Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2004.

In this two years masters thesis in Library and Information Studies, the Russian Library-Bibliographical Classification (LBC/BBK) and the Chinese Library Classification (CLC) are analyzed with regard to their historical and ideological backgrounds and their respective evolutions. The structure of these classifications is compared with the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), as well as three chosen subjects (History, Politics and Religion). A qualitative comparative textual method is used.The study shows that these classification schemes, created at different times, different parts of the world, and different political systems, have different biases but give priority to the European before other foreign views. Otherwise, they often use a proximity principle. The CLC and the LBC were originally based on Marxist materialist principles but built in totally different ways. The CLC is closer to the DDC in the idealistic outline of the main groups of classes. The Chinese scheme, influenced by Maoism, shows the clearest ideological purpose, while the current LBC shows less bias than the others in the studied subjects. The dramatic political changes that Russia experienced after the fall of the Soviet Union necessitated the renewal of the scheme, which was not the case with the other two schemes. Despite this, the original structure of the LBC and also the Chinese Library Classification has been, with a few exceptions, retained, but the subdivisions have changed much more substantially. The LBC has lost its original Marxist content and the CLC has followed the regimes official guidelines which do not really acknowledge the major changes in Chinese society over the last few decades properly. History can explain many aspects of library classification schemes.