Grass-Roots Cataloging and Classification: Food for Thought from World Wide Web Subject-Oriented Hierarchical Lists

Abstract

The explosion of the use of the Internet by the general public, particularly via the World Wide Web, has given rise to an interesting phenomenon; the proliferation of semiprofessional attempts to give some subject-based access to Internet resources via hierarchical guides (hotlists) such as Yahoo. In this paper, the author examines the structure and principles of various hierarchical lists, which were examined during a period between September and October 1995. The lists are compared, when possible, to broad Library of Congress and Dewey classification schemes and. to Library of Congress subject heading structures. The author also explores the approaches taken by nonlibrarians in their efforts to organize and provide access to materials on the Internet. In particular, the author focuses on the dichotomy between the hierarchical, “browse” and the analytical “search” approaches to finding materials, as exemplified by these various attempts to organize the Internet.