Page 58 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 3: Notational System

i.e., forms of approach to the subject. For example, theory, study and teaching, history and Notes
biography are various approaches to the subject and they are known as inner forms.
We also find that subjects are treated in the historical and geographical contexts, which are
usually called by the terms time and space respectively. Thus, inner and outer forms of
presentation and historical and geographical treatment are features common to all or most
subjects. They, therefore, recur throughout the scheme of classification. In library classification,
such recurring concepts are standardised. This standardisation results in economy of size, as it
restricts the length of the schedules in a scheme by listing these common features only once.
Incidentally, standardisation also lends mnemonic value to the recurring concepts, as they are
consistently expressed by the same set of symbols. Hence, in a scheme of classification, separate
tables are provided for common isolates and directions are given for their application.

History of Common Isolates

There are several things which go to the credit of Melvil Dewey. The concept of common isolates
is one of them. In the beginning he called them form divisions. They were first introduced in the
second edition of DDC brought out in 1885. Since then they have undergone several changes.
The name form divisions continued up to the twelfth edition of DDC published in 1922. This
name was changed to common subdivisions in the thirteenth edition appearing in 1932. These
common subdivisions were listed under three different categories, viz., miscellaneous common
subdivisions, viewpoints and form divisions. This whole set reappeared as just form divisions
in the fifteenth and sixteenth editions and was renamed as standard subdivisions in the
seventeenth edition. The seventeenth edition also identified space and time isolates as common
isolates and listed them as such. Until the publication of the seventeenth edition, the history
schedule had been used for space isolates.

In UDC, common isolates are called auxiliary subdivisions. Broadly, there are two types of
auxiliaries in use in UDC: common and special. Auxiliaries of form in UDC are like the standard
subdivisions of DDC. Space and time isolates are treated as common auxiliaries and listed
separately. The use of auxiliaries in UDC is an important aspect in number building.
In the first edition of CC, there were three different schedules for common subdivisions of
which space and time were two. The number of common subdivisions was small initially. It was
only in the fourth edition of CC that these were recognised as anteriorising and posteriorising
common subdivisions. In the fifth edition, they were named as common isolates. After several
changes through successive editions an exhaustive list of common isolates has emerged in the
seventh edition of CC.

Kinds of Common Isolates

According to the definition of the term “Common Isolate Idea“, the different kinds of common
isolates include language isolate ideas, time isolate ideas, space isolate ideas and anteriorising
common isolate ideas. There can also be common personality isolate ideas, common matter
isolate ideas, and common energy isolate ideas.

It may be noted that among the manifestations of the Fundamental Categories Energy, and
Matter, some will be special isolate ideas and some others will be common isolate ideas. The
matter common isolate ideas consist of properties and values and not of materials. However,
these common property isolates and energy common isolate ideas too need enumeration. Further,
it is found that energy common isolate term and matter common isolate terms are often found
coalesced into a single term in the documents; one has to separate them. Also, one and the same
common isolate idea is not always denoted by the same term at all times; their reduction to a
single term is time-consuming.

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