LIS415: Ranganathan

Simmons College, Graduate School of Library & Information ScienceLIS 415 - 02: The Organization of Information • Dr. Daniel Joudrey

Alison Thornton & Joshua Parker18 October 2006

Shiyali Ramamrita

Ranganathan& the Colon Classification System

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

[ ; ] Matter: The material, composition,property, or method of the subject

[ : ] Energy: The action, activity, or workassociated with the subject

[ . ] Space: The geographical or spatialaspect of the subject

[ ′ ] Time: The temporal aspect of the subject

Research in the cure of thetuberculosis of lungs byx-ray in India in 1950s

L,45;421:6;253:f.44'N5

L Medicine45 Lungs421 Tuberculosis6 Treatment253 Researchf X-ray44 IndiaN5 1950s

Example taken from: Chan, L. M. (1994).Cataloging and Classification: AnIntroduction (2nd ed.). New York:McGraw-Hill.



Advantages and Disadvantages: Advantages of the Colon Classification:

Very flexible

Able to easily accommodate new scientific discoveries, intellectualinnovations, & 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; mostmajor systems (although not LCC) now include at least someaspects of a faceted system

Faceted classification systems are increasing in popularity forelectronic resources Epicurious.com

Yahoo! Directory search

del.icio.us & Connotea.org

Efforts at MIT to create a self-guiding eResources portal



BibliographyBatty, 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 informationresource advisory tool [Electronic version]. In Thompson, H.A. (Ed.) Currents and convergence: Navigating the rivers ofchange. Proceedings of the ACRL 12th National Conference, April 7–10, 2005, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chicago:Association of College and Research Libraries. Retrieved October 5, 2006 fromwww.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/gabridge05.pdf.

Glassel, A. (1998, March). Was Ranganathan a Yahoo!? End User's Corner. Retrieved October 7, 2006http://scout.wisc.edu/Projects/PastProjects/toolkit/enduser/archive/1998/euc-9803.html.



BibliographyGopinath, 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 & LibrarySciences, 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 classifiedcatalogue 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 InternationalAssociation of Agricultural Information Specialists, 50(1/2), 59. Retrieved October 2, 2006 from the Library Literature &Information Full Text database.



BibliographyNeelameghan, 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 StateUniversity.

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.