Cultural Discourses of Classification: Indigenous Alternatives to the Tradition of Aristotle, Durkheim and Foucault

The paper explores the cultural construction of classification by identifying fundamental characteristics of classification and examining how these fit with other cultures. Foucault's method of discourse analysis is applied to selected texts on classification in two areas. The first area is classification, originated in the dominant western culture. The second area is classifications from indigenous cultures. It is concluded that classification research needs to have an increasing awareness of the cultural construction of classification schemes, and to work with alternatives to approaches of fundamental universal principles of classification

Distilling abstractions: Genre redefining essence versus context

The construction of concepts achieved by the apparently incompatible ideas of essence and context is examined through genre. Essence is defined by essential characteristics: innate, immutable, independent of context. Unlike essences, contexts are fluid, changing with time and location. Genre has the stability of the essential characteristics that define essence and the fluidity of differing circumstances that define context, thus making it effective for the exploration of essence and context. Controlled vocabularies reveal diachronically and synchronically the stable/fluid ambivalence of genre classes. The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC1, DDC13, DDC23) exhibits stability (and modest fluidity) in the Divisions, the primary reflection of academic disciplines one hierarchical step below the main classes and the development of the standard subdivisions as a slow multiedition evolution. Genre serves as a lens for us to better understand essences, contexts, and concepts and their manifestations, classes. Rather than being incompatible opposites, essences and contexts complement each other in the definition of concepts. How these abstractions relate to classification is a question both theoretical and practical to our efforts to further knowledge organization

Analysis of metadata schemas for children's libraries

The purpose of this study is to evaluate two metadata schemas, AACR2+ and the International Children’s Digital Library’s metadata schema, in light of children’s information seeking behavior for book selection. While previous studies focus on the development of child-friendly interfaces, few of these studies discuss a metadata schema for children’s libraries. Given that effective information retrieval is based on well-constructed information organization, this study’s significance is its greater emphasis on information organization as a relevant factor than in previous studies. The methodology for this study consists of three parts: a meta-analysis of relevant research on children’s information seeking behaviors for book choices, a crosswalk of the metadata schemas, and a comparison of two data sets from the previous stages. The study finds that ICDL’s metadata schema tends to better reflect children’s unique information seeking behaviors for book choices as independent metadata elements than standard library cataloging does. Standard library cataloging tends to describe information reflecting children’s unique information seeking behaviors in a note area rather than describing in independent metadata elements. Therefore, by having independent and relevant metadata elements regarding the unique characteristics of children’s book choices, ICDL’s metadata schema provides more access points in a browse search system

A Space of Transition: Rethinking Surrogates

The knowledge organization (KO) process of representing something identifiable typically involves creating a surrogate. The surrogate brings together the thing and the knowledge organization system (KOS). Therefore, we decided to focus on the surrogate and its role in the process of representation. In current practice KOS govern the creation of the surrogate. This something being represented is typically, but not necessarily, an information resource. It may also be artistic, tangible, spiritual, etc., knowledge organization systems meant to organize surrogates that represent something identifiable. A knowledge organization professional (KOP) selects what aspects of the thing to include in the representation. The knowledge organization experts/establishment (KOE) are responsible for the development of the context in which surrogates are created. The KOE are key drivers in determining process, and in developing and maintaining standards. Traditional practices are intended to ensure consistency and uniformity of interpretation and application across a range of physical and digital discourses. This context can be considered anew as postcolonial critic Homi Bhabha’s concept of the Third Space (1994)

The Power of the Unperceived: Hegel, Dewey, and Their Place in Mainstream Classificatory Thought

This article explores the connections between Melvil Dewey, William Torrey Harris and Hegelianisms. It acknowledges their debt to Bacon while it traces the practice of hierarchy from these philosophical influences to Dewey and his legacy, today’s Dewey Decimal Classification. The ubiquity of hierarchy is linked to Dewey’s metaphor of organizing the mob of information into an orderly army using the tool of logic.Este artigo explora as conexões entre Melvil Dewey, William Torrey Harris e os Hegelianismos. Reconhece a dívida dos mesmos para com Bacon enquanto rastreia a prática da hierarquia destas influências filosóficas até Dewey e seu legado, a Classificação Decimal de Dewey dos dias de hoje. A onipresença da hierarquia está ligada à metáfora de Dewey a respeito da organização de uma turba em um exército ordenado, usando a ferramenta da lógica

