Latest Edition
The Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM) is a comprehensive classification system for organizing and accessing information on all aspects of cultural and social life. Originally developed by George Peter Murdock, the OCM has been continuously revised and updated to reflect advances in anthropological research. Download the current edition as a PDF for offline reference.
Alphabetical Display
In an alphabetical display all terms, whether preferred or non-preferred, are organized as a single alphabetical sequence. Preferred and non-preferred terms are distinguished typographically whenever possible, so that the non-preferred status of the non-preferred terms is obvious
Major Subjects (Classified Display)
The approach of arranging thesaurus terms by disciplines or subject fields is similar to that adopted by the developer of a library classification who begins by organizing the universe of concepts into main classes or disciplines. When applied to a thesaurus, categories of concepts should be grouped initially to reflect the various fields of interest of its users.
Hierarchical Display
A hierarchical display for one language is constructed by indenting each array of narrower terms under its parent broader term. Other relationships (such as equivalence and associative relationships) are not normally shown in this form of display as they would make the structure more difficult to follow.