Classifying Information
Judith Pintar, David Hopping · 2022
Chapter 2 opens with the story of the Libro de los Epítomes , from the famous library of Hernando Colón, which was lost for hundreds of years before being found in a library in Denmark. This chapter explores the earliest known classification systems, and the history of the development of modern library cataloging. It surveys the parallel development of Special Libraries in the United States and the Documentation Movement in Europe, before examining biases in traditional classification systems such as the Dewey Decimal System (DDC) and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Significant figures discussed include Kallimachos, Carl Linnaeus, Melvil Dewey, Vivian Harsh, Naomi Pollard Dobson, Charles Ammi Cutter, Charles Coffin Jewett, Antonio Panizzi, Katherine Sharp, Mary Pollard, Paul Otlet, Susanne Briet, and Dorothy Porter Wesley.