A Comparative Analysis Of

Library Classification Schemes

Assigned By: Sir Dr. Haroon Idrees

Presented By: Hafiz Sajjad Haseeb
What is classification?
The term Classification is derived from the
Latin word Class which means Grouping
Classification is broadly defined as the act of
organizing the universe of knowledge into
some systematic order(Chan,1988).
Classification Schemes
Dewey Decimal Classification
Universal Decimal Classification
Library of Congress Classification
Colon Classification
Bibliographical Classification
 Function of Classification Scheme
Save user and librarian time
Help the systematic arrangement
Help the stock verification
Help to provide the right book to the right man
 Retrieve documents and replace the documents
to the original position.
Dewey Decimal classification
First issue 1873 by Melvil Dewey
First language was english
Parts of scheme Auxiliary classification schemes tables
and index
Sub division ten main classes each class has ten
divisions, each division has ten sections
Pure notation arabic numeral
Latest edition ,23rd edition
Dewey divided the field of knowledge into ten
main classes
000 Generalities
 100 Philosophy and related disciplines
200 Religion
 300 Social Sciences
 400 Language
500 Pure Sciences
600 Technology
700 Fine Arts
 800 Literature
900 General Geography and History
Structure of DDC
1st summary 10 main classes,2nd summary 100 divisions
and 3rd summary 1000 sections
Volume 1 : Tables
Volume 2: summaries and schedules (000-500)
Volume 3 : schedules (600-900)
Volume 4 : Relative Index
Colon Classification (CC)
The Colon Classification was developed by Dr. S. R.
Ranganathan. The Colon Classification was first
published in 1933 with 127 pages. The 7 edition of the
Colon Classification released in 1987 brings many
more changes than ever contained in any previous
revision of this world famous classification system.
Colon Classification (CC)
 According to Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, in any given
subject, there may be a maximum of five fundamental
categories. . These are Personality (P), Matter (M),
Energy (E), Space (S) and Time (T)
 List of main classes A Natural science, B
Mathematics, C Physics, D Engineering,…
CC use mixed notation(0 and 1to9)(26 capital
alphabets)(24small,except i & o)
Mostly covers Indian libraries
Published in english
Library of congress classification
The library of congress classification is a system of
library classification developed by the library of
congress. It is used by most research and academic
libraries in the U.S. and several other countries; for
example, Australia and Taiwan
Library of congress
LC was found in 1780
The field of knowledge has been divided into 20
classes
First language was english
Mixed notation 26 capitals 10 numbers
This scheme is use for shelf arrangement
LC main classes
A= general work B=philosophy and religion C=
Auxiliary sciences of history D= universal history
E&F= American history G= Geography Anthropology
Recreation H= social science I=political science k= law
L= education M= music N= fine art P= language and
literature Q= science R= medicine S= agriculture T=
technology U= military science V= navel science Z=
bibliograhy , library science
Universal Decimal Classification
The Universal Decimal Classification is the world
foremost multilingual classification scheme for all
fields of knowledge ,retrieval tool.
 It was adapted by Paul Otlet and Nobel Prizewinner
Henri La Fontaine from the Decimal Classification of
Melvil Dewey, and first published (in French) between
1904 and 1907.
Universal Decimal Classification
Mostly used in Europe
1st edition in 1905
Language was French
Mixed notation use in UDC
Main table of UDC
0 Generalities: Methodology, Documentation, Scripts etc.
1 Philosophy, Metaphysics, Logic, Ethics, Psychology
 2 Religion, Theology
 3 Social Sciences; including Statistics, Law, Education
 4 Vacant
5 Pure Science, Mathematics and Natural Sciences
6 Applied Sciences, Medicine and Technology
7 The Arts including Architecture, Photography, Recreation, Entertainment
8 Language, Linguistics, Literature
9 Geography, Biography, History
Bibliographic Classification
Henry Evelyn Bliss introduced BC in 1935
The Bibliographic Classification is based on the letters
of the alphabet represented by a letter may be
subdivided by the whole alphabet. The Bibliographic
Classification uses in addition, the digits 1-9 for certain
very special purposes and it uses on some rare
occasions the comma to avoid confusion.
The Bibliographic Classification is a system whose
power is at least 18,278.
Bibliographical Classification
P = (N)1 + (N)2 + (N)3• If N = 26, P = 18,278
These are the major divisions used by the
Bibliographic Classification :
A-AL Philosophy
 AM-AZ Mathematics
 B Physics
 C Chemistry
D Geology and Geography
E-G Biology, Botany, Zoology
H Medicine (including Physical Anthropology)
I Psychology
 J Education
 K Sociology (including Social Anthropology)
L-0 ) History (Social and Political)
 p Religion
 Q Social Welfare, Socialism, Internationalism
R Political Science, Government
 S Jurisprudence and Law
 T Economics
 U Applied Science (UA-UC Agriculture, UD-UY Engineering)
V Fine Arts (including Music)
W-Y ) Philology and Literature
 Z Bibliography (including Library Science).
Comparison
Description DDC LOC UDC CC BC
Main outline 10 main classes, Field of Scheme follows ddc Classes are comprised 1 0-9 numerical
100 div 1000 knowledge except addition of to 9 and 26 main classes
sections divided into 20 some new classes a to Z. A-G
class. subdivisions phi.phy.chem.
bio. H-T
anthropology,
Soc.science,Hi
story,U-Y
Arts,Lang. Lit.
Year of 1stissue 1876 1901 1905 1933 1935
1st Language English English French German English English
Notation Pure three figure
minimum use
Mixed,26 Mixed, consist of
figures and other
Mixed, arabic numeral,
alphabet ,symbols and
Symbol ,sma
ll & large
capital,10
numeral symbols sign alphabet

Form division Series of 9 Each class has Form division 01-09 Common subdivisions
common form it own form retain original Deway use
divisions significant
Species of Enumerative Enumerative Faceted classification 1st to 3rd faceted but 4th Faceted
classification for scheme scheme to 7th freely faceted classification
subjects schemes
Comparison
Read write and
remember
Easy Comparati Difficult Easy for those
vely who know with
roman letters
Use Shelf Use for Shelf
arrangement ,
Shelf
arrangement ,
Shelf
order ,bibliograp
arrangeme shelf catalogue, catalogue, hies
nt arrangeme indexes, Shelf indexes, Shelf
nt
Length of Long Short Long Long Short
class
Enumerative, Faceted & Form Division
 Enumerative Classification Schemes An enumerative
classification scheme is a scheme where all the possible
classes are enumerated according to certain
characteristics.
 Faceted Classification Scheme A faceted classification
scheme is on the other extreme of the scale since instead
of listing of all the classes and the corresponding
numbers, it lists the various facets of every subject or
main class and provides a set of rules for constructing
class numbers through facet analysis
 Form Division – Knowledge is available in different
style of documents such as text book, manual, history,
dictionary and encyclopedia.
Conclusion
We use classification by purposely. Classification work
as back bone in all library operations. Library
classification is a instrument for organizing and
retrieval of documents store in the library. In the
resent era electronic versions of the DDC and UDC are
more helpful for retrieving.
Any Question
THANK YOU