Library classification and archive classification: diferences and similarities in knowledge organization

Abstract

Among the several forms of knowledge organization, classification occupies a prominent position as it consists of one of the oldest ways of organizing knowledge. In Library and Archival Science, classifications have unique features and functions. This article discusses library and archival classifications from the perspective of the knowledge organization provided by these classifications, in order to present and reflect on their similarities and differences. It is an eminently theoretical research that contextualizes such classifications in their historical and conceptual aspects in order to provide a comparative scenario between them. Thus, its main objective is to highlight the differences and similarities between both classifications through a theoretical and comparative methodological approach. The results show that both classifications are similar with regard to the intellectual nature, the theoretical principles on which they are based, the kinds of relationships they support and the representation of concepts. However, they are different with regard to the types of classified knowledge, the aspects of concepts, the generated products and the uses that are made of them. We conclude that, once taken in account the similarities and differences between these types of classifications, they can and should be studied together, united by their classificatory principles.