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The Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress library classification systems are the two most common systems in the United States and among the most popular world-wide.[1] These systems organize resources like books or other media by concept and assign call numbers that are, in part used to shelve and retrieve materials.[2] The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is used predominantly in public libraries in the United States[3] while the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) is used primarily in academic libraries.[4]
The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) was first published by Melvil Dewey in 1876,[5][6] and included a detailed justification for his use of decimal notation.[7] DDC decimal notation id can be expanded or reduced as needed by libraries.[5] It was designed for medium and small sized collections,[8][9] including those found in public libraries, school libraries, and small academic libraries.[10][11][12] It consists of ten numeric classes that represent broad fields of study.[11][10][3] Using numbers, each class is divided into ten divisions or subclasses.[1][3] During the cataloging process, each item is assigned a three-digit DDC number that represents class, division, and section, followed by a cutter number that identifies the author.[13] For example, the call number 813.54 M37 includes 800 for the main class of literature, 810 for the division of American literature in English, 813 for American fiction in English, and the cutter M37 for the author.[13]
The Library of Congress Classification (LCC) was introduced in 1900, based on the collection of the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world.[5][14] LCC was adopted by other institutions with larger or specialized collections, such as those found in academic libraries and research libraries.[4][5][10][12] In 2019, 81 percent of US academic libraries and 93 percent of Nigeria's academic libraries used the Library of Congress Cataloging system.[15] LCC has 21 main classes, each designated with a letter of the alphabet, excluding I, O, W, X, and Y which are used to accommodate special needs of libraries that use the classification scheme.[2][11][16] Its alpha-numeric call numbers include four parts: class/subclass, topic, cutter number, and publication date.[10][1] For example, HV4708 .R83 2011, where HV stands for social sciences, 4708 is the topic social welfare, .R83 is the cutter number which represents the author, and 2001 is the year of publication.[10]
Both classification systems are used to create a functional topical order of the resources on the library shelves.[6] They vary in their notation: DDC is a numeric classification system, while LCC is an alpha-numeric system.[17][14] LCC was developed specifically for the Library of Congress collection, while DDC was created as a system that could be adapted to a variety of library sizes and specialties.[14] D. Kent Halsted noted, "Neither scheme is perfect nor will every be."[6] As with any classification system, both DDC and LCC include the bias of their creators; in this case, both systems were developed by white, Christian, male academic scholars in late 19th century America.[18]
There are various factors that determine which classification system a library uses.[6] The global library cooperative OCLC notes that "A library should base its decision on close versus broad classification on the size of its collection and the needs of its users."[19] Usually, the size of a library's collection determines whether it selects DDC or LCC.[11] While DDC was designed for medium sized libraries,[20] LCC allows libraries will larger collections to be more specific or precise with classifications.[11][10][6] Thus, DDC is preferred by institutions with collections under 200,000, while LCC is recommended if the collection includes more than 500,000 items.[6][21] In the 1960s and early 1970s, many larger academic libraries changed from Dewey Decimal Classification to Library of Congress Classification.[22][6] After converting the college's library from DCC to LCC in 2021, West Coast Baptist College's director of library services Alyssa Sultanik concluded,
LCC tends to divide resources into smaller subclasses and may be more suitable for larger collections. Several factors can play a part in the success of LCC, such as the practicality of LCC for academic libraries, the ease of use in a specialized collection, and the ability to grow for expanding libraries and the ability to easily add new topics as needed. The collection size, depth of the materials, and intended use of the library collection should be considered when choosing between classification systems...Smaller collections may be more suited for DDC because of the classification's more generalized nature.[16]
Jon Glenn, director of library services, said we … wanted to make our system more equitable and inclusive, which isn't really a question of which system was originally more biased, but rather which system...can be more easily improved upon...Any classification system is rooted in and biased by its creator and the time under which it was created. Glenn added that this applies to DDC and LCC, which were both developed in the United States during the 19th century by academic scholars who were white, male, and Christian.