New roles and global agents in information organization in libraries

[Resumen] En un nuevo escenario globalizado, los roles de los agentes tradicionales de la organización de la información en bibliotecas han tendido a converger con aquellos provenientes de la industria del libro, bajo la presunción de que en su mayor parte las prácticas tradicionales bibliotecarias no son válidas ante esta nueva situación. El presente trabajo analiza la naturaleza e implicaciones para las bibliotecas de los vínculos existentes entre los agentes provenientes de la industria de libro y los organismos responsables de los principales sistemas de organización de la información bibliotecarios, tanto en un ámbito internacional como en el caso concreto de España. Algunos de los agentes cuyos discursos han sido analizados incluyen OCLC, el Consorcio de la CDU, BISG, BIC, EDItEUR, DILVE, Google y Amazon, concluyéndose que existe una incursión y colaboración entre uno y otro sector que se materializará en un aumento de la universalidad y homogeneización de unas prácticas de organización de la información en bibliotecas en las que no se tienen en cuenta la naturaleza y características específicas de las diferentes comunidades y contextos.[Abstract] In a new globalized scenario, the traditional activities of information organisation agents in libraries have tended to converge with those from the book industry, under the presumption that most traditional library practices are not adequate for the new globalized situation. This article analyzes the nature and consequences for libraries of the links between agents from the book industry and the organizations in charge of the main library information organization systems, both at an international level and in Spain. Some of the agents whose discourses were analyzed include OCLC, the UDC Consortium, BISG, BIC, EDItEUR, DILVE, Google and Amazon. We conclude that there is evidence of an incursion of book industry practices into the information organisation practices of OCLC and that collaboration between both sectors will result in an increase in universality and homogenization in library information organization practices without consideration for the nature and specific characteristics of the library and how it differs from the bookstore

Experiments in vortex avalanches

Avalanche dynamics is found in many phenomena spanning from earthquakes to the evolution of species. It can be also found in vortex matter when a type II superconductor is externally driven, for example, by increasing the magnetic field. Vortex avalanches associated with thermal instabilities can be an undesirable effect for applications, but "dynamically driven" avalanches emerging from the competition between intervortex interactions and quenched disorder constitute an interesting scenario to test theoretical ideas related with non-equilibrium dynamics. However, differently from the equilibrium phases of vortex matter in type II superconductors, the study of the corresponding dynamical phases - in which avalanches can play a role - is still in its infancy. In this paper we critically review relevant experiments performed in the last decade or so, emphasizing the ability of different experimental techniques to establish the nature and statistical properties of the observed avalanche behavior.Comment: To be published in Reviews of Modern Physics April 2004. 17 page

Preparation of Large Monodisperse Vesicles

Preparation of monodisperse vesicles is important both for research purposes and for practical applications. While the extrusion of vesicles through small pores (∼100 nm in diameter) results in relatively uniform populations of vesicles, extrusion to larger sizes results in very heterogeneous populations of vesicles. Here we report a simple method for preparing large monodisperse multilamellar vesicles through a combination of extrusion and large-pore dialysis. For example, extrusion of polydisperse vesicles through 5-µm-diameter pores eliminates vesicles larger than 5 µm in diameter. Dialysis of extruded vesicles against 3-µm-pore-size polycarbonate membranes eliminates vesicles smaller than 3 µm in diameter, leaving behind a population of monodisperse vesicles with a mean diameter of ∼4 µm. The simplicity of this method makes it an effective tool for laboratory vesicle preparation with potential applications in preparing large monodisperse liposomes for drug delivery

Lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine-1-phosphate promote morphogenesis and block invasion of prostate cancer cells in three-dimensional organotypic models

Normal prostate and some malignant prostate cancer (PrCa) cell lines undergo acinar differentiation and form spheroids in three-dimensional (3-D) organotypic culture. Acini formed by PC-3 and PC-3M, less pronounced also in other PrCa cell lines, spontaneously undergo an invasive switch, leading to the disintegration of epithelial structures and the basal lamina, and formation of invadopodia. This demonstrates the highly dynamic nature of epithelial plasticity, balancing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition against metastable acinar differentiation. This study assessed the role of lipid metabolites on epithelial maturation. PC-3 cells completely failed to form acinar structures in delipidated serum. Adding back lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) rescued acinar morphogenesis and repressed invasion effectively. Blocking LPA receptor 1 (LPAR1) functions by siRNA (small interference RNA) or the specific LPAR1 inhibitor Ki16425 promoted invasion, while silencing of other G-protein-coupled receptors responsive to LPA or S1P mainly caused growth arrest or had no effects. The G-proteins Gα12/13 and Gαi were identified as key mediators of LPA signalling via stimulation of RhoA and Rho kinases ROCK1 and 2, activating Rac1, while inhibition of adenylate cyclase and accumulation of cAMP may be secondary. Interfering with these pathways specifically impeded epithelial polarization in transformed cells. In contrast, blocking the same pathways in non-transformed, normal cells promoted differentiation. We conclude that LPA and LPAR1 effectively promote epithelial maturation and block invasion of PrCa cells in 3-D culture. The analysis of clinical transcriptome data confirmed reduced expression of LPAR1 in a subset of PrCa's. Our study demonstrates a metastasis-suppressor function for LPAR1 and Gα12/13 signalling, regulating cell motility and invasion versus epithelial maturation