The organization of knowledge domains and the Ranganathan principles

Abstract

Nowadays one of the most discussed concepts in the field of Information Science is that of Knowledge Organization. As such, forms of representation/organization of different domains of knowledge have a direct impact on processes of information transfer, now closely linked to retrieval in electronic media. But these questions have been discussed by Shialy Ramamrta Ranganathan, within the domain of Classification Theory. In this paper principles of Faceted Classification Theory, as well as fundamentals of organization of domains of knowledge, are presented and discussed. Emphasis is given to the role of Ranganathan as a forerunner of Knowledge Representation in Information Science.