Presented by,

Ms. Sarika Meher

Library trainee, BPCL NITR
Introduction:
S.R. Ranganathan, the author of CC, was well aware that a scheme of
classification should be able to meet the challenge of ever growing
universe of knowledge and it should be able to accommodate, at an
appropriate place, any new subject without disturbing the arrays
already formed.
Genesis:
• Dr. S. R. Ranganathan become the Librarian of Madras University
and soon deputed and got a chance to visit Britain to experience
Library Practices in the year 1924.
• Realization and Findings of the limitation in existing Library
Classification Schemes.
• Evolution of the Idea of Colon Classification(CC)
• Making the Idea of CC into Invention.
Genealogy of Colon Classification
• Rigidly-Faceted Classification - that is,
Edition Year Classification with the Pre-determined Facets
1 1933 • Freely Faceted Classification - that is,
Analytico-Synthetic Classification guided by
Rigidly Faceted 2 1938 Postulates and Principles.
3 1950
4 1952
5 1957
6 1960
Freely Faceted
6(Revised) 1963

7 1987
Edition 1: It has three Distinct part:
127 pages of rules explaining the underlying principles
135 pages of schedules and
106 pages Of index.

Edition 2: Added a Part 4 which contained about 3000 examples , which were illustrative of the rules given in 1st part.
A new main class 8 Spiritual experience and Mysticism came into exist.
Edition 3: Different kinds of phase relation each with specific connecting symbol were introduced.

Edition 4: The five fundamental categories along with the separate connecting symbols were used for
facet analysis.

Edition 5: A new schedules giving details for phase and Inter-facet relation was given as Chapter-7.
Empty and emptying digits were introduced.

Edition 6: A main class NZ Language and Literature was introduced.

Greek letters representing some main classes were replaced by Roman Capitals.

Edition 7: The present volume CC7 is comprised of 5 Parts

Part. A Introduction
Part. B Guidance to the Beginner
Part. C General Rules
Part. D General Division and Common Isolate
Part E Special Isolate
 Mapping of (US) in CC
Structure of Colon Classification

Broad format: z,1,2,3,4 and 8 are in the base of the triangle.

Ascension phase:
• The MS falling between B and M are known as Natural
sciences
• The MS (D, F, J) are applied sciences. So, It has been placed
near to Natural Sci.
• The M holds all the residual applied sciences.
The Peak: ∆ (spiritual experience and mysticism)It’s the climax
point where ascending and descending phases meet.

Descension Phase: The MS (N to Z) have been arranged

according to decreasing naturalness and increasing artificiality.
Basic Principles in CC
“The CC, like- other schemes of classification, starts with a set of
main classes which form the first order array, of classes. Each main
class is divided into facets. All facets are regarded as manifestations
of five fundamental categories.”

• Postulates of Basic Facet

• Planes of Work
• Rounds and Levels
• Postulates of Facet Sequence
Main classes: The main class in CC are like disciplines in DDC and theoretical subjects in UDC. They are the traditional
subjects, like mathematics, physics, history, political science and so on.

Array: “A systematic arrangement of numbers or symbols in an orderly manner”. The numbers, in a classification refer
to a division of a subject on the basis of a single characteristics.

Example: In Medicine, the organs of the human body form the array of organs.

Facet: A facet is a characteristics by which a class is divided/grouped. Each main class is divided into facets to signify the
whole series of arrays based on, a set of related characteristics of division.

Example: In main class Literature, all enumerated languages are the language facet of that class. And all literary forms
(poetry, drama, fiction, etc.) constitute another facet.
BPCL
universe
mainclass

Permanent Temporary
staff staff

DL AL TA LA Trainee Workers guards

Fundamental categories (FC) :
There are 5 FC, Personality [P], Matter [M], Energy [E], Space [S], and Time[T], PMEST for short.
According to Ranganathan, in any given subject, there may be a maximum of 5 FC. There can be less, but in no case
more than five. They also come in order of PMEST a/c to their decreasing concreteness.

Again each FC is represented by a distinct symbol and connecting symbol representing it. These are:

Fundamental Category Symbol Connecting Symbol

Personality [P] , (Comma)

Matter [M] ; (Semi colon)

Energy [E] : (Colon)

Space [S] . (dot)

Time [t] ‘ (inverted comma)

Time and Space:
A century, a decade, a year, a month, a day, an hour Indicators of time

Continent, country, city, village, etc. Indicators of space

Example1: Economics conditions of India in the 19th century

Example2: Economic condition during the reign of Akbar ( here FC time is concealed, but identifiable).

Energy: Energy refers to some type of Action.

Examples:
In MS Medicine- diagnosis or treatment falls under energy facet. Similarly,

In MS Agriculture- ploughing

In MS Education- Teaching is energy.

Matter: With a major change in the 7th ed., Matter is distinguished as Matter property [MP], Matter material
[MMt], Matter Method [MM]. Matter property almost replaced the FC Energy.

