Facets: A Fruitful Notion in Many Domains

摘要: This special issue of ‘‘Axiomathes’’ is devoted to a technique originally developed within library science: facet analysis. During discussions with Roberto Poli, it was realized that analysis shares interesting features analytical methods in several other fields, including philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and computer science. For these reasons, an interdisciplinary spirit, we believe relevant topic for the scope this journal. It hoped readers will be persuaded by after examining present contributions. Facet has historical, even legendary, birthdate: conceived Indian librarian Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan 1925, while he studying at University College London (a key place classification research still today). The circumstances under which happened, Ranganathan’s relations English scholars, are reconstructed Clare Beghtol’s paper. Ranganthan’s revolutionary idea subject document, like ‘‘prevention rice diseases Madras dry season’’ take his classical example, can expressed analyzing into its facets (rice, diseases, prevention, Madras, season), translating each them separate notation, reassembling notations according standard citation order their categories. procedure called analytico-synthetic. considered alternative older enumerative systems, where any possible must listed schedules, therefore tend become extremely long (the Library Congress Classification consists 42 printed volumes). first expansion applications occurred when techniques, general scheme knowledge, were applied members Research Group (CRG) more specific domains libraries documentation services, such as education, canning, or