Classification Systems and Schemes

Transcription

1 511: Organization of Information Classification Systems and Schemes Margaret E.I. Kipp - kipp@uwm.edu 1

2 Classification (recap) definition: use of symbolic notation to achieve the objectives of subject indexing Subjects represented by symbols (combinations of letters and numbers) rather than words and may be combined by combining these symbols purpose: collocate or cluster like items by subject preserve context (discipline, topics, form) in one "term" and resolve language issues 2

3 Classification 2 division of knowledge into major classes uses: organising knowledge into hierarchies, collocation, language independent searching, call numbers properties: inclusive and comprehensive, systematic, flexible and expansible types: enumerative, hierarchical, synthetic, faceted 3

4 Classification 3 varieties: universal, national, subject specific, homegrown library classifications: DDC, LCC, UDC, Colon, BC2 subject classifications: PACS, CCS, BIB, ALISE, etc. 4

5 DDC and LCC: Commonalities created in the United States around same time period enumerative systems updated continuously to keep pace with the development of knowledge additional tables for: geographic location, historical time period, format, language, etc. 5

6 DDC and LCC: Differences LCC has more preassigned numbers than DDC DDC follows structural principles whereas LCC classes are independent DDC and LCC use very different notations DDC can be abridged DDC has one set of auxiliary tables LCC has different tables for each main class in DDC, groups of numbers which represent the same topic always represent that topic 6

7 Dewey Decimal Classification first published in 1876 by Melville Dewey classification based on an ontology developed by Francis Bacon in the 17th century divides knowledge into 10 basic classes intended to teach users about the structure of knowledge 7

8 DDC 1 vs DDC 22 Top Level Classes DDC 1 0 Generalities 1 Philosophy & psychology 2 Religion 3 Social sciences 4 Language 5 Natural sciences & mathematics DDC Computer science, information & general works 100 Philosophy & psychology 200 Religion 300 Social sciences 400 Language 500 Science 8

9 DDC 1 vs DDC 22 Top Level Classes DDC 1 6 Applied sciences 7 The arts 8 Literature and rhetoric 9 Geography and history [This is the original set of 10 classes!] DDC Technology 700 Arts & recreation 800 Literature 900 History & geography 9

10 Basic Principles of DDC decimal division DDC uses numbers to represent concepts three summaries of DDC numbers: the 10s, the 100s and the 1000s. The 10s are the main classes. The 100s are subdivisions of these classes... ( e.g. 973 is History of the United States. The 900 in 973 represents History. The 70 in 973 represents North America and the 3 in 973 represents the United States. All Dewey numbers can be broken apart like this 10

11 Basic Principles 3 DDC is synthetic: class numbers can be created by adding numbers together (only when allowed in the schedules) DDC also uses tables of standard subdivisions to add geographic, historical or format information to a classification number Table 1 refers to format, Table 2 refers to geographic places or historical time periods, Table 3 is for literature, etc. 11

12 DDC Standard Subdivisions (Table 1) numbers indicating the form of the work, including location and time period can be appended to any call number e.g. 016 bibliography 05 periodical 03 encyclopedia 12

13 DDC Areas (Table 2) T2-2 Persons T2-3 Ancient World T2-4 Europe T2-5 Asia T2-6 Africa T2-7 North America T2-8 South America T2-9 Australia, Pacific, polar regions Table 2 deals with geography, historical time periods and persons treatments of a subject e.g. Fishing in Wisconsin 13

14 DDC Mnemonics basic numbers in DDC retain their meaning e.g. 05 can be added to call numbers for periodicals, 050 is serials 973 is always the United States 973 is History of the United States would be about Rock Protest Songs from the United States 14

15 Abridged Dewey version of Dewey for small libraries (less than books) uses shorter classification numbers e.g could be (Rock (Music) -- songs) in Abridged Dewey or even (Songs) 15

16 DDC Schedules DDC Summaries: WebDewey 16

17 DDC Example - Simple How would you classify material on lacrosse? Search the relative index for lacrosse: result is (note the number for lacrosse players) How would you classify material on card games? Solitaire? Search the relative index for card games: 795.4, Solitaire:

18 DDC Example - More Complex How would you classify material on a Canadian Census? 1. Search the relative index for census. 2. Select an appropriate category: *Census and surveys 3. Read the notes for more information: "Class here administration of descriptive research. Subdivisions are added for either or both topics in heading * Add as instructed under " 18

19 DDC Example - More Complex 2 3 (cont.) This note indicates that you should look for instructions on how to classify by country. 4. Under you see a list of standard subdivisions is treatment by countries, etc. (This means go to Table 2 to build the number for the country.) 19

20 DDC Example - More Complex 3 5. Step through Table 2 until you find Canada (or you can try searching the relative index to find the right T- number) 6. T-71 is Canada 7. The number for a Census is , you are instructed to place the country number in between 093 and 099, 0971 fits into this range (note, you are often told to add 09 before the country code, the 09 is historical or geographic treatment from Table 1) 8. Final number:

