Implications of five laws of library science on subject indexing of fictional literature

Ranganathan had an outstanding life, completely devoted to Library Science. Over time, he gained a prodigious reputation not only in India but also worldwide and his theoretical works obtained a significant importance in the field. This paper intends to celebrate Ranganathan's visionary character, to reaffirm the timeless facet of his work, and to consider the applicability of Iris ideas. To do that, Ranganathan's life and Iris Five Laws of Library Science (1931) are reviewed. Then, subject indexing of fictional literature is analysed in the light of these commandments. It is concluded that the subject indexing of fiction practice is in accordance with the principles defended by Ranganathan and that libraries and librarians disregarding his suggestions are not doing all that they can to provide faster and better services to readers of fiction.