Cutter Expansive Classification: Difference between revisions

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The '''Cutter Expansive Classification''' system is a [[library classification]] system devised by [[Charles Ammi Cutter]]. It uses all letters rather than digits (such as [[Dewey Decimal Classification]]) or a mixture of digits (such as [[Library of Congress classification]]), and was the basis for the top categories of the [[Library of Congress classification]].

"No one, perhaps, can remember it all; it cannot be learned, even in part, very quickly; but those who use the library much will find that they become familiar in time unconsciously with all that they have much occasion to use."

even in part, very quickly; but those who use the library

much will find that they become familiar in time unconsciously

with all that they have much occasion to use."

from “How to Get Books” by C.A. Cutter, 1882

==History of the Cutter classification==

Charles Ammi Cutter (1837-–1903), inspired by the decimal classification of his contemporary [[Melvil Dewey]], originally developed his own classification scheme for the collections of the [[Boston Athenaeum]], which he served as librarian for two dozen years. He began work on it about 1880 and published the first schedules in the early 1890s. His five volume catalogue of the Athenaeum collection is a classic in bibliographic history.

The Cutter classification, although adopted by comparatively few libraries, mostly in [[New England]], has been called one of the most logical and scholarly of American classifications. Its outline served as a basis for the Library of Congress classification, which also took over some of its features. It did not catch on as did Dewey's system because Cutter died before it was completely finished, making no provision for the kind of development necessary as the bounds of knowledge expanded and scholarly emphases changed throughout the 20th century.

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* B-D Philosophy, Psychology, Religion

* E, F, G Biography, History, Geography and travels

* H-–J, K Social sciences, Law

* L-–T Science and technology

* U-–VS Military, Sports, Recreation

* VT, VV, W Theatre, Music, Fine arts

* X Philology (expanded by language)

* Y Literature (expanded by language, and in English form--—e.g., YY is English and American literature, YYP is poetry in English)

* Z Book arts, Bibliography

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On the third line a capital Y indicates a work about the author or book represented by the first two lines, and a capital E (for English--other letters are used for other languages) indicates a translation into English. If both criticism and translation apply to a single title, the number expands into four lines.

==BibliographyReferences==

* Bliss, Henry Evelyn. ''The Organization of Knowledge in Libraries: and the Subject-Approach to Books. '', 2nd ed. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1939.

* Cutter, Charles A. ''Rules for a Dictionary Catalog''. W. P. Cutter, ed. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904. London: The Library Association, 1962.

* Bliss, Henry Evelyn. The Organization of Knowledge in Libraries: and the Subject-Approach to Books. 2nd ed. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1939.

*Cutter, William Parker. ''Charles Ammi Cutter''. Chicago: American Library Association, 1931. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1969.

*Foster, William E. "Charles Ammi Cutter: A Memorial Sketch". ''Library Journal'' 28 (1903): 697-704.

*Hufford, Jon R. "The Pragmatic Basis of Catalog Codes: Has the User Been Ignored?". ''Cataloging and Classification Quarterly'' 14 (1991): 27-38.

*Immroth, John Philip. "Cutter, Charles Ammi". ''Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. Ed''. Allen Kent and Harold Lancour, ed. 47 vols. New York, M. Dekker [1968- ]

*Slavis, Dobrica. “"CUTT-x: An Expert System for Automatic Assignment of Cutter Numbers".” ''Cataloging and Classification Quarterly''. Vol 22, no. 2, 1996.

*Tauber, Maurice F., and Edith Wise. "Classification Systems." Ed. Ralph R. Shaw, ed.. ''The State of the Library Art''. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U. Graduate School of Library Service, 1961. 1-528.

*Slavis, Dobrica. “CUTT-x: An Expert System for Automatic Assignment of Cutter Numbers.” Cataloging and Classification Quarterly. Vol 22, no. 2, 1996.

==Outside Sites==