, separating like things from the unlike ones. For
categorisation of items some sort of characteristic is applied like age, gender,
language, religion, educational qualification, etc. The sorted things are further
collected in groups. For example, we see lot of chaos in the following example:
Mercury Truck Lily Pea Venus Taxi Apple Onion Marigold Potato Banana Rose Train
Mars Orange Earth Cabbage Grapes Ship Pear Lotus Saturn Radish Papaya Metro
Carrot Daisy Pansy Neptune Aeroplane Cauliflower Mango Bus Uranus Sunflower
This is because the items in the above example form a heterogeneous group.
However, some order can be brought by sorting items according to characteristics
common to the items. For instance, when we separate like things from the unlike
ones we get the items separated into following different groups.
Mercury Venus Truck Lily Apple Pea
Mars Taxi Marigold Banana Onion
Earth Train Rose Orange Potato
Saturn Ship Lotus Grapes Cabbage
Neptune Uranus Aeroplane Bus Daisy Pear Radish
Metro Pansy Papaya Carrot
Sunflower Mango Cauliflower
You may see that the order in the above example is the result of sorting things into
likes and dislikes according to some characteristic of division like planets, mode of
transport, flowers, fruits, vegetables. Thus classification is an attempt to bring order
in chaos. This illustrates that classification helps to organise and simplify the world
around us. Classification in a simple sense represents groups, for example Indians,
Japanese, Chinese, African, etc.
A fruit seller sorts his fruits into categories, say, oranges, apples, grapes, and so on.
Further each group, say, of apples is further sorted into varieties, Kashmiri apples,
Simla apples, Golden apples, Green apples, etc. An astute vendor may further sort
each species by quality and price. At every step of sorting a new characteristic is
applied. In this case, at the first level grouping, the characteristic applied is ‘species’.
In the second level of sorting, two characteristics have been applied: ‘place and
colour’. For further categorisation or sorting, ‘quality and price’ characteristics are
applied.
Ordering
After grouping of items comes the process of ordering. Suppose you have six
members in your family. If you arrange their names alphabetically that will be
ordering, that means you have put them in a particular order. Ordering is very vital,
we arrange all books, periodicals, etc. in a library in a particular order.
Classification discovers relation between entities. All the members of a group are
related to one another by some common characteristic. When we admit a member
into a group it is because he has something in common with the group. For example,
a book on biochemistry is admitted into the broader group ‘chemistry’. Here, the
common factor is chemistry.
Classification removes chaos and brings in order. Imagine what will happen if
students of a school gather in a field for physical exercise without any order. There
will be a total chaos. Finding a particular student will be extremely difficult. The
moment they are asked to stand in lines according to their classes, immediately,
there will be order, and it will be easy to locate any student.
Meaning and Definition of Classification
According to Oxford English Dictionary classification is, “the action of classifying or
arranging in classes, according to common characteristics or affinities; assignment to
the proper class”.
The Longman Dictionary of the English Language defines classification as,
“systematic arrangement in groups or categories according to established criteria”.
The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language
describes classification as, “the act, process or result of classifying”.
1.2.2 Hierarchy in Classification
Typically in a classification items are arranged in a hierarchical tree structure (like
classification systems used in biology). A group is divided or a member is included
into a group on the basis of some common characteristic. A characteristic is an
attribute, quality or property of an entity which relates it with or separates it from a
group. For example, a group of people may be divided into males and females. Here
‘gender’ is the common characteristic of division. We may divide all students of a
university into undergraduate, postgraduate and M Phil/PhD students. Here in such a
grouping the level of education is the common characteristic of division. Books in a
library are divided and then arranged on the basis of their subject content.
Thus a characteristic of division is the common subject. Successive
application of useful and relevant characteristics produces deeper and finer
tree like classification.
2. LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION
Why do we need classification in libraries?
The main purpose of library classification is to bring related items together.
The goal of classification in libraries is primarily to arrange books on the shelves and
making entries in catalogue or index. Classification is the key to open access
system. The most useful and helpful way of arranging books in the libraries is by
subject.
2.1 Purpose of Library Classification
● To organise books, documents on library shelves in a systematic order, bring
books on the same topic in close proximity to each other according to a classification
scheme;
● To provide a known location to documents in a library where they are shelved;
● To facilitate subject access to enable users to browse, identify and locate what
works or documents a library has on a certain subject;
● To quickly retrieve documents from among thousands of items in the collection and
to replace documents to their original physical positions after use;
● Proper physical arrangement of books in shelve saves the time of users as well as
of the staff.
In library classification a class number is assigned to each and every document by
using a classification scheme. This class number represents the specific subject of
that book in an artificial language. In this way classification may be understood as a
tool to translate the subject of the document from its natural language to artificial
language.
2.2 Library Classification Schemes
The most common systems of classification used world over are
Name of Classification scheme Year of Developer
formulation/
publication
Dewey Decimal Classification 1876 American librarian Melvil Dewey
system [DDC]
Universal Decimal Classification 1895 Belgian bibliographers Paul Otlet and
System [UDC] H Fontaine
Library of Congress 1902 Library of Congress
Classification [LCC]
Colon Classification [CC] 1933 Indian Librarian and mathematician
dr. S R Ranganathan
2.3 STEPS TO ASSIGINING CLASSIFICATION NUMBERS
Step 1: Ascertain the Subject of the Book
To do this one must first decide what the book is about (intellectual or subject
content). The book must be examined carefully for the purpose and to get all aspects
of the topic covered in the document. Every beginner has a notion that the ‘title’ of a
book is the sole and reliable indicator of the subject.
Step 2: Ascertain the Discipline of the Book
After determining the subject, select the proper discipline, or field of study, of the
book.
The guiding principle of the DDC is to class a work in the discipline for which it is
intended, rather than the discipline from which the work derives. For example, a work
on Internet for libraries should be classed in library science, not computer science
Step 3: Assign Classification Number
For assigning a number to the subject identified in Step 1 you need a tool called
Classification Scheme (also called Classification System). A basic familiarity with the
classification system in use in a library is vital to classify books, documents and
assign them a class number.
2.3.1 A Glimpse of Classes in DDC
CLASS NO. DISCIPLINES OF SUBJECTS
000 Generalities Computer science, information, and general
works
100 Philosophy and Psychology
200 Religion
300 Social sciences
400 Language
500 Natural sciences and mathematics
600 Technology
700 Arts and Recreation
800 Literature
900 History and Geography
3. Points to Remember
* The first act of classification is grouping as it brings related concepts together.
* Classification makes searching more convenient to the users.
* Classification maps a library collection.
* It brings all material related to a subject at one place.
* Makes library organised and helps in easy information retrieval.
* Satisfies the subject approach of the users.
* Library Classification scheme tries to list all the possible classes.
* It helps in the effective working of OPAC’s.
