This third edition of an established book on a fundamental aspect of information management has been published to take into account more recent developments such as the internet. The book introduces the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) 22 when DDC 23 has since been released, which is an indicator that this type of book will always be playing catch up.
The book claims to be: “an attempt to simplify initial study of classification as used for knowledge organisation and information retrieval” and also a “gateway” to more advanced material on subject. It does indeed fulfil its claims with a progressive text that has numerous examples and a wide approach to the subject. By undertaking a broad approach to classification, the book can be a little repetitive at times due mainly to the wealth of examples. The book is concise in its coverage of the subject and benefits from good references at the end of each chapter, the inclusion of a bibliography and an index. The index is enhanced by the italicisation of classification schemes and also thesauri. The inclusion of information on references and footnotes also improves the usefulness of the index. The well thought out index makes it easier for the reader to follow up on their researches and on leads to more detailed explorations of classification. To enhance the book's readability and help those with a more graphic learning mode, the book might benefit from updated formatting of the text and graphics and the inclusion of colour; it now seems a little dated.
The appeal of the book to a wider audience than solely library classification specialists is enhanced by the inclusion of examples and references from other areas, for example, e‐commerce, industry and business. Catering to an audience wider than only library personnel is a positive move, since we live in an increasingly information rich world, but not necessarily one in which the information we want is easy to find.
The first part of the book (from introduction to Chapter 2) sets out the fundamentals of what classification is and touches on the concepts of hierarchical and faceted classification. Chapters 3‐8 explain hierarchical and faceted classification in more detail and also give a number of examples from each of these approaches. Features of classification, such as notation and citation order, are explained in Chapters 9‐11. Numerous examples are used in these chapters to help clarify ideas and concepts in the text. Chapter 12 details the relationship between thesauri and classification, again providing a number of examples. Chapters 13 and 14 cover the use of classification as a search tool and discuss classification and the internet, respectively. The final chapter (15) details a number of conclusions, for example, that no one scheme will be suitable for all purposes and the design of a scheme is governed by factors such as type of information system, objectives of system and user requirements. Overall the book is ordered in a logical and methodical manner with successive chapters building on the ideas from previous chapters.
The new developments that led to the publication of this new edition include the use of classification in relation to the internet, which has now become so ubiquitous. Relevant material covered by this includes classification in web search and directory browse for Google and Yahoo. The Web 2.0 sub‐section is relatively short, considering how Web 2.0 content has exploded recently and contains mainly questions and opinions. This may be another example of the book always playing catch‐up, but it also illustrates this is an area that now poses great difficulties and debate. This is particularly true of the classification of the user generated content now flooding onto the internet.
Overall this is an excellent book for the initial study of the art and science of classification and as a springboard to more advanced in‐depth materials/texts on classification. The broad approach might not appeal to everyone, particularly if you are only interested in book classification. However, it would be wise for anyone with an interest in the management of information to pick up this text.
