Classification

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Chapter 8

edited by
Nurfaizah Kamarudin
School of Information Science

IMD223 | INTRODUCTION TO CATALOGING

01

At the end of the chapter, students should
be able to:

02

What is classification?

Definition, Theory & Concept | Objective of Classification | Library
Classification System

Dewey Decimal Classification

History | Basic Principles | Who created it? | Introduction | First
Summaries | Understanding

Library of Congress Classification

History | Basic Principles & Structure | Main Classes | Subclasses |
Divisions | Understanding Call Number

​01

​02

​03

Open Ended

What is classification?

Library Classification or
Classification or Book
Classification or

Bibliographic Classification
is the process of arranging,
grouping, coding, and
organizing books and other
library materials (e.g.
serials, sound recordings,
moving images, cartographic
materials, manuscripts,
computer files, e-resources
etc.)

Classification is the
process of organizing
knowledge into some

systematic order

(Chan & Salaba, 2016)

Multiple Choice

Bibliographic Classification is the process of arranging, grouping, coding, and
organizing books and other library materials

• True

• False

In libraries, classification deals
with the determination of the
primary subject of a work and
the assignment of specific
notation. This is used for retrieval
purposes, and for ordering the
items in a systematic catalogue
and for shelving the item with
other items on similar subjects.

The main objective of library
classification is to arrange
the library documents in
faciliatory sequence for the
convenience of both the
readers and the staff in the
library

Objectives of Library Classification - Library

& Information Science Education Network
(lisedunetwork.com)

Classification provides a
system for organizing
knowledge in any form, e.g.
books, documents and
electronic resources.

Notation is the system of
symbols used to represent
the classes in a classification
system.

“A classification scheme
organizes subjects
systematically and shows
their relationships”.

“The basic principle of
library classification is to
group the items on the
shelves according to their
subject content, or
sometimes their literary or
bibliographic form.

Multiple Choice

Is it true that basic principle of library classification is to ungroup the items on the shelves according to their subject content?

• True

• False

Bring related
items together in a
helpful sequence.

Provide an order
for the classified
catalog

Enable easy
re-shelving of
library materials.

Provide orderly
access to the
shelves through
direct search of
the shelves
(browsing) or
through the catalog.

Melvil Dewey
(1851-1931) is the
founder of the
DDC system.

He was as
assistant
librarian at
Amherst College
when he
developed the
system .

In 1876 the
publication of
pamphlet entitled ‘A
classification and
subject index for
cataloging and
arranging the books
and pamphlet of a
Library’ marked the
beginning of the
DDC.

The DDC is a
hierarchical system
dividing subjects
from the most
general to the
most specific.

Its schedules are
the divisions
arranged in number
order. The general
categories (like
poetry prose,
drama) are the
classes used in the
system.

The call number is
composed of two
parts: the Dewey
Decimal
Classification
number and the
Cutter number.

Melvil Dewey was born on
December 10, 1851.

Melvil Dewey created the
number order system for
library books when he was
21 years old.

Melvil Dewey started the
first school for librarians.

Multiple Choice

DDC is divided into _______ main classes.

• 9

• 10

• 21

• 22

UNDERSTANDING
DDC CLASS
NUMBER

UNDERSTANDING
DDC CLASS
NUMBER

UNDERSTANDING
DDC CLASS
NUMBER

UNDERSTANDING
DDC CLASS
NUMBER

Example of DDC
number with
cutter no.

​Try this!

The Library of
Congress was
founded in
1800. The
earliest
classification
of books in the
library.

The LC system is
used in most
academic
libraries. Books
on similar
subjects are
grouped together
under 21 primary
classes, which
are represented by
letters of the
alphabet.

The LC system
combines
letters of the
alphabet and
Arabic
numerals.

(Mix –
Notation).

Organizes
knowledge in
21 broad
categories,
labeled A – Z.
Alphabets I, O,
W, X, Y not in
use

Example,

PN 6109.9 (Collection of poetry by women authors)

TK 7800 (electronics)

Multiple Choice

LCC is used in most _____________ libraries.

• public

• academic

• school

In most of the 19th century the
Library of Congress collection was
organize using system devised by
Thomas Jefferson.

The DDC and Charles A. Cutter’s
Expansive Classification was not
considered suitable for LC.

When the library moved into new
building in 1897 the Jeffersonian
system was found inadequate for
collection that grown into over
one and half million pieces.

It was decided to construct new
system to be called the Library of
Congress Classification LCC,
and work began on its
development

Basic Principles & Structure

LCC is a
classification by
discipline

Main classes is to
accommodate all subject
areas represented In the LC
collection.

-main classes subdivided
into subclasses

-subclasses is reflect
individual disciplines or their
branches.

-classes or subclasses
then subdivided by topic
and/or by form, place, or time

LCC is based on the
literary warrant of the
material already in and
added to Library of
Congress (LC),

the structure of LCC is
hierarchical,
progressing from

general to specific.

Therefore, it’s not
designed as universal
system (a system that
details all existing
subjects), but it
specifically tailor to LC
needs

Main Classes

Subclasses

each of main classes, with
exception of E and F, is
divided into subclasses that
represent disciplines or
major branches of the main
class.

for example, class H
for social science

Divisions

each subclass is divided into
divisions that represent
components of the subclass.

for example, the subclass
statistic has the following
divisions

Understanding Call Number

Example of LCC number :

Earthquakes by Bruce A. Bolt, published
in 1993.

Call number: QE 534.2 .B64 1993

​Try This!

Chan, L. M. & Salaba, A. (2016). Cataloging and classification : an introduction. 4th ed.
London : Roman & Littlefield.

Thank You
Any questions?