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Reference.org
Library of Congress Classification
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<p> The Library of Congress Classification (LCC) is a system of <a href="/facts/Library_classification/7saMUXAH">library classification</a> developed by the <a href="/facts/Library_of_Congress/TfB6dEN5">Library of Congress</a> in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>, which can be used for shelving books in a library. LCC is mainly used by large research and <a href="/facts/Academic_libraries/mLngfDaN">academic libraries</a>, while most public libraries and small academic libraries use the <a href="/facts/Dewey_Decimal_Classification/BsT2QEP2">Dewey Decimal Classification</a> system. The classification was developed by <a href="/facts/J._C._M._Hanson/FKEo8Dg8">James Hanson</a> (chief of the <a href="/facts/Cataloging_(library_science)/YMKrnNoU">Catalog</a> Department), with assistance from <a href="/facts/Charles_Martel_(librarian)/kSNwnQDt">Charles Martel</a>, in 1897, while they were working at the Library of Congress. It was designed specifically for the purposes and collection of the Library of Congress, to replace the fixed location system developed by <a href="/facts/Thomas_Jefferson/8yxtcjKK">Thomas Jefferson</a>. </p><p>LCC has been criticized for lacking a sound theoretical basis; many of the classification decisions were driven by the practical needs of that library rather than <a href="/facts/Epistemology/NsDwpcYH">epistemological</a> considerations. Although it divides subjects into broad categories, it is essentially <a href="/facts/Library_classification/7saMUXAH">enumerative</a> in nature. That is, it provides a guide to the books actually in one library's collections, not a classification of the world. </p>