REFLECTIONS ON CLASSIFICATION IN COMMUNITY LIBRARIES

AN EXPERIENCE REPORT FROM THE “CATANDO PALAVRAS” COMMUNITY LIBRARY

Abstract

This paper discusses the development and revision of a local classification system for organizing the collection of the “Catando Palavras” Community Library. It approaches documentary classification as a process of subject representation situated within the field of Knowledge Organization and articulated with physical arrangement and reading mediation. The objective is to describe and systematize the procedures adopted in the construction of the system, discussing the potentialities and limitations observed at this stage of implementation. The study is characterized as a research activity with an extension-oriented approach, qualitative and descriptive in nature, supported by an exploratory bibliographic search and by the documentation of the procedures used to organize the collection. As a result, thematic class was established as the primary axis of the physical arrangement, complemented, when necessary, by subclasses and alphabetical arrangement by authorship. Reading level, documentary form, authorship provenance, and representativeness markers were established as independent dimensions for mediation and description. The color-coding system was associated with textual and alphanumeric codes so that color would not constitute the sole means of identification. It is concluded that the proposal has achieved greater conceptual and operational coherence; however, its effectiveness in information retrieval and in fostering user autonomy still requires systematic evaluation with the community.