Page 144 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 7: Library Classification Canons and Principles

General Canon of Mnemonics: The digit or digits used to represent a specified concept in Notes
a class number should be the same in all class numbers having the concept represented in
them, if insistence on such consistent representation does not violate requirements that
are more important.

Canon of Verbal Mnemonics: Verbal mnemonics should be rejected, without any hesitation,
if a sequence more helpful to readers or more filiatory than alphabetical sequence exists.
Verbal mnemonics by alphabetical device should be preferred if the alphabetical sequence
is as helpful as any other sequence. The word forming the basis of verbal mnemonics
should be that of international nomenclature whenever it has been set up.

Canon of Scheduled Mnemonics: A scheme of classification should include a preliminary
set of schedules of divisions based on characteristics likely to recur in an array of some
order or other of all or many classes, or refer any recurrent array of divisions to the one
schedule of them giving in Canon of Seminal Mnemonics.

Notes A scheme of classification should use the same digit to denote seminally equivalent
concepts in whatever array of whatever class they may appear.

7.5.7 Special Canons for Book Classification

Canon of Classics: A Scheme of Book Classification should have a device to bring together
all the editions, translations, and adaptations of a classic, and next to them all the editions
of the different commentaries on it, the editions of a particular commentary all coming
together, and next to each commentary all the editions of the commentaries on itself in a
similar manner (commentaries of the second order), and so on.
Canon of Local Variation: The notational system of a scheme of book classification should
provide for variations in Canon of Book Number.
A scheme of book classification should be provided with a scheme of book numbers to
individualize the documents having the same class of knowledge as their ultimate class.

Canon of Collection Number: A Scheme of Book Classification may be provided with a
Schedule of Collection Numbers to individualize the various collections of special
documents to be formed, based on the peculiarities of their gross bodies, or their rarity, or
service exigency, to facilitate use by readers. The collection numbers based on physical
peculiarity may be of use in bibliographies also.
Canon of Distinctiveness: In a Scheme of Library Classification, the class number, the
book number, and the collection number, together forming the call number, should be
written quite distinct from one another.

7.5.8 Principles

General Principle of Increasing Concreteness: If there two classes are such that one can be
said to be more abstract and less concrete than the other, the former should precede the
latter.

Principle of Increasing Artificiality: If two classes are such that one can be said to be
nearer to the “thing-in-itself” or naturalness and farther from artificiality than the other,
the former should precede the other.

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