Broughton’s updated 'Essential Classification'

For Immediate Release
Wed, 08/19/2015

Contact:

Rob Christopher

Marketing Coordinator

ALA Publishing

American Library Association

312-280-5052

rchristopher@ala.org

CHICAGO — Offering fully revised and updated guidance on how to go about classifying a document from scratch, the second edition of “Essential Classification,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, leads the novice classifier step by step through the basics of subject cataloging. With an emphasis on practical document analysis and classification, cataloging authority Vanda Broughton addresses fundamental questions of the purpose of classification in different situations, incorporating changes to the major general schemes (Library of Congress, LCSH, Dewey and UDC) since the first edition. The reader is introduced to the ways in which document content can be assessed and how this can best be expressed for translation into the language of specific indexing and classification systems.  Featuring new chapters on working with informal classification, from folksonomies to tagging and social media, this text covers such key areas as:   

  • the need for classification;
  • the variety of classification;
  • the structure of classification;
  • working with informal classification;
  • management aspects of classification;
  • and classification in digital space.

Broughton is a senior lecturer in the Department of Information Studies at University College London (UCL), UK, and program director for the MA in Library and Information Studies Program. She has taught, written and led training courses on classification for many years. Editor of the Bliss Bibliographic Classification 2nd edition and associate editor of the Universal Decimal Classification, she is also the author of “Essential Library of Congress Subject Headings” and “Essential Thesaurus Construction.”

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. Founded in 1976 by Patricia Glass Schuman and John Vincent Neal, Neal-Schuman Publishers, now an imprint of ALA Publishing, publishes professional books for librarians, archivists, and knowledge managers. Contact us at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5052 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.