Library of Congress Classification: Difference between revisions

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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 [[Thomas Jefferson|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.