INTRODUCTION

In this unit, we will discuss the universe of knowledge, modes of formation of the

subject, a universe of knowledge structure, the need for classification of library

materials, and the universe of knowledge as mapped in DDC, UDC and LCC

schemes.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

 concept, purpose of information and knowledge organization

 techniques of knowledge organisation

 define the universe of knowledge

 characteristics of universe of knowledge

 list and discuss the structure of subjects

 explain the architecture of subjects.

 discuss universe of knowledge as mapped in DDC, UDC and LCC scheme.

CONCEPT, PURPOSE OF INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE

ORGANISATION

Information is referred to as meaningful messages, ideas recorded in conventional

or non- conventional media processed, stored by systems and service to provide a

more or less permanent memory of the message and their discussions with users

(Knowledge Organisation, Information systems and essay,2006). Also, information

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can be defined as a processed data which is interpreted to convey meaning to the

receiver of such processed data. The concept of data is referred to as ‘raw’ data – a

collection of text, numbers and symbols with no meaning. When data is processed

to provide meaning based on the context. Data on its own has no meaning. It only

takes on meaning and becomes information when it is interpreted (Cambridge

International Examinations. 2015). Qiao (2011), refers to information as the

collection of three attributes: things themselves which included cause or effect

formed in the process of interaction, the attributes of things that someone thinks

and simulates, and the attributes of tools used when one considers, expresses, or

simulates something. Among these types of attributes, stated some are true to the

facts and some are incomplete, while others are not true. Robin in Ortega (2013:

164) defined the concept information in the field of library science “as the

(addition of data, organization or classification with meaning, which in turn

implies some type of processing or comprehension”. According to Qiao (2011:

345) information can be “both material and mental, existing or conscious,

produced or received, true or false, real or fictitious, right or wrong, remembered

or forgotten, known or unknown; it can exist objectively but cannot be perceived

subjectively, or vice versa; and it can be powerful or weak, have tangible or

intangible value, and so on”.

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Knowledge is increased through the combination of information sources (Ortega,

2013). Knowledge is produced as a result of understanding information which was

passed to us and using that information to gain knowledge of how to solve

problems. Knowledge is acquired by a person as in form of information such as

facts, and the understanding of information will help such a person to use the

acquired information

(knowledge) in knowing how to solve problems. Knowledge is divided into two

namely tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is the type of

knowledge which is difficult to pass on to someone else, such as knowing how to

do something that is individual skills. Explicit knowledge is Knowledge, such as

facts that can be easily passed on to others without training. Knowledge is power

and that

knowledge is developed from an understanding of information; information is

realised from attaching or assigning meaning to the interpreted data (Ortega 2013).

The term knowledge organisation emanated from the field of Library and

Information science around 1900. Richardson established the field of Knowledge

organization as an academic field around 1900 (Hjorland, 2008) then followed by

Henry Bliss book titled Organization of knowledge and system of the science”

where he stressed that book classification should be based on knowledge

organisation.

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Knowledge organisation can be defined as the totality of activities of describing

documents, classifying, cataloguing, indexing and arrangement of knowledge

sources such books, audio-visual resources, databases, archival materials and other

information sources. According to Pontes and Lima in Chandly (2016) knowledge

organisation is based on the consideration of different theories and their

foundations. Hjorland (2008) sees knowledge organisation as the description of

documents, contents, features and the arrangements of these descriptions to make

the documents accessible to users seeking them. Knowledge organisation is carried

out by specialists such as subject specialists, librarians and information specialists.

According to Hjorland (2008), the act of organising this knowledge requires

training of information professionals and Librarians in the field of library and

information science programme. These programs or courses are in the areas of

classification,

cataloguing, bibliographic organization, indexing, abstracting, controlled

vocabularies and subject analysis.

Purpose of Knowledge Organisation

Knowledge organization is the system that covers the application of classification

schemes, knowledge maps, subject headings, semantic networks and term listing.

The purposes of these activities of knowledge organization are

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  To guide the users of the information on how to discover and browse and

direct searching through the use of themes on a webpage or search engine

sites.

 To enable organisers of the collection to answer questions concerning the

scope of coverage of their collections.

 To organise information materials for easy access, retrieval and the

management of the collection for easy identification by interested users.

Knowledge mapping is the visual aid use in locating where knowledge is

within an organization or establishment. It directs you on where to find

expertise when you need their knowledge. The knowledge map directs you

to documents as well as to people and databases. Simply put knowledge map

helps you to locate people within an organization who have expert skills in a

given field.

