025.431: Libraries & Dewey Decimal Classification This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License (http://www.creativecommons.org ) Presented by Matthew “Buzzy” Nielsen Assistant Library Director, North Bend Public Library
This basic overview of the Dewey Decimal System is used to train Library staff and volunteers. It details why libraries use Dewey and similar systems and explains how the system is organized.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
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
Image source:"Pile of Books in the Prague Library," callumscott2 on Flickr
But let’s not be biblio-centric
Image sources: "All of my DVDs," nickstone333 on Flickr
" A few CDs," Spushnik on Flickr
YOUR TASK:How do you organize these
materials so people can find them?
Color?
Image source:“bookshelf," chotda on Flickr
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?
Image source:"seattle library stacks," oceandesetoiles on Flickr
But you’re still needed.
You help connect peoplewith the information they need
Image source:"IKBLC interior 8," UBC Library Graphics on Flickr
Hopefully, you can do it better now.
Thank you.
This presentation is available on SlideShare:http://www.slideshare.net/remnil/025431