The Universal Decimal Classification: Some factors concerning its origins, development, and influence

I. C. McIlwaine

Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 1997, vol. 48, issue 4, 331-339

Abstract: The bibliographic enterprise envisaged by Otlet and La‐Fontaine, which resulted in the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) being developed in 1895, and the subsequent history of the scheme is outlined. Relationship with Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) from which it was derived deteriorated in the early 20th century and changes in funding, location, and editorship of Duyvis from 1929–1959 had a profound effect on the scheme's development and management. Lloyd, Duyvis's successor, reformed the revision structure, and further management changes from 1975 to the present day, culminated in the formation of the UDC Consortium in 1992. The subsequent creation of a machine‐readable Master Reference File and speedier revision procedures are noted. The scheme's structure, development, and influence on classification theory are examined, problems caused by longevity and lack of standard procedures, and proposals for their reform to improve the scheme's suitability for an automated world are highlighted. Research projects in the 1960s foreshadowed possibilities today being explored, such as a complementary thesaurus and individualization of single concepts notationally. The value of classification in a multilingual environment is emphasized and future developments outlined. A list of recent editions is appended. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Date: 1997
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199704)48:43.0.CO;2-X

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jamest:v:48:y:1997:i:4:p:331-339

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1097-4571

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of the American Society for Information Science from Association for Information Science & Technology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().