Genesis of classification: a content analysis based on the definition

ABSTRACT In the literature, words have more than one meaning in multiple contexts, and this makes them have ambiguous interpretations or even be considered polysemic; this is the case with the word classification. In the different meanings of the word, it can mean a process, a classification system or a discipline. This article studies the interdisciplinary perspective of the meaning of the word classification, from the meanings suggested by the authors of the area, to trace its evolution and historical context. We use the methodological basis proposed by Bardin (2011) on Content Analysis, applied to the 40 definitions selected from the article “Classification” (Hjørland, 2017), as a research sample. The results of lexical and categorical analysis of the definitions confirmed the assumptions that the classification traces its history based on the Aristotelian categorical bases, having started its dichotomous development with the studies of Porphyrios, gaining projection with the system of taxonomic categories of Linnaeus, with the idea of “Division and denomination” to classify beings into groups, with Darwin's Origin of Species; and, in the scope of Librarianship and Information Science, with the studies initiated by librarian Richards (1860-1939), in the 19th century, influencing the studies of authors such as Sayers (1881-1960), Bliss (1870-1955) e. Ranganathan (1892-1972), among others. In the area of Librarianship and Information Science, classification has been studied as a discipline, a process of grouping and ordering knowledge, and as an instrument of information representation, contributing to its organization and recovery.