What is Knowledge Organization

Knowledge Organization (KO) is about activities such as document description, indexing and classification performed in libraries, databases, archives etc. These activities are done by librarians, archivists, subject specialists as well as by computer algorithms. KO as a field of study is concerned with the nature and quality of such knowledge organizing processes (KOP) as well as the knowledge organizing systems (KOS) used to organize documents, document representations and concepts.

The narrow and the broader meaning of the term
In the narrow meaning Knowledge Organization (KO) is about activities such as document description, indexing and classification performed in libraries, bibliographical databases, archives and other kinds of “memory intuitions” by librarians, archivists, information specialists, subject specialists, as well as by computer algorithms and laymen. KO as a field of study is concerned with the nature and quality of such knowledge organizing processes (KOP) as well as the knowledge organizing systems (KOS) used to organize documents, document representations, works and concepts. Library and Information Science (LIS) is the central discipline of KO in this narrow sense (although seriously challenged by, among other fields, computer science).

In the broader meaning is KO about the social division of mental labor, i.e. the organization of universities and other institutions for research and higher education, the structure of disciplines and professions, the social organization of media, the production and dissemination of “knowledge” etc. A book such as Oleson & Voss (1979) The Organization of knowledge in modern America, 1860-1920 is an example of the study of knowledge organization in the broad sense. We may distinguish between the social organization of knowledge on one hand, and on the other hand the intellectual or cognitive organization of knowledge. The broad sense is thus both about how knowledge is socially organized and how reality is organized. The uncovering of structures of reality is done by the single sciences, e.g. chemistry, biology, geography and linguistics. Well known examples are the periodic system in chemistry and biological taxonomy. Generalized theories about the structure of reality, such as the theory of integrative levels first advanced by Auguste Comte belong to the philosophical disciplines “metaphysics” and “ontology”.
While Library and Information Science (LIS) is the central discipline concerned with KO in the narrow sense of the word, other disciplines such as the sociology of knowledge, the single sciences and metaphysics are central disciplines concerned with KO in the broader sense of the word. The importance of regarding the broader field of KO is related to the question about how KO in the narrow sense can be developed.

Regards

MZA