BSO - BROAD SYSTEM OF ORDERING

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BSO - the Broad System of Ordering - is a modern machine-held classification system embracing all fields of knowledge.

 

Usage of BSO
    1. As a fall-back aid to subject searching on the Net or any miscellaneous compilation or collection covering many subject fields
    2. As a subject tagging code applied to individual items or records in wide angle collections or compilations. In this application the result is an orderly and easily grasped subject arrangement of the items
    3. As a mediating tool in changing over from one subject indication system to another

 

Needling the haystack: subject searching in wide angled information systems, such as the Internet

When your search question dives straight into the haystack and instantly retrieves the sought needle, then you don't need BSO. At other times searching in a large information store or network may all too readily bring the needle-in-haystack problem to mind. You may draw a blank or be presented with an offering which is not quite what you were looking for. At such times BSO could often help in suggesting alternative search approaches. Similarly, if you are not quite sure of the appropriate subject word to begin your subject search with, a glance at the index and systematic schedules of BSO could help to set you on your way.

 

A systematic overview of knowledge: what does it mean for subject searching?

When you think of the total universe of knowledge as covered by Internet do you see it as an intricate maze of subjects in a tangled net of relationships, or as an orderly map enabling one to navigate with confidence? Most subject searchers fall somewhere between these two extremes. Real polymaths are rare. On the other hand, most of us with interest or close involvement with particular subject areas tend to think about the contents of these limited areas in a more or less structured way. Problems begin when our search needs take us to the very fringes of our familiar subject areas and beyond.

 

BSO as a systematic overview of knowledge

There are all sorts of possible overviews of knowledge, systematic at various levels and in varying degrees. BSO is a compilation of about 6800 terms, arranged in an order which is systematic or structured at the level of meaning. It is a knowledge classification which attempts to reflect a modern consensual world outlook, and because it is essentially concept -oriented rather than word-oriented, its captions are supplemented by definition notes whenever the scope and meaning of the caption is not clear from its context in the systematic schedules. The system gives solutions to many dilemmas met by searchers looking for "composite" subjects which can be represented in language only by phrases. Familiarisation with the system is made easy by the fact that its arrangement is governed by a repeated and widely applied underlying pattern which enhances its overall simplicity

 

BSO Cycle of knowledge - the conceptual skeleton

To get a quick general idea of the way BSO arranges the broadest categories of knowledge read the brief skeletal sector descriptions below in clockwise order starting at the bottom left text block (marked with **) and proceeding upwards block by block to the top, then across to the top right block, and then downwards.

View the same cyclic arrangement with the skeleton clad with subject names.

View more detail in the linear form of an indented hierarchical outline subject list, derived by cutting and unrolling the cycle.

 

BSO Cycle of knowledge. Sector descriptions.

Read blocks of text clockwise. Start at **

      

 

_________
: 410 to 480
: Human beings as
subject of knowledge

>->

----------
: 500 to 588
: Humanities and
:society

___________
: 359 to 397
: Human interaction with
: non-human organizm

       
        ___________
: 600 to 899
: Material products of
: human societies,
: Artefacts

___________
: 201 to 345
:Natural sciences in order of
:levels of increasingomplexity

       
         
**

___________
: 112 to 188
: Formal and general sciences
: techniques and activities
: which are utilised in
: connection with a variety of
: more specialised areas of
: knowledge pursuit and
: handling

   

___________
: 910 to 397
: Non-utilitarian
: products of human societies,
:Mentefacts
:(Language, Arts,
:Religion, Esoterica)

^
BSO cuts cycle here

         
 

Starting to clad the skeleton

A linear sequence of classes is obtained by cutting into this cyclic structure at a chosen point. The classes separated at the point of division are the first and last classes, of the linear sequence. The BSO point of division is at the base of the diagram below


           480 Sports/games           >Humanities/social studies 500  
          470 Human needs                  History/related sciences  510             
         460 Education                           Area studies                  520
        450 Psychology                           Society                         527 
       445 Behavioural sciences                Social sciences             530                                       
      420 Medicine                                     Sociology                      535
     410 Biomedical sciences                       Demography                  537  
    390 Environment                                      Politics                        540                     
   380 Wildlife exploitation                              Public administration    550 
  370 Forestry                                                 Law                            560
 366 Animal husbandry                                     Social welfare             570 
360 Agriculture                                                   Economics                580 
359 Applications of life sciences                    Enterprise management    588
340 Zoology                                                 Technology                      600               
330 Botany                                                  Production technology      620  
320 Microbiology                                          Materials handling            625 
310 Biological sciences                                Packaging/storage            627  
300 Life sciences                                         Energy technology            631                 
290 Geography                                            Materials technology         635
270 Geology                                                Nuclear technology           640
260 Earth sciences                                      Electrotechnology             650                     
250 Space and earth sciences                      Thermal engineering          670  
230 Chemistry                                             Mechanical engineering     680
228 Crystallography                                     Construction technology    710                                 
210 Physics                                                Environmental technology  730                                                                                    
205 Physical sciences                                 Transport technology         740       
203 Natural sciences                                    Military sci./technology     760   
200 Science and technology                         Mining                             780                                
 188 Metrology                                           Process industries             800  
  186 Testing and trials                                    Metal technology         860
   182 Research                                      Wood/pulp/paper technology871,95                             
    166 Standardisation                                Textiles technology       877  
     165 Management                              Particular products manf. 890 
      160 Systemology/cybernetics           Language/literature       910                        
       150 Communication sciences               Art                       940                         
        140 Information sciences            Religion/atheism          970
         120 Mathematics                     Esoteric practices        992 
          118 Logic                   
     **    112 Philosophy                
                                       