21 DDC Exercise Where would these be located in DDC? Blindness in the Bible (Non religious subjects in the Bible) (Blindness) Esperanto Dictionary 4 (Languages) (Esperanto) 3 (Dictionary) Quebecois Cooking (Regional Cuisine) 714 (Quebec) Joke Book 81 (American Lit) 8. (Misc) 54 ( ) 02 (Jokes) 21

22 Library of Congress Classification designed to organise the Library of Congress' holdings in 1897 DDC and other existing systems were dismissed for being based on older principles LCC is enumerative and uses one and two letter codes for major subdivisions LCC was based on the holdings of the Library of Congress 22

23 LCC Outline A -- GENERAL WORKS B -- PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY. RELIGION C -- AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY D -- WORLD HISTORY AND HISTORY OF EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, ETC. etc. 23

24 LCC subjects run from: general works through philosophy, religion, history, geography, social sciences, political science, law, education, music, arts, languages and linguistics, literature, science, medicine, agriculture, technology, military and naval science, and bibliography and library science 24

25 LCC 2 specialists worked on each section independently to classify the material within schedules have a similar format but are separated by principles that make sense in that field items are collocated within a subdivision by form and type as well as subject 25

26 LCC Internal Organisation 1) General form divisions: Periodicals, Societies, Collections, Dictionaries, etc. 2) Theory, Philosophy 3) History 4) Treatises, General Works 5) Law, Regulation 6) Study and teaching 7) Special subjects and subdivisions, progressing from the more general to the specific and as far as possible in logical order 26

27 LCC Schedules One letter identifies a class (a disciplinary area) Two letters identify a division (a subdomain within that class) A span of numbers identifies specific topical areas and a scope note tells you what you will find in that area often uses geographic or alphabetic organisation within classes (e.g. By Region A-Z) 27

28 LCC Example - Simple How would you classify material on lacrosse? 1. Search for captions that contain the term lacrosse (or keyword if caption returns no results) 2. Recreation. Leisure--Sports--Ball games--lacrosse is GV989 28

29 LCC Example - More Complex How would you classify material on a Canadian Census? 1. Search for captions that contain census. 2. Censuses are listed as being in [HA ]. Select this. The full subject is: Statistics--Statistical data--by region or country--america--united States-- Censuses 3. Select By region or country 29

30 LCC Example - More Complex 2 4. HA is the full range for censuses 5. Search for the required country. Canada is listed as HA Notice we still have a range. this means there are other more specific subjects in this range 6. General works on censuses in Canada are in HA745 30

31 LCC Exercise Where would these be located in LCC? Canadian Law (Law of Canada) KE444 (Law of Canada -- General Works) French Sign Language P117.5 (Sign Language).F75 (France) Crocodiles QL666 (Reptiles By Order and Family).C925 (Crocodylidae) MP3 Player TK (Digital audiotape recorders and recording) 31

32 DDC and LCC in the Library: Call Numbers Call numbers are the numbers used to locate a specific item in a specific library refers to the process of requesting a book from a library with closed stacks In North America, a call number generally consists of a classification number plus a book number (main entry) call number may also have the date of publication and any special designations (e.g. juvenile, format, etc.) 32

33 Example Call Numbers The Organization of Information by Arlene G. Taylor LCC: Z666.5.T Standard LCC format includes an author cutter (can only be 2 cutters though) and the date of publication DDC: 020 T238 Standard DDC format includes an author cutter or letters from author's last name 33

34 Cutter-Sanborn Three Figure Author Table create book number for the main entry often library will simply use first few letters of the author's last name Excerpt from the table: Allard Allas 422 Alle Allard: cutter number of A419, or Al419 34

35 LC Cutter Table From Cataloguer's Desktop or see the LC Cutter Tutorial in D2L an author with the last name Allard, would have a LC Cutter number A4 (for AL), or A45 if there is already an author named Allard with the same classification number 35

36 LC Cutter Table 36

37 G300 Regions and Countries Table While country codes can be built from the Cutter table, it is more common to use a pre-built table of Country Cutters This table lists major countries and regions of the world and the most commonly used Cutters. cmshelf/scmshelf/g_300_regions_and_countri es_table_shelf.htm 37

38 DDC or LCC or??? many academic libraries use LCC based on the notion that Dewey is best suited to public libraries and that academic libraries should use a system which was organised by subject specialists two classifications provide more or less the same depth of coverage research suggests the mnemonic and synthetic features of DDC are more amenable to use in online systems 38

39 DDC or LCC Examples Library and Archives Canada (formerly National Library of Canada) Z664.L53 or Z736.N37 (now L53) Asthma Photoshopping Second Life RC591 or RA645.A83 TR148 GV S425 39

40 DDC or BISAC Some public libraries have experimented with switching from DDC to word based classifications (often BISAC based) BISAC (Book Industry Subject Access Codes) word based classification developed by bookstores (BISG) based on market warrant 40

41 In Class Discussion: DDC and BISAC The following handout lists some articles about libraries switching from DDC to BISAC or another word based system. You can also look at part 4 of the scavenger hunt for comparison es/511/511discussion-deweylesslibraries.html Post a summary of the results of your discussion to the discussion group. 41