Dewey Decimal Help

Help with the Dewey Decimal System

What is the Dewey Decimal Classification System?

A man named Melvil Dewey developed the Dewey Decimal Classification System in 1876. He thought that it would help libraries organize their books better if each book was given a number according to what it was about. That way, all books with the same subject would be close to each other on the shelf. That's what "classification" means.

How is it organized?

The word "decimal" refers to numbers that are based on 10 (ten). You will see that there are 10 basic categories in the Dewey Decimal system, and each of those categories is further split into 10 categories, and so on. The number 10 has always been a good number for people to use in counting things because we have 10 fingers!

How can I find things?

Each one of the 10 major categories in the Dewey Decimal system covers a different subject. For example, the 300 category includes everything about the Social Sciences, like Government or Law. The 800 category includes everything about Literature. Once you get used to how things are organized, you'll find it very easy to locate the information you're looking for.

Why is the Dewey system still used?

Melvil Dewey thought up this system just for organizing books, because there wasn't much else in libraries back in 1876. However, the Dewey Decimal system is also very good for organizing other kinds of information, like websites. Today, many libraries still use the Dewey Decimal system, even though they might have things like videotapes, compact discs (CDs), and computer files as well as books in their collections.

Should the Dewey system be reorganized?

You may notice that the Dewey Decimal system pays more attention to American and European subjects than to those of other cultures. Back in 1876, many people didn't understand the importance of a global perspective and learning about other cultures. The Dewey system still reflects that old outlook because it would be very hard for libraries to completely change how they are organized. Someday, though, we hope that the Dewey Decimal system will more fairly represent the diversity of our world.

Here are the ten main classes in the Dewey Decimal System:

000 Generalities
100 Philosophy
200 Religion
300 Social Sciences
400 Languages
500 Science
600 Applied science
700 Arts
800 Literature
900 History

Each of these 10 classes is subdivided into ten more divisions. If we use the 500 (Science) class as an example it is divided like this:

500 Natural sciences
510 Mathematics
520 Astronomy
530 Physics
540 Chemistry
550 Earth sciences
560 Palaeontology
570 Life sciences
580 Botany
590 Zoology

Now each of these divisions is divided again into ten more sections. If we use the 530 (Physics) section as an example it is divided like this:

530 Physics
531 Solid mechanics
532 Fluid mechanics
533 Gas mechanics
534 Sound
535 Light
536 Heat
537 Electricity
538 Magnetism
539 Modern physics

With the use of a decimal point, and extra digits after the point, each of these sections can be further subdivided to cover increasingly narrower subject areas. For example, for Electricity:

537.5 Electronics

            537.534            Radio waves

                        537.5342          Long waves

                                     537.5343          Short waves

The longer the classification number, the more specific the subject is. The shorter the number, the more general it is. So, on the shelves you will find that the more general books come first in the sequence, and as you move along the shelves you will find the books becoming more specialized.

Here is a complete general outline of the Dewey Decimal System.

000 Generalities

010      Bibliography

020      Information Science & Librarianship

030      Encyclopedias

040      [Currently unassigned]

050      General serials

060      Organizations

070      Journalism, Publishing

080      General collections

090      Manuscripts, Rare books

100      Philosophy, Psychology

110      Metaphysics

120      Epistemology

130      Parapsychology, Occultism

140      Specific philosophical schools

150      Psychology

160      Logic

170      Ethics

180      Ancient, Medieval, Eastern Philosophy

190      Modern Western philosophy

200      Religion

210      Natural theology

220      Bible

230      Christian theology

240      Moral & devotional theology

250      Christian religious orders

260      Christian social theology

270      Church history

280      Church denominations & sects

290      Other & comparative religions

300      Social sciences

310      General statistics

320      Political science

330      Economics

340      Law

350      Public administration

360      Social services

370      Education

380      Commerce, communications

390      Customs, Folklore

400      Languages

410      Linguistics

420      English, & Old English

430      Germanic languages

440      French

450      Italian

460      Spanish

470      Latin

480      Classical Greek

490      Other languages (including Irish)

500      Natural sciences

510      Mathematics

520      Astronomy

530      Physics

540      Chemistry

550      Earth sciences

560      Paleontology

570      Life sciences

580      Botany

590      Zoology

560      Paleontology

570      Life sciences

600      Technology (Applied sciences)

610      Medical sciences

620      Engineering

630      Agriculture

640      Home economics & family living

650      Management

660      Chemical engineering

670      Manufacturing

680      Manufacturing for specific purposes

690      Buildings & Construction

700      The Arts

710      Civic & landscape art

720      Architecture

730      Sculpture

740      Drawing

750      Painting

760      Graphic arts

770      Photography

780      Music

790      Performing arts & Sports

800      Literature

810      American literature in English

820      English & Old English literature

830      Germanic literature

840      French literature

850      Italian literature

860      Spanish & Portuguese literatures

870      Latin literature

880      Classical Greek literature

890      Literatures of other languages

900      Geography & History

910      Geography & travel

920      Genealogy

930      Ancient history

940      History of Europe

950      History of Asia

960      History of Africa

970      History of North America

980      History of South America

990      History of other areas