Libraries and Dewey Decimal Classification

025.431:Libraries & Dewey

Decimal Classification

This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 United

States License (http://www.creativecommons.org)

Presented by Matthew “Buzzy” NielsenAssistant Library Director, North Bend Public Library

You’ve got some books

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But let’s not be biblio-centric

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" A few CDs," Spushnik on Flickr

YOUR TASK:How do you organize these

materials so people can find them?

Color?

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Size?

Image source:Library of Congress

Publication date?

19911992

19931994

19951996

19971998

1999

Title?

Author?

FictionNonfiction

Subject

How libraries are really organized

Subject

Author

Title

(Presentations)

(Reynolds, Garr)

(Presentation zen)

How libraries are really organized

Subject

Author

Title

General

Specific

Really specific

(Presentations)

(Reynolds, Garr)

(Presentation zen)

(Practical sciences)

(Business)

(Presentations)

A tale of two classifications

Dewey Decimal classification (DDC)

Library of Congress classification (LC)

Okay, four

Dewey Decimal classification (DDC)

Library of Congress classification (LC)

Book Industry Standards& Communication (BISAC)

Open ShelvesClassification (OSC)

The esteemed Mr. Dewey

• Invented the Dewey Decimal System when he was 21

• Helped found the American Library Association

• Created the first library school at Columbia College

How Dewey Works

Knowledge is divided into 10

subjects

How Dewey Works

General

Philosophy & Psychology

Religion

Social Sciences

Languages

Natural Sciences

Applied Sciences

Arts

Literature

History & Geography

Knowledge is divided into 10

subjects

700s

How Dewey Works

000s

100s

200s

300s

400s

500s

600s

800s

900s

Those subjects are assigned

numbers

How Dewey Works

020sLibraries

170sEthics

260sTheology

330sEconomics

440sFrench languages

590sZoology

610sMedicine

750sPainting

880sGreek Lit

950sAfrican history

And more specific subjects are given

more specific numbers

Why numbers?

1. Numbers have a clear order.

000 Generalities

100 Philosophy & Psychology

200 Religion

300 Social Sciences

400 Language

500 Natural Sciences

600 Technology

700 The Arts

800 Literature

900 Geography & History

Easy toorganize

Why numbers?

1. Numbers have a clear order.

2. Numbers can reflect if a subject is more general or specific.

000 Generalities

100 Philosophy & Psychology

200 Religion

300 Social Sciences

400 Language

500 Natural Sciences

600 Technology

700 The Arts• 750 Painting

• 759 History of painting

800 Literature

900 Geography & History

more specific

even more specific

Why numbers?

1. Numbers have a clear order.

2. Numbers can reflect if a subject is more general or specific.

3. Numbers reflect groupings effectively

000 Generalities

100 Philosophy & Psychology

200 Religion

300 Social Sciences

400 Language

500 Natural Sciences• 590 Zoology

• 597 Fishes

• 598 Birds

• 599 Mammals

600 Technology

700 The Arts

800 Literature

900 Geography & Historyanimal groups

From general to specific

000 Generalities

100 Philosophy & Psychology

200 Religion

300 Social Sciences

400 Language

500 Natural Sciences

600 Technology

700 The Arts

800 Literature

900 Geography & History

700 The Arts

710 Landscaping & area planning

720 Architecture

730 Sculpture

740 Drawing & decorative arts

750 Painting

760 Graphic arts

770 Photography

780 Music

790 Sports, games & entertainment

To even more specific

700 The Arts

710 Landscaping & area planning

720 Architecture

730 Sculpture

740 Drawing & decorative arts

750 Painting

760 Graphic arts

770 Photography

780 Music

790 Sports, games & entertainment

780 Music

781 General principles

782 Vocal music

783 Music for single voices

784 Instruments & ensembles

785 Ensembles with one instrument per part

786 Keyboards & percussion

787 Strings

788 Wind instruments

Groupings

Groupings can be by Dewey area.

400 Languages• 420 English

• 430 German

• 440 French

Groupings

Groupings can be by Dewey area.

Groupings can be by topic within several Dewey areas.

400 Languages• 420 English

• 430 German

• 440 French

Biography• 921 – General

• 979.5092 – Oregon

• 530.092 – Physics

Dictionaries• 423 – English

• 570.3 - Biological

• 610.3 – Medical

Quick Dewey Test

1. In what order should these books be shelved?

2. Which books are in the same Dewey subject area?

3. Which books are in different areas but have the same focus?

979.5/ORE

557.95/STE

349.795/HIT

667.7/YOU

551.302/ALT

811/ANG

811/LON

551.31/BRO

Quick Dewey Answers

1. In what order should these books be shelved?

2. Which books are in the same Dewey subject area?

3. Which books are in different areas but have the same focus?

349.795/HIT

551.302/ALT

551.31/BRO

557.95/STE

667.7/YOU

811/ANG

811/LON

979.5/ORE

Quick Dewey Answers

1. In what order should these books be shelved?

2. Which books are in the same Dewey subject area?

3. Which books are in different areas but have the same focus?

349.795/HIT

551.302/ALT

551.31/BRO

557.95/STE

667.7/YOU

811/ANG

811/LON

979.5/ORE

Quick Dewey Answers

1. In what order should these books be shelved?

2. Which books are in the same Dewey subject area?

3. Which books are in different areas but have the same focus?

349.795/HIT

551.302/ALT

551.31/BRO

557.95/STE

667.7/YOU

811/ANG

811/LON

979.5/ORE

Dewey Hierarchy Review

Dewey numbers have a clear order.

• 300 Social Sciences

• 400s Languages

• 500s Natural Sciences

Dewey Hierarchy Review

Dewey numbers have a clear order.

• 300 Social Sciences

• 400s Languages

• 500s Natural Sciences

More specific subjects get more specific numbers.