In MS Library sci.- In MS Fine arts, under

classification,
cataloguing and In MS
Education-thinking,
reasoning etc. are
treated as
manifestation of [MP]
the class drawing, ink
In MS Technology,
Product, and in MS drawing, cartoon
drawing are considered
Biology substance are
manifestation of [MMt] as manifestation of
[MM]

Personality: Recognize Personality by the method of residue, i.e., when it can not be any other FC, it is
assigned to personality. Apart from this, its possible to identify a core concept in compound subject, such as-
‘Human Body’ in Medicine.
 Basic Principles in CC

1. Postulates of Basic Facet:

Once we determine the different Fundamental Categories, they are to be attached to a Basic class in the order of P M
E S T. A basic Facet in the traditional meaning stands for Main classes or Basic class existed in CC. originally there
were 30 Main classes, which rose to 47 in the 6th edition.
Examples: Philosophy, psychology, chemistry, literature, history, etc..
2. Planes of Work:
 Basic Principles in CC

3.Round and Levels

The FC (P M E) may manifest themselves more than one in a subject in different round and levels.

ROUND: [1P] Round 1 personality [2P] Round 2 personality

[1M] Round 1 Matter [2M] Round 1 Matter
[1E] End Round 1 [2E] End Round 2

LEVELS: [1P1] Round 1 level 1 personality facet [1M1] Round 1 level 1 matter facet
[1P2] Round 1 level 2 personality facet [1M2] Round 1 level 2 matter facet
[2P1] Round 2 level 1 personality facet [2M1] Round 2 level 1 matter facet

 [S] and [T] manifest only in the last round but, may be in different levels of a subject:

[S1] Level 1 space facet [T1] Level 1 Time facet

[S2] Level 2 space facet [T2] Level 1 Time facet
Example: Hamlet by Shakespeare

Isolates are Literature English Drama Shakespeare Hamlet

(Basic facet) [P1] [P2] [P3] [P4]
(Literature) O 111 2 J64 1

Now the Sequence is: Basic facet [1P1] [1P2] [1P3] [1P4]

1st round 1 level

1st round 2nd level

1st round 3rd level

Number is : O1112J641
 Basic Principles in CC

4.Postulates of Facet Sequence

4.1 Postulate of First Facet

In any Compound subject, the first facet should be the Basic facet. Means, there should be a Basic class
or Main class even if it is not stated explicitly in the title of the document.

Example: If we take Treatment of cancer as our subject, the Basic facet is not stated. But by implication,
the facet in this case is Medicine
4.2 Postulate of Concreteness

The five fundamental Categories appears in the sequence of P M E S T Only.

For Example: Prevention of Fungus Diseases in Oranges in Nagpur.

(Basic Facet) [P] [M] [E] [S] [T]

Agriculture Orange Fungus Disease Prevention Nagpur

4.3 Postulate of Facet Sequence Within a Round

In a Compound Subject, if any P, M and E occur in any round, they should be

arranged in the order of P, M, E.

For Example: Preparation of soil for growing grapes

(Basic Facet) [P] [M] [E]

Agriculture Grapes Soil Preparation

And the sequence of the facets will be: Agriculture (BF), Grapes [P], Soil [M], and Preparation [E].
4.4 Postulate of Facet Sequence Within the last Round
The 4th postulate states that in the last round of facets of a compound subject, in
which each of the Fundamental categories other than Energy may occur, and
occur only once, the sequence of facets should be P, M, S, T.

For Example: A Study of Emotions of adults in 20th century, USA

(Basic Facet) [P] [M] [S] [T]

Psychology Adults Emotions USA 20th Century

In this, there is no manifestation of energy. Hence, the sequence should be:

Psychology (BF), Adults [P], Emotions [M], USA [S], 20th Century [T].
4.5 Postulate of level cluster:

It states that different levels of the same fundamental category within a round should be
kept together.

Example: Succession rights of minors in Hindu law

Law(BF) Hindu Law[1P1] Minor[1P2] succession [1P3]

Notation used in CC
1. Mixed Notation- Indicator Digits: It consists of
1.1) Indo-Arabic numerals, 1-9
1.2) Roman alphabet -both capitals and lower case, A to Z and a to z.
1.3) Parentheses ( }
1.4) Indicator digits
2. Empty Digit: To increase the capacity of an array, CC has introduced what is called an Empty digit.
It has no semantic value, but it retains the ordinal value.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (empty digit)

91, 92, 93 . . . . . .98

991, 992, 993 . . . . .998 and so on.

a b c d e f g h......z

A B C D E...... T U V X Z
 The Indicator digits used in the 7th ed. Of CC

Digit/Symbol Name of the indicator digit Role of the indicator digit

* Asterisk indicates agglomeration and Interpolation
← Backward arrow indicates backward range
" Double inverted comma indicates common isolates
& Ampersand indicates phase relation
‘ Single inverted comma indicates time facet
. Dot indicates space facet
: Colon indicates energy facet
; Semi-colon indicates matter facet
, Comma indicates personality facet
- Hyphen indicates spectator of kind 1
= Equal sign indicates speciator of kind 2
+ Plus sign and, addition
→ Forward arrow indicates forward range
Devices
The purpose of a device is to form a new isolate or to sharpen an existing isolate in an array. This method has
considerably reduced the size of the scheme.

