SOCIOLOGY SCHEDULE IN THE DDC - FILIATORY STRUCTURE, TERMINOLOGY, CATEGORIZATION AND CONCEPT REPRESENTATION

Attention is drawn to the inadequacies of the existing classification schemes as pointed out by individuals and groups concerned with classi fication research. The article is based on an earlier study by the aut hor, which identified and arranged in a filiatory way the main concept s of sociology and determined their relative significance as headings in a classification scheme The sociology schedule in the Dewey Decimal Classification was examined on the basis of nine evaluation criteria, as e.g. arrangement of major categories, provision for main concepts, use of phrased headings instead of individual key terms, and scatteri ng of related concepts in the schedule. It was found that a large numb er of the main concepts of sociology are either not represented in the schedule or mentioned in the scope note only along with the main head ings. A table shows one hundred main concepts of sociology arranged an d classified within ten major categories or sections, and their provis ion in the DDC. The study suggests that the DDC needs serious reconsid eration with regard to the main headings/categories provided as class headings, terminology used for the concepts, the filiatory structure a dopted, and the representation of the main concepts of sociology.