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Searching for Books

Searching for Books. A simple guide to using the Dewey Decimal System. Melvil Dewey. In 1876 an American librarian named Melvil Dewey made up a way of classifying books called the ‘Dewey Decimal Classification System’ This system is now used in most libraries all over the world.

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Searching for Books

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  1. Searching for Books A simple guide to using the Dewey Decimal System

  2. Melvil Dewey • In 1876 an American librarian named Melvil Dewey made up a way of classifying books called the ‘Dewey Decimal Classification System’ • This system is now used in most libraries all over the world. • It uses 10 categories of numbers, with decimal places to group similar things together

  3. Dewey Decimal System Puts similar things together

  4. Ten Main Classifications in Dewey’s System • The world’s knowledge is divided into 10 categories or groups. • Each group has a name and is represented by three numbers.

  5. Dewey Decimal System Insects Sea creatures 591.77 595.7

  6. You Can Judge A Book by Its Cover! • The Dewey Decimal Classification call number can be found on the spine label. Why? • When the book is shelved, the Dewey Decimal Classification call number can be easily seen. 200Bya 500 Lee 000 Mea

  7. The Big Ten! • Generalities – 000 • Philosophy – 100 • Religion – 200 • Social Science – 300 • Language – 400 • Science & Math – 500 • Technology – 600 • The Arts – 700 • Literature – 800 • Geography & History - 900 The Dewey Decimal System brings order to the library.

  8. Dewey System - 000s • General Knowledge • Encyclopedias • Books about libraries & museums • Journalism • Computers • Controversial or unexplained topics

  9. Dewey System - 100s • Psychology • Philosophy • Thinking about ourselves • Who am I? • Why am I here? • Ideas • Image from: • http://www.trcc.commnet.edu/Prog_Study/Soc_Sciences/Psych/faculty.htm

  10. Dewey System - 200s • Beliefs • Religions • Mythologies • Where did we come from? • Who created us?

  11. Dewey System - 300s • Communities - Learning to get along together • Trade • Commerce • Politics • Government • Education • Law • Transport • Welfare • Folk lore and fairy tales

  12. Dewey System - 400s • Languages • How do we communicate with each other?

  13. Dewey System - 500s • Natural Science • Maths • Nature and the world around us • The universe • The earth • Animals • Birds • Reptiles • Fish

  14. Dewey System - 600s • Applied Science • Technology • How we have changed the natural world to make it more useful • Anything that people invent, engineer, grow, manufacture, process and build

  15. Dewey System - 700s • Sport • Recreation • How people use their leisure time • Art • Craft • Dance • Music

  16. Dewey System - 800s • Literature • The stories, poems and plays people write in their leisure time

  17. Dewey System - 900s • Geography • History • Biographies • The rest of the world • How they live now • How they lived long ago

  18. How do the numbers work? • The system uses numbers. The numbers have meaning, so that books on the same topic are grouped together. • Each book gets at least 3 digits (for example, 543) • After the third digit, a decimal point is placed and as many digits as necessary can be added after the decimal.

  19. How do the numbers work? • A number can be taken apart digit by digit to get its meaning: 979.4 History United States Pacific Coast California

  20. How do the numbers work? • 500 - Natural Sciences • 590 - Zoological science(animals) • 595 - Spiders, insects, crustaceans (animals without backbones) • 595.7 - Insects • 595.78 - Lepidoptera (creatures with 4 wings & scales) • 595.789 - Butterflies

  21. Location Codes • E – Early Book (“Easy” nonfiction) • J - Juvenile • REF – Reference • Middle School nonfiction starts with the Dewey number

  22. Book Labels / Call Numbers • Location code (specific to our Library) • Dewey Decimal number • First 3 letters of the author’s last name J 595.789 Ter

  23. Flashback! What Do You Remember? • Who created the Dewey Decimal Classification System? • What does the DDCS do for our library? • How many main classifications are there? • Where do you find the DDCS number on a library book?

  24. It may also help to just add zeros to the decimal numbers. For example, • 331.7800 • 331.0650 • 331.3090 • 331.0166 • 331.2000 • Which call number comes first? • 311.0942 • 311.07 • 311.116 • 311.2 • 311.018 • 311.126 In a decimal system, books are filed digit by digit--not by whole number. Look at this example, 331 331.01 331.011 331.016 331.02 331.026 331.041 331.04136 331.042 331.1 331.198 331.2

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