LIS 415: Information Organization

Topic Areas: Notational representation of subject concepts and categorization of concepts are examined and presented as additional means for providing subject access to information resources. Includes categorization, hierarchical classification, faceted classification, Dewey Decimal Classification, Library of Congress Classification, and cuttering.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the need for and benefits of classification.
• Describe the nature of classification.
• Identify the structure of classification schemes.
• Explain two major types of classification schemes, including their weaknesses and strengths.
• Describe the basic structural and notational features of DDC.
• Explain the weaknesses and strengths of DDC.
• Deconstruct DDC classification numbers and interpret their meaning.
• Construct simple DDC call numbers.
• Describe the basic structural and notational features of LCC and explain how they differ from DDC.
• Explain the weaknesses and strengths of LCC.
• Deconstruct LCC classification numbers and interpret their meaning.
• Construct simple LCC call numbers.

Guiding Questions:

• Why do humans categorize?
• How is subject content expressed through notation in bibliographic records?
• How is categorization used in the arrangement of information resources and records?
• What purposes are served by classification schemes?
• How are the major classification schemes organized?
• What are the weaknesses and strengths of the major classification schemes?

Required Readings

Week 1: Introduction

Joudrey, The Organization of Information, Chapter 13

Broughton, "Facet Analysis"

Drabinski, "Teaching the Radical Catalog"

Fox, "The Big Idea: Why Colour is in the Eye of the Beholder"

Week 2: Standards

Joudrey, The Organization of Information, Appendix B

Nunes, "Remembering the Howard University Librarian Who Decolonized the Way Books Were Catalogued"

Petroski, The Book on the Bookshelf, Appendix

Worth, "This Library Takes an Indigenous Approach to Categorizing Books"

Relevant Articles from The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science

Beghtol, "Classification Theory"

Broughton, "Bliss Bibliographic Classification"

Chan and Hodges, "Library of Congress Classification (LCC)"

Dextre Clarke, "Knowledge Organization System Standards"

Foskett, "Facet Analysis [ELIS Classic]"

Grove, "Taxonomy"

McIlwaine, "Universal Decimal Classification (UDC)"

Mitchell and Vizine-Goetz, "Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)"

Olson, "Social Influences on Classification," Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science

Pepper, "Topic Maps"

Satija and Singh, "Colon Classification"

Recommended Readings

Adler, "Classification Along the Color Lines"

Adler and Harper, "Race and Ethnicity in Classification Systems"

Classification Research Group, "The Need for a Faceted Classification"

Gorman, "The Longer the Number, the Smaller the Spine"

Howard and Knowlton, "Browsing through Bias: The Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings for African American Studies and LGBTQIA Studies"

Joudrey, Introduction to Cataloging & Classification, 11th ed, Chapters 16-20

Khan, "An Introduction to Taxonomy"

Kwasnik, "Changing Perspectives on Classification..."

Langridge, Classification, p. 1-23.

Library of Congress Classification: Online Training (if you want more about LCC!)

Mann, Oxford Guide to Library Research, Chapter 3

Satija and Kyrios, A Handbook of History, Theory and Practice of the Dewey Decimal Classification

The Straight Dope column on the DDC

Course Outline

• Unit 1: Introduction to Information Organization
• Unit 2: Retrieval Tools and Systems
• Unit 3: Encoding
• Unit 4: Introduction to Metadata
• Unit 5: Conceptual Models, Description, and Access
• Unit 6: Authority Control
• Unit 7: Aboutness & Subject Analysis
• Unit 8: Vocabulary Control
• Unit 9: Classification & Arrangement