Ranganathan and the faceted classification theory

Abstract

The present study contextualizes Ranganathan’s main theoretical contributions to the classification theory and addresses the Five Laws of Library Science. The major milestones in philosophical and bibliographic classifications are presented to show that the classification system has evolved from purely philosophical schemes, which were focused on the systematization of knowledge, into modern bibliographic classification systems. Facet analysis is considered a contribution to the classification process since it allows the use of an approach that encompasses different points of view of the same subject, as opposed to the enumerative systems. This article also discusses Ranganathan’s five fundamental categories, known as Personality, Matter, Energy, Space and Time, and points out to criticism of this form of categorization in the literature. The Spiral of Scientific Method and the Spiral Model of Development of subjects are presented; the latter is the meta-model of the former. The Colon Classification, which was first published in 1933, was also discussed. Finally, the applicability of the faceted classification in today’s world was addressed.

Semantic sensing for data innovation

“…The structural foundation of the ontology was the Zachman Framework, an Enterprise Architecture model using fundamental questions to describe complex concepts. The original top level taxonomy categories were based on Ranganathan's faceted classification system that divides subject domains into personality (the most specific subject within a domain), matter, energy, space and time [28], [29]. We propose that verbatim comments shared on social media provide valuable insights into the impact of pruritus on the quality of life for both pets and their owners [30].…”

Critical Review of Technology-Enhanced Learning using Automatic Content Analysis

“…Facet analysis departs from the classification theory originated by Raghnathan [20]. The technique recognizes several aspects of a topic of discussion and summarizes these aspects to appropriately describe the concept.…”