Page 87 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Knowledge Organization: Classification and Cataloguing Theory

Notes
Questions
1. Critically analyse the above case.
2. Write down the case facts.

3. What do you infer from the case?
Source: http://eprints.rclis.org/9601/1/varghese-paper.pdf

4.8 Summary

The foundation of Colon Classification was laid in Britain in the year 1924.

In 1933 Indian librarian Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan introduced the Colon
Classification system, which classifies all knowledge into broad, fundamental concepts.
Dr. Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan, who lived from 1892 until 1972, was a renowned
thinker and innovator in the world of library and information science.

As Ranganathan travelled back to India after his studies, he worked on the scheme that
would eventually become Colon Classification.

Ranganathan based the Colon Classification scheme on the concept of facet analysis, an
idea that was not new to library science.
Notations, such as numbers and letters, are used to represent the facets, while punctuation
marks are used to indicate the nature and type of the facets.
Ranganathan also allowed for the combination of two subjects from entirely different
disciplines within a single Class Number
In Colon Classification, there are 108 main classes (previously there were 33) and
10 generalized classes (broadly divided between the humanities and sciences), which are
represented by a mixed notation of Arabic numerals and roman and Greek letters.
The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system is a general knowledge organization
tool that is continuously revised to keep pace with knowledge.

EPC is a ten-member international board whose main function is to advise the editors and
OCLC on matters relating to changes, innovations, and the general development of the
Classification.

4.9 Keywords

Atomic DDC Notation: An atomic DDC notation is a semantically indecomposable string that
represents a DDC class.
Cataloguers: A librarian who classifies publication according to a categorical system.
Colon Classification: Colon Classification, system of library organization developed by the
Indian librarian S.R. Ranganathan in 1933 and is general rather than specific in nature, and it can
create complex or new categories through the use of facets, or colons.
Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC): The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system is a
general knowledge organization tool that is continuously revised to keep pace with knowledge.
Editorial Policy Committee (EPC): EPC is a ten-member international board whose main function
is to advise the editors and OCLC on matters relating to changes, innovations, and the general
development of the Classification.

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