Library of Congress Classification New Subclass KBP : a study on its perceived usefulness and suitability for Islamic law

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived usefulness and suitability of the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) Subclass KBP for Islamic Law (IL). The study was done by examining the traditional and modern approaches to IL, investigating LCC Subclass BP treatment and in-house expansions for IL, and providing a brief description for the newly developed Subclass KBP and its treatment for IL. Qualitative techniques including analysis of the literature, OPAC search, and personal interviews were used in collecting the data necessary to answer the seven research questions of the study. The population of the study consisted mainly of 30 cataloguers and head of cataloguing departments (HOCDs) from ten university libraries located in Jordan, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Eight subject experts in IL were also selected on purposive basis from three universities located in the three countries. Ten end users (students) from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) were also interviewed. Resources analysis and interpretation indicated that Islamic legal schools laid down the foundation for a systematic subject-based classification for IL (traditional approach). Modern Muslim legal scholars build on this approach and called for classifying IL on new basis. Muslim information scientists contributed in the classification of IL by adapting, expanding, and developing special schemes for IL. Analysis of Subclass BP for Islam showed that IL was inadequately treated. As a result, libraries applied different in-house expansions. Analysis of Subclass KBP indicated that the new schedule provides better treatment for IL than Subclass BP. In its online format, the new Subclass covers large amount of IL topics, incorporates common law topics in Furū‘ al-Fiqh, which is the largest section of the schedule, uses helpful searching and browsing techniques, and provides special functions and hotlinks to primary and secondary tables. However, the schedule partially respects the traditional approach to IL, especially in the internal arrangement of Furū‘ al-Fiqh. As for the perceived usefulness of Subclass KBP, results showed that respondents viewed KBP as partially useful for IL. Fourteen (50%) aspects of usefulness out of twenty-eight were perceived as useful, twelve (43.7%) as not useful, and two (7%) as inconclusive/undetermined. Furthermore, respondents identified thirteen strengths and eleven weaknesses for Subclass KBP. Finally, respondents supported the opinion that Subclass KBP is suitable for the classification of IL, although there was a tendency towards applying the schedule with some in-house modifications. Majority of the respondents disagreed with using Subclass BP or currently used in-house applications instead of Subclass KBP. Furthermore, the idea of developing a Subclass KBP substitute was not supported by respondents. Thus, it was concluded that although cataloguers perceived Subclass KBP as partially useful, they confirmed its suitability for the classification of IL. Additional recommendations for the Library of Congress (LC) and other libraries were provided. Implications for further research were also proposed.