• 781.7 Sacred Music• 781.71 Christian Sacred Music

• 781.7161 Baptist Sacred Music

Dewey Hierarchy Review

Dewey numbers have a clear order.

• 300 Social Sciences

• 400s Languages

• 500s Natural Sciences

More specific subjects get more specific numbers.

• 781.7 Sacred Music• 781.71 Christian Sacred Music

• 781.7161 Baptist Sacred Music

Topics are grouped using numbers.

• 160 Logic

• 170 Ethics

• 180 Ancient Philosophy

• 349.795 Oregon Law

• 557.95 Oregon Geology

• 979.5 Oregon History

Dewey Areas

000s: General works

100s: Psychology & philosophy

200s: Religion

300s: Social sciences

400s: Language

500s: Natural sciences

600s: Technology, applied sciences

700s: Arts

800s: Literature

900s: History, geography & biography

000s: General works & info systems

000: Generalities(Info systems)

010: Bibliographies

020: Library & information sciences

030: Encyclopedias, etc.

040: Not used

050: Magazines, journals, & serials

060: Organizations & museums

070: Journalism

080: Quotations

090: Manuscripts & rare Books

100s: Psychology & philosophy

100: Philosophy

110: Metaphysics

120: Epistemology

130: Occultism, parapsychology

140: Philosophical schools of thought

150: Psychology

160: Logic

170: Ethics

180: Ancient, medieval, Eastern philosophy

190: Modern western philosophy

200s: Religion

200: Religion

210: Philosophy & theory of religion

220: The Bible

230: Christian theology

240: Christian Practice

250: Churches & Religious orders

260: Social theology

270: History of Christianity

280: Christian denominations

290: Other religions

300s: Social sciences

300: Social Sciences, sociology & anthropology

310: Statistics

320: Political science

330: Economics

340: Law

350: Public administration

360: Social problems & services

370: Education

380: Commerce & Industry

390: Customs & Folklore

400s: Language

400: Language

410: Linguistics

420: English & Old English

430: German & related languages

440: French & related languages

450: Italian & related languages

460: Portuguese & Spanish languages

470: Latin languages

480: Classical Greek languages

490: Other languages

500s: Natural sciences

500: Natural sciences

510: Mathematics

520: Astronomy

530: Physics

540: Chemistry

550: Earth sciences & geology

560: Fossils & prehistoric life

570: Life sciences, biology

580: Plants (botany)

590: Animals (zoology)

600s: Technology & applied sciences

600: Technology

610: Medicine & health

620: Engineering

630: Agriculture

640: Home & family economics

650: Management

660: Chemical engineering

670: Manufacturing

680: Misc. manufacturing

690: Building & construction

700s: Arts & recreation

700: Arts

710: Landscaping

720: Architecture

730: Sculpture, ceramics, & metals

740: Drawing & decorative arts

750: Painting

760: Graphic arts

770: Photography & computer art

780: Music

790: Sports, games, & entertainment

800s: Literature

800: Literature, rhetoric, & criticism

810: American literature

820: English literature

830: German literature

840: French literature

850: Italian literature

860: Spanish literature

870: Latin literature

880: Ancient Greek literature

890: Other literature

900s: History, geography, & biography

900: History

910: Geography & travel

920: Biography & genealogy

930: Ancient history

940: European history

950: Asian history

960: African history

970: North American history

980: South American history

990: History of other areas

Economics in plain English

The plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare

The story of thought

Keep your car running practically forever

The atlas of the solar system

Teach yourself visually Windows XP

Quick Dewey Test

In which Dewey subject areado these titles belong?

Quick Dewey Test

330s

820s

190s

620s

520s

000s

In which Dewey subject areado these titles belong?

Dewey isn’t perfect!?

Dewey Decimal “Problems”

1. Subjects can be found in multiple Dewey areas.

2. Dewey places fiction books in the 800s, divided by country and date.

3. Dewey places biographies in the area of the subject’s profession.

Same subject . . . in three sections?

Gardening

580Botany

635Gardening

712.6Landscaping

Problem: The same subject can be foundin multiple Dewey subject areas

Solution: use the library catalog orask a librarian

Fiction . . . by when it was written?

Problem: Dewey shelves fiction by the author’s nationality and time period.

813.3 – Nathaniel Hawthorne

813.54 – Danielle Steel

813.6 – Alexander McCall Smith

823.8 – Charles Dickens

820.92 – J.K. Rowling

863.44 – Isabel Allende

891.733 – Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fiction books . . . by creation date?

Problem: Dewey shelves fiction by the author’s nationality and time period.

Solution: File all fiction by Author, together in one section.

FIC/ALL – Isabel Allende

FIC/DIC – Charles Dickens

FIC/DOS – Fyodor Dostoevsky

FIC/HAW – Nathaniel Hawthorne

FIC/MCC – Alexander McCall Smith

FIC/ROW – J.K. Rowling

FIC/STE – Danielle Steel

Biographies . . . by profession?

180 – Socrates

270.6 – Martin Luther

323 - Martin Luther King, Jr.

530 – Albert Einstein

759.13 – Andy Warhol

973.46 – Thomas Jefferson

Problem: Dewey shelves bios by the subject’s profession.

Biographies . . . by profession?

921/EIN – Albert Einstein

921/JEF – Thomas Jefferson

921/KIN - Martin Luther King, Jr.

921/LUT – Martin Luther

921/SOC – Socrates

921/WAR – Andy Warhol

Problem: Dewey shelves bios by the subject’s profession.

Solution: Shelve all bios by subject then by author, together in one section.

• Common areas:92, 921, B

The result?

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But you’re still needed.

You help connect peoplewith the information they need

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Hopefully, you can do it better now.

Thank you.

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