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{{short description|System of library classification}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Use American English|date=November 2023}}
The '''Library of Congress Classification''' ('''LCC''') is a system of [[library classification]] developed by the [[Library of Congress]] in the [[United States]], which can be used for shelving books in a library. LCC is mainly used by large research and [[academic libraries]], while most public libraries and small academic libraries used the [[Dewey Decimal Classification]] system.<ref name="DeweyDiscord">{{Cite news |last=Lavallee |first=Andrew |date=July 20, 2007 |title=Discord Over Dewey: A New Library in Arizona Fans a Heated Debate Over What Some Call the 'Googlization' of Libraries |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118340075827155554 |access-date=May 25, 2013 |quote=Some 95% of U.S. public '''libraries''' use Dewey, and nearly all of the others, the OCLC says, use a closely related Library of Congress system.}}</ref> The classification was developed by [[J. C. M. Hanson|James Hanson]] (chief of the [[Cataloging (library science)|Catalog]] Department), with assistance from [[Charles Martel (librarian)|Charles Martel]], in 1897, while they were working at the Library of Congress.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dittmann |first=Helena |url=http://archive.org/details/learnlibraryofco0000ditt |title=Learn Library of Congress classification |date=2000 |publisher=Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8108-3696-9}}</ref> It was designed specifically for the purposes and collection of the Library of Congress to replace the fixed location system developed by [[Thomas Jefferson]].
LCC has been criticized for lacking a sound theoretical basis; many of the classification decisions were driven by the practical needs of that library rather than [[Epistemology|epistemological]] considerations.<ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last=Hickey |first=Doralyn J. |date=1969 |title=Reviewed work: The Use of the Library of Congress Classification: Proceedings of the Institute on the Use of the Library of Congress Classification Sponsored by the American Library Association, Resources and Technical Services Division, Cataloging and Classification Section, New York City, July 7-9, 1966, Richard H. Schimmelpfeng, C. Donald Cook |journal=The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=294–296 |doi=10.1086/619784 |jstor=4306016}}</ref> Although it divides subjects into broad categories, it is essentially [[enumerative]] in nature. That is, it provides a guide to the books actually in one library's collections, not a classification of the world.
== History ==
The central core of the modern Library of Congress was formed from books sold to the government by Thomas Jefferson after the original collection was razed by the British in the [[War of 1812]]. As a result, the original classification system used by the library was of his own invention. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, the collection had grown to over a million volumes and his system was deemed too unwieldy.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Library of Congress Classification |url=https://www.librarianshipstudies.com/2017/11/library-of-congress-classification.html |date=June 23, 2020 |website=Librarianship Studies & Information Technology |access-date=2022-10-03}}</ref>
[[John Russell Young]], the seventh Librarian of Congress, hired James Hanson and Charles Martel in 1897,<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Russell Young (1840-1899) |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/n83202815/john-russell-young-1840-1899/ |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=Library of Congress
In creating their classification system, Hanson and Martel evaluated several systems already in existence, including the [[Dewey Decimal System]], [[Charles Ammi Cutter
From 1996 onwards, the LCC schedules were available online, and since 2013, there have been no new print editions of the classification system. All updates are now distributed by the Library's Cataloging Distribution Service entirely online.<ref name=":3" />
== <span class="anchor" id="Design and Organization"></span>Design and organization ==
LCC divides all knowledge into twenty-one basic classes, exchanges given a single letter of the alphabet as an identifier. The vast majority of these classes are divided further into two and three level sub-classes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Library of Congress Classification |url=https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcc.html |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=
[[File:G&G LCC Call number.png|alt=GB 2403.2 .B44 2010 is described as components based on how such an LCC call number is formed: G being the class, GB being in the subclass, 2403.2 being the topic number, .B44 being the Cutter Number, and 2010 being the publication date.|thumb|The call number for ''Glaciers and Glaciation'' (2nd edt.) by Benn & Evans. This indicates that it belongs to the broad class of "Geography, Anthropology, Recreation," the subclass of "Physical Geography," and the topic of "Ice. Glaciers. Ice sheets. Sea ice." B44 is the Cutter number, after the first author Benn, and 2010 represents the publication year.]]
