Explain the Canons of Array with an example.

 The first used of “Canons of library classification” by W C B Sayers then many library science professionals tried to development of Canons of library classification such as E C Richardson, H E Bliss etc. In the 1937 criticized the canons of library classification by Dr. Ranganathan in his book “Prolegomena to library classification”.

Array is a set of coordinate classes that satisfies four conditions. Corresponding to these four conditions are the four Canons for Array. The classes or isolates in a set of classes or ranked isolates should be exhaustive as well as exclusive. In other words no entity in a universe of entities should be left out without a class in the process of grouping and at the same time the classes should be exclusive where no entity can claim a position in two classes resulting in cross classification. The classes or array isolates need to be arranged in a helpful order and not in an arbitrary sequence. Ranganathan has advanced eight Principles for Helpful Sequence to arrange the classes or array isolates in a set of classes or isolates. The fourth canon for Array merely guides to maintain consistently the sequence once decided as long as the purpose of classification remains the same.

S.R.Ranganathan, the father of Library science has developed the canons for classification which are helpful for both the classificationists and classifiers. There are many canons. The following are the canons for arrays of classes.

Each array of classes in a scheme for classification should satisfy the following four canons: 

1. Canon of exhaustiveness: The classes in an array of classes, and the ranked isolates in an array of ranked isolates should be totally exhaustive of their respective common immediate universes. Any new entity added to the original universe should be assigned in the process of classification to the immediate universe under consideration and should be assigned to any of the existing classes or to a newly formed class, as the case may be, in the array under consideration. 

2. Canon of exclusiveness: The classes in an array of classes and the ranked isolates in an array of ranked isolates should be mutually exclusive. According to this canon, no entity comprised in the immediate universe can belong more than one class of the array. In other words, no two classes of the array can overlap or have an entity in common. To secure this, the classes of an array should be derived from its derived from its immediate universe on the basis of one and only one characteristic. 

3. Canon of Helpful Sequence: The sequence of the classes in an array of classes, and of the ranked isolates in an array of ranked isolates, should be helpful to the purpose of those for whom it is intended. This canon should be observed not only in each array but also in any coalesced array. 

4. Canon of consistent sequence: Whenever similar classes or ranked isolates occur in different arrays, their sequence should be parallel in all such arrays, wherever insistence on such a parallelism does not run counter to other more important requirements.Conformity to this canon will be conductive to economy of time and of attention and of mental energy. It will minimize the load on the memory both for the classifier and the user. It is responsible for certain practices and devices and in some of the schemes for classification.  

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