Bibliographic Classification - From Mimetic Representation to Isomorphic Documentality

A novel analysis that understands bibliographic classification systems as autonomous documents and not just as information retrieval tools.

Bibliographical classification systems are developed as tools for the retrieval of documents and information in libraries or bibliographical catalogs. Traditionally, they have also served as organizing principles for library shelving. As with most kinds of classification, bibliographic classification systems are products of their time, encoding the beliefs and values of the cultures in which they are created. In
The book advances its argument in three case studies: the Universal Decimal Classification, read as part of progressive social movements in early twentieth-century Belgium; the Swedish SAB-system, developed in the late 1910s, read as a formulation of cultural integrity and nationalist reformulation; and Jewish bibliographic classification practice with specific focus on how to address historical Jewish identity and the Holocaust in Judaica collections.

Product details

• Authors: Joacim Hansson
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 18.11.2025
• EAN: 9780262553490
• ISBN: 978-0-262-55349-0
• No. of pages: 216
• Series: History and Foundations of Information Science
• Subjects: Impact of science & technology on society, Impact of science and technology on society, Library, archive and information management, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Technology Studies, Library, Archive & Information Management, Bibliographic and subject control, Bibliographic & subject control