MELVIL DEWEYand the Dewey Decimal System

000-099 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

SOME ‘GENERAL KNOWLEDGE’ ABOUT MELVIL DEWEY

-AMHERST COLLEGE (GRAD, LIBRARIAN)

-LIBRARY JOURNAL

-AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

-FOUNDED "SCHOOL OF LIBRARY ECONOMY"

-STATE DIRECTOR OF LIBARIES, NY

100-199 PHILOSOPHY AND

PSYCHOLOGY

DEWEY’S PROBLEM

-TRYING TO FIND A BOOK

ONCE WOULD HAVE PUT YOU

IN THERAPY

-LIBRARIANS HAD TO

MEMORISE THE ENTIRE

COLLECTION!

-THAT'S THE PROBLEM THAT

DEWEY TRIED TO SOLVE

200-299 RELIGION

ALL WORSHIP MELVIL DEWEY

-IN THE BEGINNING,

DEWEY CREATED THE

DEWEY DECIMAL

SYSTEM

-UNIVERSAL

-EASIER TO

CATALOGUE, EASIER

TO SEARCH

300-399 SOCIAL SCIENCES

THE DECLARATION OF LIBRARY INDEPENDENCE

-DEWEY DECIMAL BECOME LIKE THE GOVERNMENT OF

LIBRARIES

-EVEN TODAY, ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR

400-499 LANGUANGE

‘WELCOME’ TO THE LIBRARY

-DEWEY DECIMAL IS

NOT A CODE

-EASY FOR ANYONE TO

UNDERSTAND, NOT

JUST LIBRARIANS

-ONE FLAW: VERY

SPECIFIC KEYWORDS

NEEDED (EG.

"AUTOMOBILE" NOT

"CAR")

500-599 NATURAL SCIENCES

DEWEY’S NATURAL KNOWLEDGE CATEGORIES

-BASED ON 10

NATURAL DIVISIONS

OF HUMAN

KNOWLEDGE

-FURTHER

SUBDIVISIONS (10S,

1S, DECIMALS)

600-699 APPLIED SCIENCE

THE NEW WAVE

-DEWEY DECIMAL CAN

EASILY BE APPLIED TO ANY

LIBRARY’S COLLECTION

-ANY BOOK FITS

SOMEWHERE IN THE

CATEGORIES

-TRICKS FOR OVERLAP (EG.

COUNTRY NUMBERS)

700-799 ARTS AND RECREATION

THE ART OF DEWEY NUMBERS-THERE'S A REAL ART TO

BUILDING A NUMBER

-I CAN BUILD A NUMBER FOR

A BOOK ABOUT A PURPLE

DOG FROM JUPITER

1. NATURAL SCIENCE (500-

599)

2. DOGS (599.77)

3. JUPITER (599.7799)

4. PURPLE (599.7799752)

800-899 LITERATURE

THE BIG BOOK OF BOOKS

-A GUIDE TO DEWEY

-20TH EDITION

-OFTEN UPDATED:

TECHNOLOGY, COUNTRIES

CHANGING THEIR NAMES

-FULL

SCHEDULE(LIBRARIES WITH

MORE THAN 1 MILLION

BOOKS)

OR

-ABRIDGED VERSION

900-999 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

A ‘MAP’ OF THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM 000-099 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 100-199 PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY 200-299 RELIGION 300-399 SOCIAL SCIENCES 400-499 LANGUAGE 500-599 NATURAL SCIENCE 600-699 APPLIED SCIENCE 700-799 ARTS AND RECREATION 800-899 LITERATURE 900-999 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY