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Reasons are given for a proposed new universal decimal classification obtained by re‐allocating the subject fields of the UDC main classes according to present day views, state of knowledge, and priorities, and to subdivide these main classes only by subfields of subject fields. The specific facets of each field should be represented by a uniform array of special auxiliaries attached to the fields through the technique of interrupted subdivision. These should express the following categories: (1) Theory, (2) Objects, (3) Processes, (4) Attributes, (6) Order, organization, (7) Relation, (8) Determination, (9) Evaluation ((5) is left free for the moment). Proposals for further simplification of the scheme are outlined regarding the general categories, the symbols used, and the rules for syntagmatic organization, taking into account the implications of computer technology. Possible changes in the layout and editions of such a new classification are discussed.

WHEN Miss Ditmas sent me a copy of the proceedings of the conference convened by the Royal Society in June last to consider the improvement of documentation service for scientific workers, I was very pleased to read the resolution regarding the library profession. I took it as an S O S from those engaged on research calling for help from those engaged on library work. The downpour of literature has become so heavy, specialization among scientific workers so intense, and coverage of publications is becoming so narrow in extension and so deep in intension that a worker is in danger of missing much nascent thought, so essential for economic pursuit of research. Unless there is proper reference service in libraries the work of the specialists will suffer, and unless there is proper documentation the reference service will suffer—they say. Unless a powerful scheme of classification is brought into use and unless cataloguing is intimately integrated with such a classification, proper documentation will not be possible, we say. Unless some of the best brains of the day are spared for the library profession and the library profession itself is made attractive enough in status and salary to retain them, those necessary library techniques, that have the modern alternative name of documentation technique, will not be forged and kept continuously sharpened, we say. It is gratifying that the conference has by a resolution conceded our demand about status and emoluments. I welcome this opportunity to expound along what lines we should proceed to improve our technique to the necessary level of efficiency. The table on p. 224 gives a synopsis of what I propose to say.

Classifying classification. ‘Classification’ is a concept that means many different things to many different people. In the world of bibliographic information systems it usually signifies one of the well known universal schemes such as the Dewey Decimal, Library of Congress and Universal Decimal classifications. It also calls up visions of arrangements of books on shelves and/or the ordering of bibliographic entries in files. However, classification is much more than this. Its principles underlie the organisation of the universe and control our ability to function within it. Virtually all types of entities can be classified, be they documents, jobs, museum objects, contents of Web sites, the contents of supermarkets and so on. For the most part, people make use of classification without recognising it or questioning how it comes about. However, the lack of classification in any area affects people's lives and may hinder their ability to satisfy some need or to achieve some goal. Those who must organise these entities are usually fully aware of the need to categorise or classify, whereas uninitiated users may locate and identify an unorganised mass of information and will complain or demand order only at the point at which they recognise that they have a problem in satisfying their needs.

The purpose of this study is to develop a model for automated classification of old digitised texts to the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC), using machine-learning methods.

The general research approach is inherent to design science research, in which the problem of UDC assignment of the old, digitised texts is addressed by developing a machine-learning classification model. A corpus of 70,000 scholarly texts, fully bibliographically processed by librarians, was used to train and test the model, which was used for classification of old texts on a corpus of 200,000 items. Human experts evaluated the performance of the model.

Results suggest that machine-learning models can correctly assign the UDC at some level for almost any scholarly text. Furthermore, the model can be recommended for the UDC assignment of older texts. Ten librarians corroborated this on 150 randomly selected texts.

The main limitations of this study were unavailability of labelled older texts and the limited availability of librarians.

The classification model can provide a recommendation to the librarians during their classification work; furthermore, it can be implemented as an add-on to full-text search in the library databases.

The proposed methodology supports librarians by recommending UDC classifiers, thus saving time in their daily work. By automatically classifying older texts, digital libraries can provide a better user experience by enabling structured searches. These contribute to making knowledge more widely available and useable.

These findings contribute to the field of automated classification of bibliographical information with the usage of full texts, especially in cases in which the texts are old, unstructured and in which archaic language and vocabulary are used.

