Revisiting Duyvis: A Chemical Engineer’s Zeal to Organize Knowledge

Abstract

This paper presents an analytical study on Frits Donker Duyvis’ role in developing and revising Universal Decimal Classification (UDC). Also, his role as Secretary General of International Institute of Bibliography (IIB) has been analysed. The IIB was formed in 12th September 1895 at Brussels actually to sponsor UDC. It was renamed as International Institute for Documentation in 1931. During Duyvis’ tenure in IIB, several controversies occurred with Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine, the inventors of UDC. Otlet’s universal philosophy and notion of a great centralised bibliographic repertory confronted Duyvis’ pragmatic outlook, which is perhaps one of the most remarkable conflicts in the history of knowledge classification in IIB. The excerpts of some memorable letters of Otlet and Duyvis are presented here to present a layout of the historical conflicts took place centring the revision process of UDC. According to Ranganathan, Donker Duyvis was primarily a classificationist and not a grammarian of classificatory language. Several excerpts from different documents are presented to reckon that if Otlet was the first to understand that classification was at the heart of all documentation, it was Duyvis who made this finding in everyday practice.