Library and Information Science

“Identifying and distinguishin” is a starting point of cataloguing. To be able to identify, one must be in possession of knowledge, what differences may be possible among the matters or subjects. When he succeeds to verify the nonexistence of differences, he can identify the subject and vice versa. It is self-explanatory clear, so far as the subject concerned is fixed and consistent. But what is the case when the subject itself is affected by the changing environment? Let us take an example of identifying of an individual person. One might say “Mr. J. Smith is no more Mr. J. Smith of yesterda”. John Smith can, however, identify himself by a seal (stamp) or sign. But both of them can serve perfectly as means of identifying of individual person. Though as many similar seals can be made as we want, each of them is a little bit different from each other. On the other hand one can sign in many ways, but there are always some identical strokes or touches in them.

The fact, that both of them are available, must be borne in mind when we cope with situation under changing world wisely.

Japan Library Association, Committee of Classification is now revising Nippon Decimal Classification (N.D.C.). The second galley proof of main table was distributed among nine Committee members, and the collecting of candidate terms for index began last Spring.

Committee carried out the task in two steps, first by each subject-field and second by collating with other existing general word-lists, rather mechanically.

After the second step, the total number of indexing terms increased to 27,000 from the 20,000, which is the sum of the terms directly derived from tables and additional terms from the encyclopedia or bibliographies for the special subjects. It is curiously enough, that the increase-rate at the second step shows in nine syllabary-sets almost constant value, over 30%.

Additional candidate terms, which were collected in the second step by the collation of general word-lists (glossaries, subject heading lists, relative indexes to classification) were exceedingly more than that of the first class.

Some problems, such as voiced sounds and long vowels, distinguishing by characters in the case of same pronounciation, are mentioned and clarified but without conclusion.