I think that it would be sensible for me to begin this presentation with a declaration of my interest in the Universal Decimal Classification. I first became acquainted with the Classification over twenty‐five years ago while I was a student at the Loughborough School of Librarianship. Subsequently I utilized the Classification in various technical college libraries and libraries and information services in the engineering and steel industries. Eventually I was responsible for the conception, development and implementation of a computer based integrated information handling system for the steel industry. I described this system, as it was at the time, in a paper I presented at the Fifth Cranfield International Conference on Mechanized Information Storage and Retrieval Systems in 1975.

The purpose of this paper is to present a general overview with up‐to‐date information on the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) use worldwide.

The research combined e‐mail interviews with LIS professionals in 208 countries, literature research and information obtained from UDC distributors/publishers (AENOR, BSI, UDC Consortium). The following categorisation of UDC use was offered: A – dominant system; B – used in some kind of libraries only; or C – rarely used.

The paper finds that, of the 208 countries contacted and researched through the literature in 2004‐2006, the UDC was found to be used in 124 (60 per cent) of these. In 34 (28 per cent) of the countries researched (in Europe, Asia and Africa), UDC is the main classification system used across national information networks. In 45 (36 per cent) of the countries it is used in certain kinds of libraries. In the remaining 45 (36 per cent) of the countries it is used rarely, in only a few libraries or information centres.

It was beyond the scope of this research to provide any information regarding the actual number of institutions using UDC in a given country or to give an estimate of the size and number of document collections organised by it. Although a decline in UDC use since the 1980s was reported from a number of countries, it was not possible to measure this accurately.

The interest shown for using UDC in the organisation of digital collections, information exchange and cross domain and cross collection resource discovery depends on accurate knowledge of its actual usage worldwide. This gives a measure of its global importance and verifies its credentials as an indexing standard. This research, which attempted wider and more systematic coverage than previous surveys, should help clarify the status of UDC and its potential use in the networked environment.

The paper provides up‐to‐date information on the presence of the UDC system across countries and languages.

The problems posed by automation for those responsible for the maintenance of bibliographic classifications have been widely rehearsed both in the professional literature and at conferences. This paper will not repeat them, but will rather give some indication of the attempts currently being made to fit a classification that was devised in the nineteenth century for use in the twenty‐first.

Until recently the writer participated actively in the application and development of the Universal Decimal Classification, principally by means of computer‐based techniques available via large ICL 1900 series installations. During the decade 1968–1978 a multi‐purpose database was developed and operated using remote computer resources equipped with extensive telecommunication facilities. Primarily designed to support senior managers, the subject coverage of the system encompasses all matters judged to be useful in the particular business environment concerned. One feature of the system is the use of the UDC for both information (reference) retrieval and profile matching. It is hoped that some personal reflections arising from the experience gained and on associated matters will be useful to those involved in the management of information in large organizations.

The Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) is able to provide a detailed description of the subject content of a document in any area. Its hierarchical and synthetic structure, which is generally reflected in its notation, should enable computer searching for hierarchically‐related subjects and for the individual facets of a complex subject. The possibilities of using these features in automated retrieval are discussed, and attention is drawn to places where the UDC falls short. A number of online catalogues, databases, and information retrieval packages are discussed in terms of their ability to allow searching on UDC numbers. The most sophisticated ones, such as ETHICS at the ETH Library, use a separate file of verbal descriptors linked to the document file through UDC numbers. Suggestions are made for enhancing retrieval performance on UDC numbers in simple systems, and for ways in which the classification might be developed to improve automated searching.

The 19th edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification was published in 1979 and will be the last edition to appear under the editorship of Benjamin A. Custer, the editor since the 16th edition, published in 1958. There is thus a suitable opportunity to review the evolution of the Classification over the past thirty years, and to indicate the likely developments in the 20th edition and beyond. This paper is not a literature review although reference will be made to pertinent contributions in the literature. There is a substantial body of literature on the Dewey Decimal Classification and the most recent portion is covered in two bibliographies.