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Enabling access to information through the effective indexing and organization of materials is one of the core competences of information professionals. This module focuses on subject-related knowledge organisation (KO), using a theoretical lens in order to understand practical classification systems and real-life issues. Students will consider the conceptual ideas and theories that underpin knowledge organisation, such as grouping, order, facets, and much more. The idea of the knowledge organisation system (KOS) is introduced and dissected. The module focuses on two specific types of KOSs -- the classification scheme and the thesaurus – while other types of KOS are also introduced, such as ontologies and scientific taxonomies. Students will analyse examples of KOSs such as the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), and will explore ideas such as how classification schemes evolve over time, the reception of classification schemes, and global versus local classification schemes. Students will also gain practical skills in building their own KOS: they will learn how to create a faceted structure and thesaurus. Ethical considerations, such as the knowledge organisation of marginalised groups, thread through the module, alongside the imperative to think critically about KO ideas and KOSs.

By the end of the module students should be able to:

• explain some of the foundational principles in organising knowledge;
• identify different types of knowledge organisation systems and use some specific knowledge organisation systems to classify knowledge;
• evaluate some knowledge organisation systems, including any ethical considerations;
• critique some of the key theoretical ideas in knowledge organisation literature;
• create a simple knowledge organisation system for a domain of their choice.