The ICSU AB International classification system for physics: Its history and future

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Abstract
An account is given of the process by which the International Classification System for Physics was developed and finally adopted by four major services that abstract and index the world's physics literature. Details are given of the relevant historical background and of the collaborative procedures followed in achieving consensus in this international project, unique in its scale. This effort was pursued under the aegis of the International Council of Scientific Unions and involved four services and other physics organizations. Some technical points are discussed that bear on the problems of constructing classification systems that fulfill a variety of needs and express a compromise between similar preexisting structures. Aspects of the experience of collaboration, which may be of use to similar enterprises, and some implications for the future of processing of scientific information on an international scale, are briefly reviewed.

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