Lis415 ranganathan

Simmons College, Graduate School of Library & Information Science
LIS 415 - 02: The Organization of Information • Dr. Daniel Joudrey
Alison Thornton & Joshua Parker
18 October 2006
Shiyali Ramamrita
Ranganathan
& the Colon Classiﬁcation System

AlisonThornton & Joshua Parker • Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan& the ColonClassificationSystem • Presented: 18 October 2006
Simmons College, Graduate School of Library & InformationScience • LIS 415-02: The Organizationof Information • Dr. Daniel Joudrey
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan & the Colon Classification System
Life & Achievements (1892-1972):
! Education:
! Madras Christian College (Madras): Mathematics BA 1913, MA 1916
! Teachers College (Saidapet): Teaching License 1917
! University of London, School of Librarianship: Honors Certificate 1925
! A Few Achievements:
! First librarian at Madras University
! Responsible for the reorganization of Indian Libraries
! Founder of the Madras Library Association
! Co-founder Indian Library Association
! Founder of the Documentation Research and Training Center in Bangalore
! Author of several books and other works
! Contributions to Library Community:
! The term “Library Science”
! Library Administration and Management
! Reference Service
! The Five Laws
! The Colon Classification

The Five Laws of Library Science:
1. Books are for use
2. Every reader his or her book
3. Every book its reader
4. Save the time of the reader
5. The library is a growing organism
! Modern-day application of the Five Laws
! The laws as applied to Colon Classiﬁcation

Colon Classification - A Faceted Approach:
! [ ] Main Class: Broad subject area
! [ , ] Personality: Primary subject aspect,
identified after the other facets by the “Residual
Method”
! [ ; ] Matter: The material, composition,
property, or method of the subject
! [ : ] Energy: The action, activity, or work
associated with the subject
! [ . ] Space: The geographical or spatial
aspect of the subject
! [ ! ] Time: The temporal aspect of the subject
Research in the cure of the
tuberculosis of lungs by
x-ray in India in 1950s
L,45;421:6;253:f.44'N5
L Medicine
45 Lungs
421 Tuberculosis
6 Treatment
253 Research
f X-ray
44 India
N5 1950s
Example taken from: Chan, L. M. (1994).
Cataloging and Classification: An
Introduction (2nd ed.). New York:
McGraw-Hill.

Advantages and Disadvantages:
! Advantages of the Colon Classification:
! Very flexible
! Able to easily accommodate new scientific discoveries, intellectual
innovations, & cultural developments
! Provides detailed and accurate subject classification
! Recognizes that hierarchical arrangements are not always adequate
! Disadvantages of the Colon Classification:
! Extremely complex system
! Time consuming subject analysis and description
! Results in very long call numbers (L,45;421:6;253:f.44'N5 = 22 characters!!)

The Legacy of Colon Classification (CC):
! Colon Classification is not widespread in libraries
! CC has strongly influenced other classification schemes; most
major systems (although not LCC) now include at least some
aspects of a faceted system
! Faceted classification systems are increasing in popularity for
electronic resources
! Epicurious.com
! Yahoo! Directory search
! del.icio.us & Connotea.org
! Efforts at MIT to create a self-guiding eResources portal

Bibliography
Batty, C. D. (1967). An introduction to colon classiﬁcation. Hamden, CT: Archon Books.
Chan, L. M. (1994). Cataloging and classiﬁcation: an introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Cloonan, M. V. and Dove, J. G. (2005). Ranganathan online [Electronic version]. Library Journal (1976), 130(6), 58-60.
Retrieved October 2, 2006 from the Library Literature & Information Full Text database.
Finks, L. W. (1992). A centennial salute to Ranganathan [Electronic version]. American Libraries, 23(July/August 1992), 593-
594. Retrieved October 2, 2006 from the Library Literature & Information Full Text database.
Gabridge, T.A., Hennig, N., Lubas, R., and Wenzel, S.G. (2005). When a librarian’s not there to ask: Creating an information
resource advisory tool [Electronic version]. In Thompson, H.A. (Ed.) Currents and convergence: Navigating the rivers of
change. Proceedings of the ACRL 12th National Conference, April 7–10, 2005, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chicago:
Association of College and Research Libraries. Retrieved October 5, 2006 from
www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/gabridge05.pdf.
Glassel, A. (1998, March). Was Ranganathan a Yahoo!? End User's Corner. Retrieved October 7, 2006
http://scout.wisc.edu/Projects/PastProjects/toolkit/enduser/archive/1998/euc-9803.html.

Bibliography
Gopinath, M.A. (2003). Ranganathan, Shiyali Ramarita [Electronic version]. In Drake, M. A. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Library and
Information Science. New York: Dekker. Retrieved October 2, 2006 from Dekker Encyclopedias.
Gorman, M. (1998). The five laws of library science: Then and now [Electronic version]. School Library Journal, 44(7).
Retrieved October 10, 2006 from the Library Literature & Information Full Text database.
Kabir, A. M. F. (2003). Ranganathan: A universal librarian [Electronic version]. Journal of Educational Media & Library
Sciences, 40(4), 453-459. Retrieved October 2, 2006 from the Library Literature & Information Full Text database.
Kashyap, M. M. (2002). A sketch of a code for developing computer-based library information systems based on classified
catalogue code of Ranganathan (part-II) [Electronic version]. DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology, 22(2), 27-61.
Retrieved September 14, 2006 from the Library Literature & Information Full Text database.
Leiter, R. A. (2003). Reflections on Ranganathan’s five laws of library science [Electronic version]. Law Library Journal, 95(3),
411-418. Retrieved October 2, 2006 from the Library Literature & Information Full Text database.
Mole, H. V. (2005). Indian seminar honors Dr. S. R. Ranganathan [Electronic version]. Quarterly Bulletin of the International
Association of Agricultural Information Specialists, 50(1/2), 59. Retrieved October 2, 2006 from the Library Literature &
Information Full Text database.

Bibliography
Neelameghan, A. (2005). Subject architecture model and building construction model: A system perspective [Electronic version].
Information Studies, 11(4), 207-12. Retrieved October 2, 2006 from the Library Literature & Information Full Text database.
Ranganathan, S. R. (1933). Colon classification. Madras: The Madras Library Association.
Ranganathan, S. R. (1960). Colon classification (6th ed.). Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
Ranganathan, S. R. (1965). The colon classification. New Brunswick, NJ: Graduate School of Library Service, Rutgers, the State
University.
Ranganathan, S. R. (1967). A descriptive account of the colon classification. Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
Satija, M. P. (1989). Colon classification, 7th edition: a practical introduction. New Delhi: Ess Ess Publications.
Taylor, A. G. (2004). Wynar's introduction to cataloging and classification. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Lis415 ranganathan

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (10)

Similar to Lis415 ranganathan

Similar to Lis415 ranganathan (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Lis415 ranganathan