Realia
"Realia" means "the real" in contrast to what is represented in thought, languages or texts. In language teaching the term "realia" is used about, for example, teaching English culture and society, opposed to, say, the grammar of English.
"Realia" is also a
descriptor in the database Library and Information Science
Abstracts. It is used about the indexing of, among other things, "Ships"; "Objects";
"Herbarium specimens"; "Tools" & "Three-dimensional materials".
It is possible in this way to utilize knowledge organizing systems
designed for document also for "realia". The question is what kind of
theoretical problems are involved?
Some information scientists claim that indexing documents is essentially different from indexing "realia":
"Scientific classification and logical division has worked fairly well in the classification of natural kinds, such as Linnaeus' classification of living things. The reason is that the characteristics chosen, such as the shape of a fruit, are easy to perceive and describe. Furthermore, all biologists and botanists would agree on the interpretation of the characteristics (Lakoff, 1987). Such taxonomies do not intend to analyze the meaning of the terms, but are merely classifications of kinds of things. The chosen characteristics by which the genus is divided into genera are properties of the things classified and the characteristics are subject to inspection." (Mai, 2004, p. 41).
However, the underlying assumptions in this quote are probably wrong. First, the difficulties in botanical classifications may be underestimated (cf., Ereshefsky, 2000; Lakoff, 1987, p. 187-195). For example, Ereshefsky (2000, p. 15) writes about methods for classifying the world's entities: "[T]hree general philosophical schools will be presented: essentialism, cluster analysis, and historical classification.
Essentialism sorts entities according to their essential natures. (See: Essence in Epistemological Lifeboat)
Cluster analysis divides entities into groups whose members share a cluster of similar traits, though none of those traits are essential.
The historical approach classifies entities according to their causal relations rather than their intrinsic qualitative features." (Format with bullets added).
Secondly, when objects are named they becomes part of the human meaning-system. It is "positivist" to regard the characteristics of natural kinds as just "given". What the botanist sees is partly determined by his preunderstanding which is influenced by the botanical domain.
The theoretical problem associated with indexing "realia" may be related to the empirical basis of the knowledge organizing system. Traditional systems such as DDC are based on literary warrant (in case the monographic literature). Such systems are not primarily reflecting an abstract "universe of knowledge" but a more or less specific collection. They are most fruitful to the collections from which they have been derived (and to which they are designed).
Literature:
Ereshefsky, M. (2000). The Poverty of the Linnaean Hierarchy : A Philosophical Study of Biological Taxonomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things. What categories reveal about the human mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mai, J.-E. (2004). Classification in context. Relativity, reality and representation. Knowledge Organization, 31(1), 39-48. http://www.ischool.washington.edu/mai/Papers/2004_ClassificationInContext.pdf
See also: Realism (Epistemological lifeboat)
Birger Hjørland
Last edited: 07-04-2006