The most accepted classification system in the Estonian research libraries has been the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC). In the autumn of 1995 the centennial of the UDC was celebrated. In the last years the management of the UDC has changed and the classification is now available in a machine-readable format. This database called MRF favours the future development and use of the UDC.

The UDC is extremely versatile by nature. This makes it appropriate for a wide variety of situations. The UDC can serve as:

• a shelf arrangement scheme in the libraries;
• a basis of the classified card catalogues;
• a tool for subject searching in online catalogues and other databases;
• a framework for subject arrangement in indexing services publications covering journal articles, research reports and similar materials;
• a subject indicator in national bibliographies both in printed and digital form;
• a tool for thematic arrangement of the networked information resources.

Great Britain has the leading position in publishing and distributing the UDC tables in English (British Standards Institution being the founding member of the UDC Consortium). 22% of libraries and information agencies in Great Britain were using UDC in 1980.

The Deutsches Institut für Normung managed the UDC tables in German till 1990. There were 167 institutions using UDC in Germany in 1982.

In Denmark and Sweden the abridged versions of the UDC are being used in research and special libraries, in public libraries the national classification systems are more popular.

In Finnish research libraries the UDC has a strong position since the sixties. The majority of records in various bibliographic databases have UDC numbers. The UDC abridged tables in Finnish have been published several times.

In Portugal the UDC is the dominating library classification. In the union catalogue PORBASE every record contains a UDC number.

In Central and Eastern Europe the classification policy and practice has been more centralized than in Western Europe. UDC has had the dominating position in the libraries of Hungary, Czeck Republic, Slovakia, Poland, etc. There is a great variety of UDC tables in those languages. Remarkably, the postsocialist countries have obtained 11 of the first 20 licences to the UDC MRF for publishing the new editions.

In Russia the new classification policy has not been formed yet. Since 1962 the UDC has been mandatory for scientific and technical libraries and information agencies in the Soviet Union. The tables in Russian were used in 50 000 institutions. Representatives of the Soviet Union had strong positions in the international UDC bodies. Since the transition of the management of the system to the UDC Consortium, the Russian specialists do not take part in the revision work.

Libraries of the Asian and African countries are widely using the classification systems created in Western countries, especially DDC and UDC. There are many local entities not represented in these systems but the development of a new universal classification is very costly. Only a wealthy country like Japan or a very big country like China have been able to develop its own national classifications.

UDC has 100 000 institutional and individual users in 60 countries. In many countries, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, the UDC serves as a shared subject indexing tool. The tables at abridged, medium or full level are published in 25 languages. Several new editions have recently come out. Very likely, the first Estonian edition will be in use in our libraries quite soon.

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