Why Dewey The Dewey Decimal System By A

Why Dewey? The Dewey Decimal System By A. Karen Wilson

The Dewey Decimal Classification System is a way of putting Non-fiction books and other library resources (like videos) in order so that they can be easily located. What’s Non-fiction? Non-fiction materials are not made up. They are filled with facts or real things about people, places, animals, and events. 2

Why is the Dewey Decimal Classification System (DDC) Important? • The DDC tells you where to find books in the library. • The DDC tells you about the general subject of the book. 3

Meet Melvil Dewey He Invented the Dewey Decimal System • Born December 10, 1851 • Melvil Dewey was an educator at the age of 17 • Invented the Dewey Decimal System at age 21 4

How are the books organized? • The Dewey Decimal System is composed of 10 categories, which are broken into smaller and smaller areas. • ALL libraries have these same 10 categories! • Each category is assigned numbers known as classification numbers or Dewey Numbers. 5

000 - 099 General Reference What is General Reference? • • • Biographies Books about books Manuscripts Encyclopedias Reference Books 6

100 - 199 Philosophy & Psychology • • • Feelings Making Friends Superstitions Ethics Logic Mortality Man thinks about himself. 7

200 - 299 Religion • • • Bible Stories Buddhism Christianity Judaism Islam Other world religions Man thinks about God. 8

300 - 399 Social Sciences • • • Careers Customs Environment Families Folktales Government Manners Money Recycling Man thinks about other people. 9

400 - 499 Language • • Chinese English French German Spanish Sign Language Includes dictionaries Man learns to communicate with others through words. 10

500 - 599 Natural Sciences & Mathematics • • • Animals Biology Chemistry Dinosaurs Fish Geology Insects Planets Plants Man learns to understand nature on the land, in the sea, and in the sky. 11

600 - 699 Technology (Applied sciences) • • • Computers Cookbooks Engineering Farming Health Human Body Inventions Manufacturing Nutrition Man learns to make all the things people use such as: medicine, planting crops, cooking food, and building structures. 12

700 - 799 The Arts • • • Architecture Crafts Drawing Games Jokes Music Puppets Songbooks Sports Man learns to paint pictures, make music, dance, and play games. 13

800 - 899 Literature & Rhetoric • • • Children's Literature Plays Poetry Shakespeare Writing Man puts thoughts into writing for all people to read. 14

900 - 999 Geography & History • • • Biographies Countries Native Americans States Travel Wars Man writes about people, places and events. 15

And There You Have It! Now you can search for any book on any subject in any library you visit! Good READING! 16

Website Classified by the Dewey Decimal System on the Web Need to find websites on particular subjects? Go to www. deweybrowse. org for a listing of websites classified by the Dewey Decimal System 17

References • • • Melvil dewey image. Retrieved on March 17, 2008 from www. hdges. org/ Melvil%20 Dewey. jpg A story about the dewey decimal system of classification. Retrieved on March 17, 2008 from http: //www. mte. asd 103. org/library/deweystory. htm Dewey decimal system. Retrieved on March 17, 2008 from http: //www. monroe. lib. in. us/childrens/ddchow. html “Do we” really know dewey? Retrieved on March 17, 2008 from http: //library. thinkquest. org/5002/Harder/genspec. htm Information literacy library media skills. Retrieved on March 17, 2008 from http: //www. edcollab. org/. . . / Dewey. Decimal/sld 002. htm 18