Techniques of Information and Knowledge Organisation

Knowledge organization since the 1950s was based on certain assumptions and the

use of common sense by a subject specialist who applied then Knowledge

organisation. Broughton, Hansson, Hjorland and Lopez-Huets in Hjorland (2008)

suggested that knowledge organisation used to be carried out using the various

approaches or techniques such as

1. Traditional approaches using classification systems (DDC, LCC and UDC).

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2. The facet- analytical approach by S.R.Ranganathan about 1933.

3. The information retrieval traditional (IR) founded in the 1950s.

4. Use of oriented and Cognitive views in the 1970s.

5. Bibliometric approaches (Garfield Science citation index in1963).

6. The domain analytic approach 1994.

Traditional Approaches Using Classification Systems (DDC, LCC and UDC)

The traditional approach is based on human knowledge, assumptions not guided by

laws or theories. The classification systems in place were based on practical

experiences and individual thoughts which were not subjected to any empirical

investigation. These assumptions and thoughts expressed in the classification

schemes were used in the organization of knowledge in several libraries to ensure

centralization of classification and indexing. According to Gaddis (2018)

classification systems used in libraries and database during the traditional

approach,

eras are the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), Library of Congress

Classification (LCC) and Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) this was as far

back as 1876. The traditional approach to knowledge organization is based on

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a) Use of principle of controlled vocabulary. This avoided the use of synonyms and

homonyms as an indexing term to ensure standardized vocabulary.

b) The use of Cutter’s rule which emphasised that most specific, most appropriate

expression vocabulary should be preferred in classification.

c) Application of Hulme’s principle of the literary warrant as to the basis of book

classification. The literary warrant of Hulme states that a class heading is

warranted only when literature in a book is shown to exist and test of the validity

of a heading is the degree

of accuracy with which it describes the area of the subject-matter common to the

class (Hulme, 1911:447). Hulme advocated that thesauri, taxonomies, lists used in

knowledge organization system (KOS) must be terms of a classification system.

d) Knowledge organization should be based on the principle of arrangement from

the general subject to specific subjects.

The Facet- Analytical Approach by S.R. Ranganathan About 1933

The idea of facet-analytical in classification was propounded by S. R. Ranganathan

in 1933 and the British Classification Research Group. The faceted systems do not

list all classes for classification but it provides building block from which specific

class can be formed from an existing document. Ranganathan believes that new

knowledge is formed based on the combination of pre-existing knowledge so new

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knowledge is expected in faceted systems, unlike enumerative systems. This

approach is based on logical principles and not on theories but it has helped in the

organisation of knowledge. This is because it is aimed at breaking down each

subject into basic concepts (analysis). So, it uses relevant units and concepts in

describing the subject matter of any information package. Subjects are analysed

into facets using the proposed formula advocated by Ranganathan which PMEST.

The full meaning of the abbreviation is

P – Personality (characteristic of a subject)

M – Matter (Physical material of which a subject is made off)

E – Energy (Action with regards to the subject)

S – Space (Geographical component of the location of the subject)

T – Time (Period connected to the subject)

The Information Retrieval Traditional (IR) Founded In the 1950s

The information retrieval approach is a technique used to ensure that users find

relevant information from a vast collection. The information retrieval is based on

what to present for the users and the system to be put in place to help users match

their request with the document from a collection. The problem IR solves is to help

users identify relevant documents and the way of recalling the relevant document

from the organised collection.

Use of Oriented and Cognitive Views in the 1970s

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The activities of knowledge organisation should be merely based on satisfying the

information needs of the users. The satisfaction of the user’s information needs

will be effectively achieved from empirical studies of the users. The empirical

studies are carried out through collecting information from users or about users.

Because of this Hyorland (2008), said that “systems based upon user-oriented

approaches must specify how the design of a system is made based on empirical

studies of users”. This implies that in the organisation of knowledge emphasis

should be based on the preferred users' verbal search system no on the

classification notation.

Bibliometric Approaches (Garfield Science Citation Index) in 1963

Knowledge organization using Bibliometric approaches means the use of

bibliographic references in the organisation of a network of papers. These

approaches are used in the development of Bibliometric maps. The Bibliometric

maps are developed from co-citation analysis, bibliographic coupling or direct

citation use for information retrieval.

The Domain Analytic Approach in 1994

The domain analytic approaches advocated that for one to choose a term or

terminology to be used in knowledge organisation such a person must have had

prior understanding of the field. To master a field, you must understand the

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concepts peculiar to that field of study. This approach solves the dilemma

associated with the use of initial guess to generate a sequence of improving

approximate solutions for a class of problem (solves the problems of using iterative

methods) in knowledge organisation.