 

Adding more cladding

 
088   PHENOMENA & ENTITIES FROM A MULTI- or NON-DISCIPLINARY 
                         POINT OF VIEW          
100     KNOWLEDGE GENERALLY 
112       PHILOSOPHY                                   
116       SCIENCE OF SCIENCE            
118       LOGIC      
120       MATHEMATICS                                            
125       STATISTICS & PROBABILITY            
127       DATA PROCESSING   
128       COMPUTER SCIENCE                          
140       INFORMATION SCIENCES             
143         Libraries                  
144         Archives 
146         Museums                                     
146,80      Exhibitions                           
148       MEETINGS              
148,80    CONSULTANCY                  
148,85    INTERVIEWING        
150       COMMUNICATION SCIENCES      
152         Reprography & printing                           
152,60      Book trade                                
152,80      Intellectual property          
155         Destination-directed communication                  
156         Mass communication                                   
158,20      Publicity                    
160       SYSTEMOLOGY & CYBERNETICS                         
163         Operations research                  
165       MANAGEMENT                           
166       STANDARDISATION & STANDARDS                       
168       ORGANISATIONS                                          
182       RESEARCH                                
184       DISCOVERIES, INVENTIONS & PATENTS                 
186       TESTING & TRIALS                      
188       METROLOGY                                 


2OO       SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (TOGETHER)                    
203         NATURAL SCIENCES                                     
205           PHYSICAL SCIENCES                
210             Physics                        
212               Energy interactions & forms                
214               Particle & high-energy physics             
215               Nuclear physics             
217               Atomic, molecular & ion physics           
219               Vacuum physics                                 
222               Bulk matter physics            
224               Plasma & fluid physics                    
225               Condensed matter physics                       
226                 Physics of solids           
228             Crystallography 
230             Chemistry                         
232               Physical chemistry  
234               Chemistry of particular substances            
235               Inorganic chemistry                           
237               Organic chemistry                             
238               Polymer chemistry            
250             Space & earth sciences                      
252               Astronomy & astrophysics           
258               Space research              
260               Earth sciences                                
262               Geodesy & surveying               
263               Geophysics                
265               Atmospheric sciences                          
267               Hydrospheric sciences                   
270               Geology                      
290               Geography  
300           LIFE SCIENCES                      
310           BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES   
312             Biophysics & biochemistry
313,20          Molecular biology 
313,30          Cell & tissue biology 
313,70          Genetics 
313,75          Evolution
315,19,34       Biological materials 
315,20          Developmental biology 
315,54          Morphology 
315,55          Physiology 
315,56          Pathology 
315,58          Immunology
315,59,30       Biological material structures 
315,60          Biological parts, organs & functional systems 
318             Ecology 
318,50          Ethology 
320             Microbiology
330             Botany 
340             Zoology
359       APPLICATIONS OF LIFE SCIENCES 
360         AGRICULTURE
363           Plant crop production 
363,70        Horticulture
363,80        Production of specific plant crops 
366           Animal husbandry 
368         VETERINARY SCIENCE 
370         FORESTRY 
380         WILDLIFE EXPLOITATION 
390         ENVIRONMENT 
397           Natural resources 
410         BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES 
420           MEDICINE 
422             Preventive medicine 
423             Social medicine 
425             Clinical & internal medicine 
426             Surgery 
428             Diseases 
430             PARTS, ORGANS & SYSTEMS OF THE HUMAN BODY 
432               Body parts & regional specialties
433               Body organs & systems 
433,50              Defence system 
434                 Integumentary & musculoskeletal system 
435                 Visceral systems & organs 
437                 Nervous system & sense organs 
438                 Mental health & disorders 
439             BIOMEDICAL SPECIALTIES, BY HUMAN SUBJECT OR PATIENT, 
                      & BY ENVIRONMENT 
445         BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES 
450           PSYCHOLOGY                                   
460         EDUCATION                                            
470         HUMAN NEEDS 
475           Household science 
477           Work & leisure occupations 
477,50          Leisure & recreation 
478             Tourism & travel 
480             Sports & games 
482               Individual prowess & athletic sports 
483               Ball games
485               Special environment sports 
486,40            Wheel vehicle sports 
486,50            Animal sports 
486,70            Target & quarry sports 
488,30            Board & piece games 
489               Social diversions & pastimes

