NOTE: This classification is not used at the Bahá'í world Centre.

In an article in Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 8(2),1987/88:99-1330, the author discussed the process of developing a classification system for Bahá'í materials at the Bahá'í World Centre Library in Haifa, Israel. The library developed two adaptations of the standard classifications: one was based upon the Dewey Decimal Classification, patterned after the M200 schedule for Mormonism developed by the Utah Library Association; the other was based upon the Library of Congress Classification's BP300-395.

The development of a Dewey-Decimal-based classification scheme for Bahá'í publications was halted in 1979, when the Bahá'í World Centre Library made the choice to use the Library of Congress classification. The author has returned to work with the earlier drafts of a Bahá'í classification based upon Dewey. In light of experience with the development of the classification based upon the Library of Congress scheme, I have created a comprehensive classificatory arrangement for Bahá'í materials that makes use of many of the standard Dewey devices, such as geographical tables [DDC table 2], racial/ethnic/national groups [DDC table 5], languages [DDC table 6], and groups of persons [DDC table 7]. Further refinements will be needed to create a more faceted classification, freed of the need for devices which have been borrowed from Library of Congress classification such as double cuttering. The author welcomes comments on the organization of this classification, and suggestions for improvements.

The development of the Bahá'í classification schedule based upon the Dewey Decimal Classification is not intended merely as an intellectual exercise. Many Bahá'í libraries have been established in schools and communities where there is little experience with the Library of Congress system. The Dewey-based classification for Bahá'í materials can serve as an alternative that offers a more familiar style to those institutions and communities.