The Classification and Indexing of Imaginative Literature

Rune Eriksson

The Classification and Indexing of Imaginative Literature

Rune Eriksson

Department of Communication

Abstract

With the indexing of imaginative literature included in an expanding number of bibliographic databases, the overall representation of this kind of literature has definitely been improved. Still, in terms of information retrieval and being able to judge the relevance of the titles, it seems that the usefulness of classification and indexing alike are still being restricted by some old romantic and objectivistic, or even positivistic, ideas and ideals. In order to argue that point the paper firstly re-examines the classification of imaginative literature in early editions of the Dewey Decimal Classification, then analyzes the main structures in the modern classification and indexing in the Library of Congress and in the Danish Bibliographic Centre. It is concluded that the classification of imaginative literature not has changed very much since the days of Dewey and that the indexing largely reflects only the most obvious aspects of the books. Finally, it is proposed that the inclusion of a note in the representation might be able to incorporate significant aspects of the works that neither the classification nor the indexing are designed to handle.

Translated title of the contribution	Klassifikation og indeksering af skønlitteratur
Original language	English
Publication date	2005
Number of pages	13
Publication status	Published - 2005

Cite this

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