Page 86 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 4: Colon Classification and Dewey Decimal Classification

Notes
for the description part of entries and headings as derived according to the rules of the
CCC. The author proposes the following modus operandi for such a cataloguing model.
The FRBR model attempts to delineate the types of entities constituting the universe of
documents and the elements associated with them, the attributes of each, and the kinds of
relationships that exist between entities. The entities are categorized into three groups
namely the bibliographical resources which in themselves are the products of intellectual
or artistic endeavour that the databases refer, entities responsible to them, and entities
that are the subjects of the resources. The first group of entities is then divided as work,
expression, manifestations and items. The second group comprises persons and corporate
bodies. The subject can be any one or more of the other two groups of entities or any
concept, object, place or event. To describe the entities in a database one has to use their
attributes, which the FRBR document describes in detail. The relationship between entities
enables to link the different categories of entities in the database. Further, the FRBR
identifies the functions of a bibliographic database in terms of the user tasks. All these
together are envisaged to serve as the schema for the design of a bibliographic database.
Tillet (2004) gives a detailed discussion on the impact of FRBR on cataloguing codes and
practices including the future systems.
The significance of Facet Analysis techniques in all the various activities relating to
information retrieval has been well accepted in the field of LIS. Ranganathan gave a new
dimension to the technique and he successfully applied it in the design of Colon
Classification and the Chain Procedure of deriving subject headings. A facet being a list of
concepts or isolates in a subject domain derived on the basis of a single train of characteristics
can be viewed as one of the first order divisions of the subject. All the component concepts
in any branch of knowledge can be categorized into a set of facets. In the main subject
medicine for instance, one can have the ‘organs’ facet, ‘problems’ facet, ‘causative factors’
facet, ‘handling’ facet etc. The Basic Class together with isolate facets arranged in a logical
sequence can be viewed to give what is called the absolute syntax of the subject in hand.
A freely faceted system gives maximum flexibility in formulating the facets and in deciding
their sequence, the only restriction being that everything should be based on sound
principles and logic. The Class Number of a compound subject is derived by connecting
the Basic Facet and isolate numbers in a logical sequence, using the prescribed indicator
digits. The notation system mechanizes the arrangement of specific subjects in a domain
into a preferred logical sequence. In this respect the Colon Classification can be considered
as a close approximation of a freely faceted classification.
The Classification Research Group declared in 1955, the need for using facet analysis as the
basis of all methods of information retrieval. Facet analysis at varying degrees is applied
in library classification schemes including the DDC, subject heading lists and in thesaurus
construction. The continued relevance of Ranganathan’s facet analysis in modern
information retrieval systems is illustrated by Ingwersen and Wormell (1982). Ellis and
Vasconcelos (1999) give an outline as to how facet analysis can be used to search and
organize the web resources in a more efficient manner than the search engines and
directories do. A detailed account of the applications of facet analysis including its use in
search and retrieval of web documents and portals is given by Vanda Broughton (2006).
Therefore it becomes evident that a Classified Catalogue in card form or a relational
database with provision for browsing through a hierarchical class structure, with a sound
footing on a freely faceted classification would be very much effective and efficient as a
tool for all types of information retrieval. Hence the author proposes a Classified Catalogue;
with Class Number as per the Colon Classification and subject entries derived using the
Chain Procedure as a prototype as a module to train the students in library cataloguing.

Contd....

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