Editing Colon classification (section)

{{Short description|System of library classification}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021|cs1-dates=y}}

'''Colon classification''' ('''CC''') is a [[library catalogue]] system developed by [[Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan]]. It was an early [[Faceted classification|faceted]] (or analytico-synthetic) classification system. The first edition of colon classification was published in 1933,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raghavan|first=K. S|date=December 2015|title=The colon classification: a few considerations on its future|url=http://op.niscair.res.in/index.php/ALIS/article/view/11404/612|journal=Annals of Library and Information Studies|volume=62|pages=231–238}}</ref> followed by six more editions. It is especially used in [[library|libraries]] in [[India]].

Its name originates from its use of [[Colon (punctuation)|colons]] to separate facets into classes. Many other classification schemes, some of which are unrelated, also use colons and other [[punctuation]] to perform various functions. Originally, CC used only the colon as a separator, but since the second edition, CC has used four other punctuation symbols to identify each facet type.

In CC, facets describe "personality" (the most specific subject), matter, energy, space, and time (PMEST). These facets are generally associated with every item in a library, and thus form a reasonably universal sorting system.<ref>GOPINATH (M A). Colon classification: Its theory and practice. Library Herald. 26, 1–2; 1987; 1–3.</ref>

As an example, the subject "research in the cure of tuberculosis of lungs by x-ray conducted in India in 1950" would be categorized as:

{{in5}}{{notatypo|Medicine,Lungs;Tuberculosis:Treatment;X-ray:Research.India'1950}}

This is summarized in a specific call number:

{{in5}}{{notatypo|L,45;421:6;253:f.44'N5}}