Unit IV – Classification and Cataloguing of Documents
CLASSIFICATION
The word ‘Classification’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Classes’. It involves putting like entities
together and separating unlike entities. In other words, classification is the art of arranging any group
of objects so that those, which have something in common, are placed together. The mind is always
classifying the seen or heard objects. The classification of books works on the same principles.
Book classification schemes have some distinctive features. The most important of these is the short
symbol they attach to every listed subject. This symbol is called the class number or the notation and
it stand for the subject of the book. It is designed to be conveniently placed on all the lists of the
books in the library and just as conveniently marked on the books themselves. It is always written on
the spine of the book, the part that can be seen when the book is on the shelf. The notation also
reveals the place of particular subject within the scheme. The most important schemes of
classification which are being used globally for classification of books in different libraries are as
follows:
S. No. Scheme Author Origin Year of Pub
1 Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) Melvil Dewey USA 1876
2 Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) FID (International Belgium 1894
Federation of
Documentation)
3 Library of Congress Classification (LC) Library of Congress USA 1901
4 Colon Classification (CC) S. R. Ranganathan India 1933
5 Bibliographic Classification H. E. Bliss USA 1935
Among all the library classification schemes, Dewey Decimal Classification scheme is widely used as
it is easy to use by the library users as well as library staff. It has excellent mnemonic features and it is
based on hierarchical subject relationship. Its simple notation facilitates quick retrieval. The notation
of the scheme consists solely of numbers and every book is represented by at least a three figure
number. This classification scheme first divides the knowledge contained in books into ten parts of
classes. The ten main classes with their class numbers are:
Prepared by:
Prof.(Dr.) Yogesh R. Ghodasara, Professor and University Librarian, AAU, Anand 1/5
Computer science, information & general works 000
Philosophy & psychology 100
Religion 200
Social sciences (including statistics and customs) 300
Language 400
Science (including math, physics, chemistry, biology, zoology) 500
Technology (including medicine, agriculture, business) 600
Arts & recreation (including architecture, photography) 700
Literature 800
History & geography (including biography) 900
Dr. M D Patel Regional e-Library of Anand Agricultural University is also using DDC to classify the
procured documents.
CATALOGUE
The real value of a library is judged neither by its huge resources nor by its magnificent building, but
by its usefulness to the readers. Therefore, it is necessary to make the resources of library available to
the users enabling them to use the collection to its maximum. The First Law of Librarianship dictates
that ‘Books are for Use’. It will be a waste of time, energy and money, if the readers cannot get their
desired materials, which are already available in the library. It becomes duty of every librarian to make
the complete resources of the library available to its users. For this catalogue, which lists the books
and other material in a library, comes to the rescue of librarian to provide information about available
resources to its users.
Public catalogue is the most important reference tool which is known as mirror of the library
collection. The catalogue is available in the following forms:
• Card Catalogue
• Electronic Catalogue (Online Public Access Catalogue)
• Catalogue in Book Form (for the specific collection)
Catalogue helps the reader in finding out the required material. The user may seek his or her book
under different approaches like author, title, series, joint author, publisher, subject, keyword, etc. The
catalogue is a record of holdings of library and is a guide to the identification and location of each item
on the shelves. Skillful use enables the user to locate library material quickly and efficiently. One of the
purposes of the catalogue is to provide a key to the class numbers of books so that readers can look
under the name of the subject in the catalogue and find its class number. Another purpose of the
Prepared by:
Prof.(Dr.) Yogesh R. Ghodasara, Professor and University Librarian, AAU, Anand 2/5
catalogue is to provide a record of all the books in the library, so that a reader knowing the author or
title of a book can find out if the library has that particular book. A third purpose is to provide a
complete list of all the books that the library contains. The catalogue does serve certain other
purposes in addition to providing the class number, the author and the title of each book; it gives
further details about the book, such as the number of pages, details of the illustrations and the date of
publication. This information proves to be valuable to readers who want to find the most useful books
on a particular subject.
HOW TO USE THE CARD CATALOGUE
Skillful use of Catalogue enables a reader to locate library material quickly and efficiently. Important
tips to know the card catalogue for its efficient use are given as under:
Catalogue cards are filed alphabetically like a dictionary. It is word-by-word arrangement.
Every card in the Catalogue has the call number of the book in the upper left hand corner.
Knowledge of bibliographic information found on a catalogue card helps to identify and locate
the required material.
The Public Card Catalogue is divided into two parts i.e. Author/Title Part and Subject Part. In
the Author/Title part, all the cards relating to author, title, joint author, editor, compiler,
translator series etc. are filed alphabetically in a single sequence.
To find out document by a personal name, one has to see under surname of the person
followed by the forename. Where the surname is not given it is filed as such.
In case of searching the documents under title, the ‘article’ or ‘prefix’ occurring in the
beginning of the title like ‘A’, ‘An’, ‘The’ are to be ignored. The title card is exactly like author
card except that the title has been typed above the author’s name. For document with the title
‘The Principles of Biochemistry’ see ‘Principles of Biochemistry’.
Subject part of Public Card Catalogue has only subject cards for all the publications available in
the Author/Title Part Catalogue. These cards are also arranged alphabetically. The subject of
the publication is written at the top of the card in capital letters. Subject is taken from Library
of Congress
DETAILS OF THE CARD CATALOGUE
Prepared by:
Prof.(Dr.) Yogesh R. Ghodasara, Professor and University Librarian, AAU, Anand 3/5
Item Description
636.6 Classification(DDC) Number
SAL-V Book Number
Salunkhe, D.K. & Others Book Authors
Vegetable and flower seed production Book Title
Agricole, New Delhi Book Publishers
1987 Book Publication Year
43209 Book Accession Number
486p Book Pages
ONLINE PUBLIC ACCESS CATALOGUE
An Online Public Access Catalogue, abbreviated as OPAC or simply Library Catalogue, is an electronic
catalogue of reading materials held by a library or group of libraries. The system includes a word based
search facility using Boolean operators that can narrow down a search to meet very specific needs.
Library keeps the entire collection available at users’ fingertips. Search results can be sorted according
to the preference of search term. Search key fields are Author, Title, Subject, Class Number, ISBN/ISSN,
Publisher, Accession Number, Series, Notes, Volume, Free Text Search and Boolean search. Search
results can be saved and printed.
OPAC helps to know the new additions to the library. It also helps to know the status of the book
whether a particular book is issued or it is available on the shelves. In case it is issued, it also gives
information about the borrower of that book.
Prepared by:
Prof.(Dr.) Yogesh R. Ghodasara, Professor and University Librarian, AAU, Anand 4/5
WebOPAC Page of Anand Agricultural University
(URL: http://aaug.bestbookbuddies.com)
Prepared by:
Prof.(Dr.) Yogesh R. Ghodasara, Professor and University Librarian, AAU, Anand 5/5
