Page 35 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.45, 2019

034 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.11, 2019

Since 1980s, the Chinese library community has formulated a series of professional standards
and specifications, of which the most representative are Chinese standards associated with ISO’s
(International Organization for Standardization) international standards and IFLA’s (International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) international standards. China joined the
ISO in 1978 and the library community began to adopt standards of ISO/TC 46. Due to the
characteristics of Chinese characters and Chinese materials, international standards could not be
fully implemented in China. Therefore, to make international standards Chinese equaled with the
process of Chinization. The Chinese community probed deep into it, and fulfilled the Chinization
of international standards. In 1980, the Library Society of China regained the national status in
IFLA. Likewise, the Chinese community adopted IFLA standards and made them Chinese, which
was the overall development of Chinese classification, cataloging and information retrieval.
In the process of Chinization of international standards, the National Library of China (NLC)
has been playing the leading and major role, who is the leader and main body in both research
and implementation. To date, the standardization of documental processing is the most glorious
achievement of the library community and greatest contribution to human society. Many
anonymous scholars worked for the standards. They may be recognized only within the library
community, whereas their research results made great contribution to Chinese classification,
thesaurus, cataloging and MARC and lay the bedrock for the development of Chinese librarianship.
On the 110th anniversary of the NLC, we should pay our respect to the staff and scholars at the
NLC and all the other participants.

3.1.1 Classification
The Chinese Library Classification (CLC), which we are familiar with, has undergone in a
long process of development. In the early 1900s, the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) was
introduced, imitated and adapted. Later, the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) was also
introduced into China. The NLC published the Chinese Library Book Classification (first edition)
in 1975, second edition in 1980, third edition in 1990, fourth edition in 1999 and fifth edition in
2010. The five editions of CLC are the result of painstaking efforts and wisdom of four generations
of librarians in the 20th century.
DDC can only be applied in the US, and UDC is only applicable in Europe. Both are not suitable
for Chinese libraries. CLC fulfilled the Chinization of international classification with continuous
innovations. The research result about the formulation and revision of the CLC is abundant,
which becomes a highlight in Chinese library research. In October 1985, the Chinese Library
Classification (CLC), Chinese Library Document Classification (CLDC) and its abridged edition
were awarded the First Prize of the first National Award for Science and Technology Progress
(“Chinese Library Classification, Chinese Classification of Books and Reference Materials and
its brief edition won the first prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award”, 1986),
which has been the highest award won by the library community until now. It is unprecedented,