500       HUMANITIES & SOCIAL STUDIES 
510         HISTORY & RELATED SCIENCES 
512           Archaeology & prehistory 
513           History of particular epochs & periods 
515           History of main world areas & continents 
516           History of particular countries (including regions &
                      localities within a particular country) 
520         AREA STUDIES 
526           Area studies of particular countries (including regions 
                      & localities within a particular country) 
527         SOCIETY 
528           SOCIAL GROUPS & COMMUNITIES 
529             Ethnic & linguistic & religious groups 
530           SOCIAL SCIENCES 
532             Culture 
533             CULTURAL ANTHROPLOGY 
535             SOCIOLOGY 
537             DEMOGRAPHY 
540             POLITICAL SCIENCE & POLITICS 
542               Political institutions & organisations 
543               Political organisational patterns & systems 
544               Political history 
545               Politics of particular groupings of states 
546               Politics of particular states & countries 
550             PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 
560             LAW 
562               Civil law 
563               Public law 
565               International law 
567               Systems of law (by origin) 
568               Law of particular countries 
570             SOCIAL WELFARE 
580             ECONOMICS 
581,80            Microeconomics
582               Macroeconomics 
584               Economic organisation 
586               Sectorial economics 
588             MANAGEMENT OF ENTERPRISES

600       TECHNOLOGY 
610         SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF TECHNOLOGY 
611         EQUIPMENT & PLANT 
612         SYSTEMS ENGINEERING 
612,55      COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY 
615         TECHNICAL TESTING 
617         MAINTENANCE & SERVICING ENGINEERING 
618         TECHNICAL & INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 
620         PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY 
625         MATERIALS HANDLING 
627         PACKAGING & STORAGE & DISPATCH 
631         ENERGY TECHNOLOGY 
635         MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY 
640         NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY 
642           Nuclear reactor technology 
645           Isotope technology 
650         ELECTRONIC & ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGIES 
653           ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING 
655             TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING 
657         ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
670         THERMAL ENGINEERING & APPLIED THERMODYNAMICS 
673           Heat engines 
678           Refrigeration technology 
680         MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 
684           FLUID ENGINEERING 
686           VACUUM TECHNOLOGY 
688           VIBRATION & ACOUSTIC ENGINEERING
710         CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY 
712           CIVIL ENGINEERING
714           ILLUMINATING ENGINEERING 
716           BUILDING CONSTRUCTION & SERVICES 
716,70          Types of buildings 
720         ARCHITECTURE 
724         LANDSCAPE DESIGN 
726         PHYSICAL PLANNING 
730         ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY 
730,30        Pollution control 
734           Public & industrial health engineering 
736           Safety engineering 
738           Rescue & salvage operations 
740         TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES 
742           Road transport technology & services 
743           Railway transport technology & services 
745           Water transport technology & services 
747           Air transport technology & services 
748           Space transport technology 
760         MILITARY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 
764           Warfare 
767           Weapons in warfare 
780         MINING 
782           Solid fuel extraction 
783           Metal mining 
784           Non-metallic mineral mining 
786             Oil & gas extraction technology 
788             Ore & mineral dressing 
800         PROCESS INDUSTRIES 
810           Chemical technology & engineering 
811             Chemical engineering 
812             Chemical technology 
813               Chemical agents & basic industrial chemicals 
815               Industrial gases technology 
816,90            Biotechnology 
823               Technology of particular groups of chemicals 
825               Petroleum technology 
826               Natural oils, fats & waxes technology 
828               Polymer technology 
831,30            Chemical agents for materials processing 
831,40              Surface-active agents 
831,44              Adhesives & sealants
831,47              Lubricants 
831,60              Surface finishing agents 
832                 Fuels & explosives technology 
834                 Colour industry technology 
836               Pharmaceuticals & related technologies 
838               Agricultural chemicals technology 
840           FOOD & DRINK TECHNOLOGY 
841             Food technology 
845             Drinks technology 
847,50        TOBACCO PROCESSING 
849,13        MINERAL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY 
850             Non-metallic mineral technologies 
852,32            Lime & lime products 
852,34            Gypsum & anhydrite products
852,50            Cement & mortar technology 
852,60            Concrete technology 
854               Ceramics & clayware technology 
856               Glass & glass ceramics technology 
858               Fibrous & layered silicate mineral technologies 
860           METAL TECHNOLOGY 
864             Metal products 
865,50          Metallurgy of particular &anp; kinds of metals 
865,60            Alloys 
866,60            Ferrous metallurgy 
867               Non-ferrous metallurgy 
871,95        WOOD, PULP & PAPER TECHNOLOGY
872             Wood technology 
873             Pulp & paper technology 
875           LEATHER & OTHER ANIMAL PRODUCTS TECHNOLOGY 
877           TEXTILES TECHNOLOGY 
878           CORDAGE & WIRE ROPE MAKING 
890           MANUFACTURE & TECHNOLOGY OF PARTICULAR PRODUCTS 
                        NOT SCHEDULED IN BSO AREA 600 TO 878