The 4 major devices used in CC are:

1) Chronological device
2) Geographical device
3) Subject device
4) Alphabetical device
1) Chronological device

Mechanism: employing a chronological number from schedule of time isolates

 All numbers of authors in (MS) Literature derived through this device.
Example: The number for Rabindranath Tagore is O, 157, 1M61’

1861( Yr. of birth)

Used in Library science, mathematics, medicine, fine arts, psychology, education,

economics, etc.
2) Geographical device

Mechanism: employing a geographical number from schedule of

space isolates
Example: The formation of an isolate using this device is as follows:
152= d4437 means Rajasthani Hindi, where
152 is Hindi
= is the connecting symbol
d is the symbol for dialect
4437 is Rajasthan from the schedule of space isolates

 Used in Library science, fine arts, religion, linguistics, history and

several other classes.
3) Subject device
Mechanism: To form a facet by adding to it (facet) another class
number elsewhere in the scheme.
 Part of the No. derived by the subject device should be enclosed in
parenthesis i.e., ().
Example1: Medical college library is 2, J3 (L)
where, 2, J3 is ‘college libraries’ from MS Library sci.
& L is added from MS Medicine
Example2: Hindu law is Z, (Q,2)
where, Z is Law and (Q,2) is Hindu religion from
MS Q Religion
4) Alphabetical device
Mechanism: Taking the 1st or the 1st two or three letters of the
names of persons, or objects, or products widely accepted as such.
Examples:
O, 157, 3M61, G Gora, a novel by Rabindranath Tagore

D93CM Maruti motor car. D93C is for motor cars and

M stands for Maruti.
Phase Relations
S1 interact with S2
or Interdisciplinary subject
S1 interact with S2 or more

A phase relation may occur between 2 or more main classes; within 1 and the same
facet of a main class; or within one and the same array isolates.

inter-subject intra-facet intra-array

Phase relation Phase relation Phase relation
Besides, there are 6 kinds of phase relations indicated in CC. Connecting symbols composed of ‘&’ and a relation
indicator as shown in the below table:
Kind of phase relation Inter-subject Intra-facet Intra-array
General a j t
Bias b k u
Comparison c m v
Difference d n w
Tool e p x
Influencing g

Examples to show the diff. kinds of phase relation:

 A general study of special and university libraries- type: intra-facet, Kind: general, No. 2,14&jK
 Psychology for teachers- Type: inter-subject, Kind: Bias, No. S&bT
 Comparison of Jainism and Buddhism- Type: intra-facet, Kind” comparison, No. 61,3&m4
 Difference between UG and PG education- Type: intra-array, Kind: difference, No. T, 181&w2
 Statistical analysis in library management- Type: inter-subject, Kind: Tool, No. 2:8&eBT
 Influence of music on literature- Type: inter-subject, Kind: influencing, No. O&gNR
Merits and demerits of colon classification

Merits:
i) provision of a helpful order in each class

ii) facility in locating a given topic whether it is

simple, compound or complex.

Demerits:
i. There exists no machinery to keep up the revision
work as in the case of DDC and UDC.

ii. The guidance provided in the recently published

7th ed. is not enough and lacks clarity at places.
Practical work in CC
Transplanting rice seedlings in India in the monsoon
Agriculture - J(main class BS/BF)
Rice - Plant [1PI] - 381
Seedling - Organ [IP2] - 91
Transplanting - Action or energy [E] - D William Shakespeare : Merchant of Venice
India - Space [S] - 44 Literature - O(BS/BF)
Monsoon - Time [T] - v Language - English'[IP1] - III (from the language schedule)
The number is, therefore J,381,91:D.44 `v Form - Drama [1P2] - 2
Author - Shakespeare, 1564 [1P3] - J64
(chronological device)
Treatment for headaches Work - Merchant of Venice [1P4] - M+V
Medicine - L(BS/BF0 (alphabetical device)
Head - Organ[1P1] The final number is, therefore 0,111,2J64, M+V 67
Disease - Property[MP]-4
Ache - Pain(part of the disease)-17
Treatment - Action[E]-6
Hence, the final 'number is L,18; 417:6
References
1. Rout , R . K ., & Satpathy , S . K . (1997). Library Classification. Bhubneswar,
Orissa :Knowledge Industry.

2. Fundamental Categories , Arrays and Chains . IGNOU Material . (pp. 18 – 55 ).

3. Universe of Subjects . (pp. 37 86 ).

4. Colon Classification CC . IGNOU Material. (pp. 55 69 ).

5. Different Versions of Colon Classification. IGNOU Material . (pp. 70 – 78 ).

6. https://images.google.com/