Concept of Universe of Knowledge

Knowledge refers to information, facts, figures, and skills people acquire through

education and experience. It could also be referred to as the extent to which an

individual understands or comprehend a subject.

Oxford English dictionary defined knowledge as the acquaintance with a branch of

learning, a language, or the theoretical or practical understanding of an art-science

or industry. There are two types of knowledge;

a) Personal Knowledge: These are knowledge created or held by individuals. It is

held by the individual’s mind and they can share this knowledge by interacting

with other people. It is more or less referred to tacit knowledge which is

knowledge held by individuals within an organisation.

b) Social Knowledge: These are knowledge collectively created or produced a

group of people within a community. It is knowledge created by groups such as

family, social group or society and it involves sharing and contributing to

knowledge by people within a community. This knowledge can be available to

people through

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libraries whose responsibility is to organise and preserve knowledge in various

format.

Characteristics of Universe of Knowledge

Characteristics of the Universe of knowledge are the total of past, present and

future knowledge. The universe of knowledge has many characteristics and they

are;

 Knowledge is infinite due to the continuous creation of knowledge from the

past to the present and anticipated future.Therefore, there is a need for time

and space for the expansion and future addition of knowledge.

 A universe of knowledge is in continuum because knowledge creation is

continuous.

 A universe of knowledge is dynamic because new thoughts and ideas are

created continuously by organised research.

 A universe of knowledge is cumulative because knowledge grows regularly

and therefore this knowledge is added to existing or already created

knowledge.

 A universe of knowledge is coherent.

 It is multidimensional.

 It is multidirectional because of the growth in knowledge from different

subject areas and hence the needs for classification of library materials.

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 Knowledge is represented in form of a subject so that it captures the terms,

nature, concepts, components, characteristics, and relationships. This is an

indication that every subject has its structure or architecture. Hence, for you

to be sure of knowing a subject, you must understand the concepts,

components, patterns, relationships, ideas and structure of that subject. At

this point, you may ask what a subject is. What are the modes of formation

of the subject?

Structure of Subjects

The modes of formation of a subject which are fission, fusion, lamination, loose

assemblage, distillation and agglomeration affect the structure of subjects. The

following are the structure of subjects;

1. Dichotomy or Superimposed Subjects

2. Decachotomy

3. Polychotomy

4. Proliferation

Dichotomy or Superimposed Subjects

This is also called Binary Classification or Tree of Porphyry. It is a division of the

subject into two. In dichotomy, the first stage involves two divisions, in the second

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stage, two subdivisions of each division are obtained and the process of division

may be continued. These subjects consist of two or more simple subjects from

subdivisions of the same main subject. Example

Decachotomy

This refers to a division into ten. Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is an

example of dichotomy because it divided the whole universe of knowledge into 10

main classes of which the tenth class was devoted to general document not

belonging to any of the main classes.

Polychotomy

This means the division into many parts, branches or classes. In polychotomy, the

number of divisions is 24. However, due to the increase rate of the universe of a

subject, 24 divisions were found to be too restrictive. Hence, the number of

divisions to be incorporated at each stage was not fixed. For example, main class

Literature is divided into two forms namely by form (Poetry, Fiction and Drama)

and Language

(French, English etc.) each are further divided into subdivisions. Literature

(Language)

English French

Proliferation

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The universe of the subject can be proliferated or spread in different ways. For

example, a complex subject may be formed by attaching some other basic subject

as a phase and a compound subject may be formed by attaching one or more isolate

ideas to the basic subject and through these various ways, the isolate ideas can be

proliferated. An example is the phase relationship is the interaction of one main

class with another “Influence of Islam on English Literature”. These represents

two main classes “Religion and Literature.

The universe of knowledge and its structure are important to librarians or

information professionals because without understanding these concepts, it will be

difficult to organise and arrange information materials for easy access and retrieval

by users. Therefore, at this point, you may ask the need for classification of

information materials.

Architecture of Subject

There is a lot of relation and inter-relations that exist between subjects and their

components in the subject building. Subject according to Ranganathan (1967, p.

82), “is an organised or systematic body of ideas whose extension and intention are

likely to fall coherently within the field of interest and comfortably within the

intellectual competence and field of inevitable specialization of a normal person”.

Ranganathan also explained that architecture or building of a subject can be basic,

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compound or complex. Subject contains ideas such as basic ideas, isolate ideas,

and speciator ideas.

