A Library Primer eBook

John Cotton Dana
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 142 pages of information about A Library Primer.

A Library Primer eBook

John Cotton Dana
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 142 pages of information about A Library Primer.
merely with the main classes, but in every subdivision, no matter how minute, which is worth dividing by countries.  Whenever one wishes to separate what relates to England from other works on any subject one has only to add the two figures 45.  Whenever one sees 45 in the mark of a book one knows that the book so marked treats its subject with special reference to England.  This “local list” by the figures from 11 to 99 gives marks to the 88 most important countries.  The addition of a third and sometimes of a fourth figure gives marks for all the independent countries in the world.  Parts of and places in countries are arranged alphabetically under each, and are marked either by the usual Cutter order-table, which has initial letters followed by figures, or by a special Cutter order-table composed of figures alone.

Non-local subjects are marked with letters, first, to distinguish them from local subjects; and, second, because of the greater capacity.  There are 26 main classes, A to Z. By adding a second letter these are divided into 676 parts, and these, by adding a third letter, into 17,576 parts, making 18,278 in all, so that as one uses successively three, four, or five characters, one gets respectively 18 times, 46 times, and 118 times the capacity of a decimal notation.  The result is, short marks, numerous subdivisions, much greater elasticity, much greater power to properly express the relations of subjects to one another, and their relations to subordinate subjects, and much more opportunity of making the different portions of the classification correspond to each other.

The first part of the classification, as published, contains the first six classifications and a combined index to them all.  The seventh, the fullest classification, will have 10 sections.  Five of them are published, each with its own index.  Of two (Social sciences and Language and literature) about half is published.  When these and the other three (Natural sciences, Industrial arts, Recreative and fine arts) are printed, a full index to the whole will be made.

Expansive classification.  Outline

A Generalia. 
A General works. 
Ae General encyclopedias. 
Ap General periodicals. 
Ar Reference works. 
As General societies.

B-D Spiritual sciences. 
B Philosophy. 
Ba-Bf National Philosophies and Systems of philosophy. 
Bg Metaphysics. 
Bh Logic. 
Bi Psychology. 
Bm Moral Philosophy. 
Br Religion, Natural theology. 
Bt Religions
Bu Folk-lore. 
Ca Judaism. 
Cb Bible. 
Cc Christianity. 
Cce Patristics. 
Ce Apologetics, Evidences. 
Cf Doctrinal theology. 
Ck Ethical theology. 
Cp Ritual theology and church Polity. 
Cx Pastoral theology. 
Cz Sermons. 
D Ecclesiastical history. 
Dk Particular churches and sects.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
A Library Primer from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.