User-Friendliness

User-friendliness has been frequently cited as one of the main arguments for using a facet-based approach to classification, not only for online resources, but also for print resources. Simply stated, a user-friendly approach "consists of providing systems which make sense to the user, make the user feel comfortable and confident that he/she understands the system and knows how to use it..." (Foskett 1992)

It has been a long-standing belief that "the structure we impose on our spontaneous concepts consists of arranging them into groups, or categories of phenomena, and this is what enables us to understand them. An important element in the process of learning consists of combining analysis and synthesis; exactly, in fact, how Ranganathan saw the process of making and using classification schemes. The process of organizing concepts into categories capable of being related to one another enables us to transform data and information into knowledge. The conscious application of concept analysis and synthesis constitutes a powerful aid to understanding and is vital of the successful incorporation of new information technologies into library and information systems. Without such an approach, we can fall into the trap of regarding all information as no more than heaps of isolated data and thereby forgetting the role of inter-relationships in transforming data into information" (Foskett 1992).

"A natural way of thinking"

Faceted schemes also have a natural tendency to be more user-centric systems because they are "essentially a multi-dimensional taxonomy" that "can mimic more closely the structure of actual knowledge. Classification systems that more closely match human knowledge and the user's mental models put more control into the hands of the user" (Louie, Maddox, and Washington 2003).

Facet analysis, then, represents "a natural way of thinking." It separates a subject into its various constituent parts and then relates these parts to broader categories that are meaningful and comprehensible to any user (Foskett 1992).

"Faceted classification is, in a nutshell, the combination of all the epistemic approaches to designing classification systems. Using a technique called facet analysis, a collection of documents is described from as many perspectives (facets) as is necessary. Within each facet, a hierarchical list of concepts (isolates) is arranged. The result is a multidimensional representation of knowledge that more closely matches the state of real human knowledge" (Louie 2004).

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Ease of use

A number of other features make faceted classification desirable for users and information professionals alike:

• Facet analysis can be applied to any subject (Foskett 1992)
• Faceted schemes are easier and less time-consuming to construct, have less terms, and because of this, are less bulky and cumbersome with respect to the size of the schedules (Buchanan 1979)
• Terms can be combined to create new concepts that are not yet available in enumerative schemes (Ibid.)
• It is easier to insert newly-discovered classes either as a compound of elemental classes already present or as a new elemental class (Ibid.)
• A faceted scheme allows the classifier more choice as to how documents will be grouped in his or her library. Enumerative schemes tend to be more inflexible (Ibid.)

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Some weaknesses

It should be noted, though, that faceted classification is not perfect. Some weaknesses are that
synthesis produces longer more complicated notations, but this is largely irrelevant in the online setting because notation is accomplished by the computer language.

Faceted classification also requires a classifier to think more, however Buchanan wonders if this is really a disadvantage (Buchanan 1979). Presumably, the classifier must make the decisions about where to classify an item that is already made for him by an enumerative scheme. But anyone that has worked with an enumerative classification scheme knows that these systems are not always logical. Because of the arbitrary nature of enumerative classification schemes, they are not only less friendly to the user, they can be less friendly to the classifier, at least until the classifier has adjusted her (or his) mental model of the world to conform to that of the enumerative system.

And this is what enumerative schemes also require of the user. This may be a reasonable expectation of the dedicated library-user, but it is less likely to happen for the general Internet-user, many of whom are highly unlikely to be persuaded to adjust their mental models to conform with that of DDC or LCC. For this reason, faceted classification is becoming an increasingly attractive system for web-based application.

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