Dewey Decimal Classification System Presented to Seventh and Eight Grade Students Developed by Paulina Kuforiji

Table of Content Introduction History of Melvil Dewey History of Dewey Decimal Classification System Other Developments of Dewey Decimal Classification System How is the Dewey’s System Organized? Dewey Browse Locating Dewey’s Decimal Classification Call Number Understanding A DDC Call Number Classifications in Dewey’s System Review References

History of Melvil Dewey Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey was born on December 10, 1851 to a poor family who lived in a small town in upper New York state. He was interested in simplified spelling, he shortened his first name to from “Melville” to Melvil as a young adult. Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey The “Father of Modern Librarianship.”

History of Dewey Decimal Classification System The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system is the world's most widely used library classification system. Dewey invented the Decimal Classification system at the age of 21 in 1870. This invention was published in 1876.

Other Developments of Dewey Decimal Classification System Dewey changed librarianship from a vocation to a modern profession. He helped establish the American Library Association (ALA) in 1876. He was the associations secretary from 1876-1890 and its president for the 1890/1891 and 1892/1893 terms. He was also co-founded and edited Library Journal.

How is the Dewey System organized? The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system provides a logical system organized by subjects. It uses simple decimal notation to divide recorded knowledge into 10 main classes, and each category is 100 divisions and 1,000 sections. Each group has a main title and is represented by three numbers.

Classifications of Dewey’s System 000-099 General Works 100-199 Psychology & Philosophy 200-299 Religion & Mythology 300-399 Education & Social Sciences 400-499 Language 500-599 Natural Sciences & Mathematics 600-699 Technology (Applied Science) 700-799 Arts, Sports & Recreation  800-899 Literature & Rhetoric 900-999 Geography, History & Travel

Classifications of Dewey’s System Every Dewey Decimal (DDC) call number begins with three numbers (808), some with decimal numbers followed by various letters, and/or number combinations. Numbers to the right of the decimal point in DDC call numbers are decimal numbers. Therefore, 808.042 comes before 808.0669.

Locating Dewey’s Decimal Classification Call Number The Dewey Decimal Classification call number can be easily found on the spine of the book 200Bya 500 Lee 000 Mea

Understanding A DDC Call Number One of the best ways to learn to read the DDC numbers is by looking at the subject areas. The following example is an example of a book from the Columbus Library Collection. Example: Fletcher, . How to Write Your Life. Juv. Coll. 808.0669 Fle. 808 represents Literature & Rhetoric

000-099 – General Works Encyclopedias Reference Books Bibliographies The numbers up to 099 are used for bibliographies, encyclopedias and other reference books.

100-199 Psychology & Philosophy Philosophy and Logic Who am I? (Man thinks about himself.)

200-299 Religion & Mythology Christianity Other Religions Who made me? (Man thinks about God.)

300-399 Education & Social Sciences History Law Man thinks about other people.

400-499 Language English French Spanish Other Languages How can I make that man understand me? PHILOLOGY (Language) (Man learns to communicate with others through words.)

500-599 Natural Sciences & Mathematics Earth sciences Plants Animals How can I understand nature and the world about me? (Man learns to understand nature on the land, in the sea, and in the sky.)

600-699 Technology (Applied Science) Medicine Agriculture Family living How can I use what I know about nature? APPLIED SCIENCE AND USEFUL ARTS (Technology)

700-799 Arts, Sports & Recreation Drawing Music Recreational & performing arts How can I enjoy my leisure time? Create and enjoy music, paint pictures, dance and play games.

800-899 Literature & Rhetoric American Literature Old English Literature Literatures of Other Languages How can I give my children a record of man's heroic deeds? (Storytelling, create sagas, fables, epic poetry, and plays about man’s ancestors and groups of people.  Writing for people to read.)

900-999 Geography, History & Travel Biographies Ancient History How can I leave a record for men of the future? Man writes about travel, people, and events

Review Who created the Dewey Decimal Classification System? How is the Dewey’s System Organized? Where do you find the DDCS number on a library book? How many main classifications are there?

References http://www.oclc.org/dewey/ http://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/summaries/deweysummaries.pdf http://www.oclc.org/dewey/versions/ddc22print/intro.pdf http://mte.asd103.org/library/dewey/deweystory.htm http://www.mikids.com/Deweygroups.htm http://www.bclibrary.ca/VRD/helpdesk/dewey.php http://www.homeschoollearning.com/units/unit_09-10-01.shtml http://library.wcsu.edu/web/help/finding/dewey/ http://www.ipl.org.ar/youth/dewey/dewey.html http://www.moyak.com/researcher/resume/papers/dewey.html http://www.deweybrowse.org/ http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/blsymbols.htm http://learningat.ke7.org.uk/socialsciences/Psychology/PsyImages/psylogo.jpg http://tinyurl.com/22f9nu