Use of the UDC in Spain: implementation, application, teaching and research

Abstract

It was from 1895 onwards, the year in which the First International Bibliography Conference was held that the Decimal Classification system began to be implemented on a European scale and started to be disseminated in Spain. The introduction of the UDC scheme was initially subject to numerous difficulties faced by the various initiatives undertaken by individual librarians, but it subsequently received the support of the Spanish Administration. In 1939, the adoption of the UDC was established for all Spanish libraries, by official decree. Although what was stipulated in the decree was the 1934 German version, in practice libraries implemented the latest version of the UDC tables. Finally, from 1989 onwards, the compulsoriness of using UDC to classify collections and catalogues was abandoned, although its implementation in libraries, catalogues and bibliographies remained in most cases. The UDC is taught within the framework of regulated Library and Information Science schools, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view. In Spain, research on the UDC is already quite important: translations, adaptations and versions of the tables have been undertaken and there are also analytical works on different aspects of the UDC system.