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|C||[[#Class C – Auxiliary Sciences of History|Auxiliary Sciences of History]]
|-
|D||[[Library of Congress Classification#Class D – World History and History of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc.|World History and History of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc.]]
|-
|E||[[Library of Congress Classification#Class E – History of America|History of America]]
|-
|F||[[Library of Congress Classification#Class F – Local History of the Americas|History of the Americas]]
|-
|G||[[#Class G – Geography, Anthropology, Recreation|Geography, Anthropology, and Recreation]]
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The main difference between DDC and LCC is their approach to classifying. Dewey's system is a comprehensive classification to all topics, with no regard to the actual collections a library might hold. While this has allowed it to be successfully adapted into more modern classification systems for use outside of libraries, such as the [[Universal Decimal Classification]] (UDC),<ref>"A Brief Introduction to the Dewey Decimal Classification". OCLC. Archived from the original on May 3, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.</ref> it does make it more unwieldy for large or specialized collections. On the other hand, Hanson and Martel designed LCC specifically for library use, which means while it does not completely enumerate the world, it does more reflect what books a library might hold.<ref name=":6" />
Because LCC was designed around the collections of the Library of Congress, it has an American, European, and Christian bias, as reflected mainly in the earlier developed schedules of D (World History), E and F (History of the Americas), and B (Philosophy, Psychology, Religion). On the other hand, the later-developed K (Law) gives fairly even weight to global law.<ref name=":0" /> Today, the various schedules are maintained and revised by the Library's Policy and Standards Division, in conjunction with experts in each field. However, updating various schedules with classification biases is generally assumed to be impractical due to the massive workload that would result in,<ref name=":3" /> especially as the "discipline" based classes of LCC have been entrenched in the average library user's mind.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Howard |first1=Sara A. |last2=Knowlton |first2=Steven A. |date=2018 |title=Browsing through Bias: The Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings for African American Studies and LGBTQIA Studies |journal=Library Trends |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=74–88 |doi=10.1353/lib.2018.0026 |s2cid=69496735 |via=Muse|hdl=2142/101937 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
Like all classification systems, LCC struggles with catering to interdisciplinary scholars and topics, as ultimately, a book can only be shelved in a single location.<ref name=":5" /> Additionally, LCC has a problem with "othering" marginalized groups, making works related to or authored by members of these groups particularly difficult to locate.<ref name=":5" /> This is not a new issue, and libraries with more specialized collections about minority groups or issues sometimes eschew LCC,<ref name=":5" /> with one example alternative classification being the [[Harvard–Yenching Classification]], specifically developed for Chinese language materials.
== <span class="anchor" id="Full Classification Outline"></span>Full classification outline ==
[[Image:LibraryOfCongressClassification.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Java programming]] books in the QA subclass.]]▼
===Class A – general works===
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* [[Library of Congress Classification:Class D -- History, General and Old World#DX - History of Gypsies|Subclass DX]] – [[History of the Romani people|Romanies]]
===Class E – History of
{{Main|Library of Congress Classification:Class E -- History of
* Class E does not have any subclasses.
===Class F – Local History of the Americas===
{{Main|Library of Congress Classification:Class F -- Local History of the United States and British, Dutch, French, and Latin America}}
* Class F does not have any subclasses, though Canadian Universities and the Canadian National Library use FC for Canadian History, a subclass that LCC has not officially adopted, but which it has agreed not to use for anything else.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
===Class G – Geography, Anthropology, Recreation===
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* [[Library of Congress Classification:Class N -- Fine Arts#NX - Arts in General|Subclass NX]] – [[The arts|Arts in general]]
===Class P – Language and
{{main|Library of Congress Classification:Class P -- Language and Literature}}
[[File:RyersonUniversityLibrary.JPG|thumb|The PN-subclass shelf.]]
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===Class Q – Science===
▲[[Image:LibraryOfCongressClassification.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Java programming]] books in the QA subclass.]]
{{Main|Library of Congress Classification:Class Q -- Science}}
* [[Library of Congress Classification:Class Q -- Science#Q - Science (General)|Subclass Q]] – [[Outline of science|Science]] (General)
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* [[Library of Congress Classification:Class T -- Technology#TE - Highway engineering. Roads and pavements|Subclass TE]] – [[Highway engineering]]. Roads and pavements
* [[Library of Congress Classification:Class T -- Technology#TF - Railroad engineering and operation|Subclass TF]] – [[Railroad engineering]] and operation
* [[Library of Congress Classification:Class T -- Technology#TG - Bridge engineering|Subclass TG]] – [[Bridge
* [[Library of Congress Classification:Class T -- Technology#TH - Building construction|Subclass TH]] – [[Outline of construction|Building construction]]
* [[Library of Congress Classification:Class T -- Technology#TJ - Mechanical engineering and machinery|Subclass TJ]] – [[Mechanical engineering]] and machinery
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{{Wikisource}}
{{Wikidata property|P1149}}
* "[https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/ Library of Congress classification outline]",
* "[http://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeLCC/freelcc.html
* "[https://www.loc.gov/aba/cataloging/classification/
* "[https://www.loc.gov/cds/ Cataloging Distribution Services]" –
* "[https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html Classification outline]",
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140412225645/http://geography.about.com/library/congress/blhowto.htm How to read LCC call numbers], geography.about.com (via The [[Wayback Machine]])
* [http://www.zackgrossbart.com/hackito/the-library-problem/ How to use LCC to organize a home library], zackgrossbart.com
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{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Library of Congress Classification| ]]
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