Essential Classification

Classification is a crucial skill for all information workers involved in organizing collections. This new edition offers fully revised and updated guidance on how to go about classifying a document from scratch. Cataloging authority Broughton leads the novice classifier step by step through the basics of subject cataloging, with an emphasis on practical document analysis and classification. Her book deals with fundamental questions of the purpose of classification in different situations, and the needs and expectations of end users. The reader is introduced to the ways in which document content can be assessed, and how this can best be expressed for translation into the language of specific indexing and classification systems. Key areas covered include:

• the need for classification;
• the variety of classification;
• the structure of classification;
• working with informal classification;
• management aspects of classification; and
• classification in digital space.

Fully updated to reflect changes to the major general schemes (Library of Congress, LCSH, Dewey and UDC) since the first edition, and with added chapters on working with informal classification, from folksonomies to tagging and social media, this new edition will set catalogers on the right path.