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Dewey Decimal System

*If it weren't for Melvil Dewey, finding the books you want in the library might be as frustrating as looking for a needle in a haystack.* In 1876, an American librarian and educator Melvil Dewey devised the Dewey Decimal System that would be used to organize book collections throughout the world. In his system, Dewey used numbers and decimal fractions to specify the subject content of a given book or resource. For example, the numbers 200-290 represent all works on the subject of religion, and the numbers 900-990 represent all works on the subject of geography and history. Today, the ten primary classes of books and resources are as follows: 000-090 General Knowledge (i.e. encyclopedias) 100-190 Philosophy and psychology 200-290 Religion 300-390 Social sciences 400-490 Language 500-590 Natural sciences and mathematics 600-690 Technology (applied sciences) 700-790 The arts; fine and decorative arts 800-890 Literature and rhetoric 900-990 Geography and history The Dewey Decimal Classification is based on multiples of ten (the word decimal in the name of the classification system comes from decem , the Latin word for “ten”). Thus, each of the ten main classes has the potential to be broken down into smaller multiples of ten. For example, class 500 (natural sciences and mathematics) has the following subclasses: 500-509 Natural sciences 510-519 Mathematics 520-529 Astronomy and allied sciences 530-539 Physics 540-549 Chemistry and allied sciences 550-559 Earth sciences 560-569 Paleontology; paleozoology 570-579 Life sciences; biology 580-589 Plants 590-599 Animals Each of these classes may then be further divided. For example, the subclasses of 540 are as follows: 540 Chemistry and applied sciences 541 Physical and theoretical chemistry 542 Techniques, equipment, and materials 543 Analytical chemistry 544 Qualitative analysis 545 Quantitative analysis 546 Inorganic chemistry 547 Organic chemistry 548 Crystallography 549 Mineralogy The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) System is the most widely used classification system in the world. Libraries in more than 135 countries use the DDC to organize and provide access to their collections. The DDC revolutionized the way libraries arranged their materials on the shelf. If not for the DDC system, locating books and magazines would be very time-consuming and frustrating.

Dewey Decimal System

If it weren't for Melvil Dewey, finding the books you want in the library might be as frustrating as looking for a needle in a haystack. In 1876, an American librarian and educator Melvil Dewey devised the Dewey Decimal System that would be used to organize book collections throughout the world. In his system, Dewey used numbers and decimal fractions to specify the subject content of a given book or resource. For example, the numbers 200-290 represent all works on the subject of religion, and the numbers 900-990 represent all works on the subject of geography and history. Today, the ten primary classes of books and resources are as follows:

000-090 General Knowledge (i.e. encyclopedias) 100-190 Philosophy and psychology 200-290 Religion 300-390 Social sciences 400-490 Language 500-590 Natural sciences and mathematics 600-690 Technology (applied sciences) 700-790 The arts; fine and decorative arts 800-890 Literature and rhetoric
900-990 Geography and history

The Dewey Decimal Classification is based on multiples of ten (the word decimal in the name of the classification system comes from decem , the Latin word for “ten”). Thus, each of the ten main classes has the potential to be broken down into smaller multiples of ten. For example, class 500 (natural sciences and mathematics) has the following subclasses:

500-509 Natural sciences 510-519 Mathematics 520-529 Astronomy and allied sciences 530-539 Physics 540-549 Chemistry and allied sciences 550-559 Earth sciences 560-569 Paleontology; paleozoology 570-579 Life sciences; biology 580-589 Plants
590-599 Animals

Each of these classes may then be further divided. For example, the subclasses of 540 are as follows:

540 Chemistry and applied sciences 541 Physical and theoretical chemistry 542 Techniques, equipment, and materials 543 Analytical chemistry 544 Qualitative analysis 545 Quantitative analysis 546 Inorganic chemistry 547 Organic chemistry 548 Crystallography
549 Mineralogy

The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) System is the most widely used classification system in the world. Libraries in more than 135 countries use the DDC to organize and provide access to their collections. The DDC revolutionized the way libraries arranged their materials on the shelf. If not for the DDC system, locating books and magazines would be very time-consuming and frustrating.