910       LANGUAGE & LITERATURE                             
911         LINGUISTICS                 
912         USE OF LANGUAGE     
912,20        Authorship                                        
912,30        Reading                                          
915         LITERATURE                           
920         SPECIAL PHILOLOGICAL STUDIES                       
921           Indo-European languages & literatures  
923,20        Afro-Asian languages & literatures        
923,60        Caucasian languages & literatures            
923,70        Basque language & literature 
924           Eurasian & North Asian languages & literatures                        
925,20        Dravidian languages 
925,51        Sino-Tibetan languages & literatures         
925,70        Austronesian & Oceanic languages & literatures                       
927           African languages & literatures               
928           Amerindian languages & literatures           

940       ARTS               
943         PLASTIC ARTS             
945         GRAPHIC FINE ARTS                                   
947         PHOTOGRAPHY AS ART                
949         DECORATIVE ARTS & HANDICRAFTS      
950         MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTS         
951           Music      
952             Vocal music                        
953             Instrumental music
955           PERFORMING ARTS                                  
957             Cinema                                       

970       RELIGION & ATHEISM                                
971         Atheism & rationalism          
972         Religion      
973,90        Particular religions                  
974             Religions of Indian origin       
975             Religions of Far Eastern origin                
975,70          Religions of Iranian origin                    
976             Judaism                                         
977             Christianity                   
978             Islam         
979             Other religions & semi-religious cults     
 
992       ESOTERIC PRACTICES & MOVEMENTS                    

Full detail excerpt

The complete full detail BSO classification expands the preceding list by an overall factor of about 25. The following excerpt is extracted from the Biomedical Sciences area of BSO:

 
439,31,40       Foetal biomedicine 
439,32          Paediatrics = Pediatrics = Infancy & childhood 
439,32,12,33      Metabolism
439,32,13,70      Genetics 
439,32,15,20      Development 
439,32,20,38      Radiology 
439,32,20,58      Immunology 
439,32,22         Preventive paediatrics 
439,32,22,60        Food health & hygiene 
439,32,23,70      Hospitals = Children's hospitals 
439,32,25,30      Diagnosis 
439,32,25,40      Therapeutics 
439,32,25,70        Anaesthesiology
439,32,26         Surgery 
439,32,28         Diseases 
439,32,28,41        Toxicology 
439,32,28,43        Allergy & anaphylaxis 
439,32,28,80        Communicable diseases 

439,32,34,31      Dermatology = Skin biomedicine 
439,32,34,50      Musculoskeletal system 
439,32,34,75        Connective tissue
439,32,35,30      Alimentary system 
439,32,35,31        Nutrition process 
439,32,35,32        Dentistry 
439,32,35,40      Respiratory system 
439,32,35,51      Cardiovascular system 
439,32,35,58      Lymphology               
439,32,35,60      Endocrinology

Index excerpt

This excerpt is an arbitrarily chosen slice from the index to the full BSO classification. It is not an index to the terms in the preceding excerpt from the full BSO classification which do not fall within the alphabetic range Foetuses-Food, Health & hygiene.


Foetuses, Biomedical sciences  439,31,40
Fog, Meteorology  265,67,49
Folacin, Biochemistry  312,37,87,36,80
Folacin, Biochemistry, Biomedical sciences  412,37,87,36,80
Folds, Geology  273,34,50
Folk & traditional art  940,52
Folk & traditional music  951,52
Folk literature  915,52
Folklore  533,60
Folklore, Nature  533,62
Food, Additives & flavouring materials, Technology  841,71
Food, Allergies, Medicine  428,43,60
Food, Animal derived, Human needs  471,51
Food, Animal husbandry products  366,81
Food, Contamination, Health & hygiene  422,60,40
Food, Crops  363,64
Food, Disease causation, Medicine  420,52,60
Food, Fishery products  387,87
Food, Flavouring materials, Technology  841,72
Food, Health & hygiene  422,60
Food, Health & hygiene, Genital system  435,75,22,60

 




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