Dewey Decimal System

THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM AND HOW TO USE IT

Melvil Dewey (1851-1931) believed in organization. Even as a child, he was busy devising a way to arrange his family's pantry to make it more efficient. Before his system of classifying library books was adopted, many libraries relied on systems that filed books by size or color-cumbersome and not very useful methods at best. While working as a librarian at Amherst College, Dewey developed a system that is used by most school and small public libraries today. Published anonymously in 1876, his classifications divide nonfiction books into 10 broad categories.

000-099 General works (encyclopedias and similar works)
100-199 Philosophy (how people think and what they believe)
200-299 Religion (including mythology and religions of the world)
300-399 Social sciences (folklore and legends, government, manners and customs, vocations)
400-499 Language (dictionaries, grammars)
500-599 Pure science (mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, nature study)
600-699 Technology (applied sciences-aviation, building, engineering, homemaking)
700-799 Arts (photography, drawing, painting, music, sports
800-899 Literature (plays, poetry)
900-999 History (ancient and modern, geography, travel)

Each of these sections is further divided for accuracy in classification. For example, the numbers 500-599 cover the pure sciences, such as astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, paleontology, and physics. Each of these areas has its own division and section number. All books on mathematics are assigned numbers in the 510 to 519 range; mathematics is then broken down into types, such as algebra, arithmetic, and geometry. Geometry's specific number is 513, which can be subdivided through the use of decimal points to provide 10 basic categories. Additional digits can be added, creating an every more precise categorization system.

Books are arranged alphabetically within each classification by the first letters of the author's last name. Therefore, a library that has several books on American history of the colonial period will assign the same basic number (973.2) to all the books and shelve them alphabetically.

Dewey's aim was to create a system that would be simple enough for even casual users to understand, but complex enough to meet a library's expanding needs. His system was developed to meet the needs of many libraries. A second popular system was created to fit the requirements of a specific library, the Library of Congress. This system, now in wide use, is even more detailed and has the advantage of being able to accommodate growth of knowledge in unexpected areas.