Editing Library classification (section)

== Description ==
Library classification is an  important and crucial aspect in [[library and information science]]. It is distinct from [[taxonomy (general)|scientific classification]] in that it has as its goal to provide a useful ordering of documents rather than a theoretical organization of [[knowledge]].<ref>{{cite book
 | first1 =Ganesh
 | last1 =Bhattacharya
 | first2 =Shri Radha 
 | last2 =Ranganathan
 | author2-link=S R Ranganathan
 | editor-last =Wojciechowski
 | editor-first =Jerzy A.
 | chapter =From knowledge classification to library classification
 | title =Ottawa Conference on the Conceptual Basis of the Classification of Knowledge, 1971
 | year =1974
 | pages =119–143
 | place =Munich
 | publisher =Verlag Dokumentation
}}</ref> Although it has the practical purpose of creating a physical ordering of documents, it does generally attempt to adhere to accepted scientific knowledge.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Bliss
 | first = Henry Evelyn
 | title = The organization of knowledge in libraries
 | url = https://archive.org/details/organizationofkn007596mbp
 | publisher = H. W. Wilson
 | location = New York
 | date = 1933
}}</ref> Library classification helps to accommodate all the newly published literature in an already created order of  arrangement in a filial sequence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pandita |first1=Ramesh |last2=Singh |first2=Shivendra |title=NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION IN ICT ERA |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260433354 |journal=Journal of Indian Library Association |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=25–30 |date=November 2012 |access-date=2021-01-18 |language=en}}</ref>

Library classification can be defined as the arrangement of books on shelves, or description of them, in the manner which is most useful to those who read with the ultimate aim of grouping similar things together. Library classification is meant to achieve these four purposes: ordering the fields of knowledge in a systematic way, bring related items together in the most helpful sequence, provide orderly access on the shelf, and provide a location for an item on the shelf.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mlinar|first=Courtney|date=September 1, 2021|title=Library Classification System: What is the Library Classification System?|url=https://researchguides.austincc.edu/classif|access-date=October 18, 2021|website=Austin Community College}}</ref>

Library classification is distinct from the application of [[Index term|subject headings]] in that classification organizes knowledge into a systematic order, while subject headings provide access to intellectual materials through vocabulary terms that may or may not be organized as a knowledge system.<ref name=chan >{{cite book
 |publisher = The Scarecrow Press
 |isbn = 9780810859449
 |title = Cataloging and classification: An introduction
 |url = https://archive.org/details/catalogingclassi0000chan
 |first = Lois Mai
 |last = Chan
 |edition = 3rd
 |date = September 28, 2007
 |url-access = registration
 }}</ref>
The characteristics that a bibliographic classification demands for the sake of reaching these purposes are: a useful sequence of subjects at all levels, a concise memorable notation, and a host of techniques and devices of number synthesis.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Satija|first1=M P|title=Features, Functions and Components of a Library Classification System in the LIS tradition for the e-Environment|journal= Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice|volume=3|date=2015|issue=4|pages=62–77|doi=10.1633/JISTaP.2015.3.4.5|doi-access=free}}</ref>