New System of Classification and Scheme for Numbering Books, Applied to the Mercantile Library of Philadelphia (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from New System of Classification and Scheme for Numbering Books, Applied to the Mercantile Library of Philadelphia The general idea of this system is, First, the division and arrangement of the books, in such principal and subordinate classes, as will make it most easy to determine what works the Library contains, on any topic, and in what part of the collection books on any given subject are to be found; and, Second, the numbering and arranging them on the shelves in such a way that they can be most readily found without consulting a catalogue, or stopping, to ascertain the shelf number. In working out this idea it was found that all the books in any library of a general character, could be gathered into about twenty primary groups or classes, each of which would have a certain completeness, and would embrace a kind of book that was not included in any other class; and also, that the works in each of these several groups or classes, while having certain characteristics in common, yet had peculiarities which furnish ground for the formation of subordinate classes. Some of these primary classes could readily be divided into fifteen or more secondary classes, while others required only six or eight; and it seemed altogether best, to make such an arrangement of classes, and sub-classes, as would be at once recognized as natural and convenient in practical operation. In making this distribution into classes, it was found that about one half of the old divisions in the Library, could be retained as primary classes in the new arrangement, with more or less of transferring of individual books; among these classes are those of History, Biography, Theology, Fine Arts and Medicine. In other cases, two or more of the old classes were found to embrace works that had close affinities with each other, and so they were consolidated to form new primary classes; thus, the old divisions of Poetry and Drama, have been united to form one primary class, under the compound name; and the three former classes, Natural Philosophy, Astronomy and Mathematics, have been united into one, under the name of Mathematics and Physics. The old classes of Commerce and Agriculture has been consolidated with that of Useful Arts; and that of Political Economy has been combined with Sociology and Law. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.