1. Isolate Idea: This is an idea that is not enough to form or be a subject by it but

rather isolate form components of a subject.

2. Basic Subject Idea: This is a subject without any isolate idea as a component.

For example, the basic subject includes Biology, Physics, Philosophy,

Mathematics, within the main class of sciences etc.

3. Speciator Idea: It is called a modifier because when combined with a basic

subject idea, or an isolated idea, it produces a change in their meanings. It can also

be called a derived subject example is Geophysics derived from geology and

physics.

4. Compound Subject: This is a combination of a basic subject idea with one or

more speciator ideas. Examples of a compound subject are, Fundamental of

Mathematics, Psychology of teachers, forms of chemical combination etc.

5. Complex Subject: This is a subject that contains two or more basic subjects. It

can also be said to contain mostly interdisciplinary relations of a subject. Examples

of complex subjects are; Physics and Chemistry, Philosophy and Religion etc.

6. Macro subject: This is a subject of great extension and small intentions usually

embodied in a whole book single volume or multi-volume.

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7. Micro subject: A subject of small extension and great intentions usually

embodied in an article in periodical or part of a book.

Universe of Knowledge as Mapped in DDC, UDC and LCC Scheme

We will discuss how the universe of knowledge is mapped or represented in some

general library classification systems such as

1. Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)

2. Universal Decimal Classification (UDC)

3. Library of Congress Classification (LCC).

Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)

This is a classification scheme whose structure is based on the Baconian system of

classification. It is a hierarchical scheme that starts from the general to specific. In

DDC, the whole universe of knowledge is divided into 10 main classes in the first

summary. These10 main classes are further divided into a hundred divisions in the

second summary of DDC.A hundred divisions are further divided into thousand

sections found in the third DDC summary. The main classes represent disciplines

which are divided into subdivisions and further divided into various subjects. It

is a scheme that uses pure notation. It uses only numbers in its notation.

Universal Decimal Classification (UDC)

This classification scheme is based on the structure of DDC which is made up of

10 main classes from 0-9 with class 4 which was formerly Linguistics merged with

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class 8. It was vacant to accommodate future subject. It is an analytico-synthetic

scheme that contains auxiliary tables, notational system and symbols. The UDC

scheme uses mixed notation which consists of numbers and alphabetical letters.

The UDC schedules contain various disciplines and branches of knowledge are

properly

arranged in the main classes.

Library of Congress Classification (LCC)

This is an enumerative classification scheme whose structure is based on Cutter’s

Expansive Classification system in broad divisions. It is a classification that was

based on a literary warrant. LC classification is an enumerative scheme that uses

21 letters of the 26 letters of alphabets to represent classes and subject areas. I, O,

W, X and Y letters are not yet in use but are kept to accommodate future subjects’

additions. Capital letters are used to denote main or broad classes, while

subdivisions use two capital letters. Further subdivisions or subtopics are denoted

by decimals for expansion while cutter numbers are used for author, title, subject,

and country. Hence, the LC scheme uses mixed notation because it uses both

letters and numbers. The LC scheme has no general index. Each schedule has its

index and it’s relative to the concerned class. A single letter to form the main class,

two letters forms the

subclass and the numbers like 1-999 to form a subject.

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CONCLUSION

The universe of knowledge is indeed the totality of knowledge from the past,

present and anticipated future. Knowledge is created or generated regularly; new

knowledge is added to existing ones. This knowledge must be organised in form of

a subject. Hence, there is need for classification of knowledge in an orderly

manner. This technique helps information professionals or librarians to adopt a

scheme that will

enable the arrangement of information resources according to their subject areas

for easy accessibility and retrieval by users.

SUMMARY

We have discussed what universe of knowledge is and its characteristics. In the

process of discussing the universe of knowledge, we defined knowledge as

information, facts, figures, and skills people acquire through education and

experience. A universe of knowledge is the total of past, present and future

knowledge. A universe of knowledge has many characteristics and they are,

infinite, continuum, continuous, multidirectional, multidimensional and dynamic.

We also discussed the modes of formation of the subject; in the process of

discussing modes of formation of the subject, we discuss what subject is, types of

the subject include basic, compound and complex subject. Types of modes of

formation of the subject include loose assemblage, lamination, fission, fusion,

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distillation, agglomeration and cluster. The modes of formation of the subject also

affect the structure of subjects. The following are the structure of subjects,

dichotomy, dichotomy, polychotomy and proliferation. The need for classification

was discussed and how the universe of knowledge is represented in UDC, DDC

and LCC schemes.

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