This presentation was presented to a group of students who are training to become Library Assistants at OLMC. It's a basic introduction to Dewey Decimal Classification.
2. Do you know which
numbers are given to
different topics?
Do you know who
invented the system?
3. What is Dewey decimal
system?
organises non-fiction &
reference resources
each subject is given a number
and the books and other items
are arranged on the shelves in
number order, according to their
topic.
4. Melville Dewey 1851-1931
Worked as a library assistant in a
college library to help pay for his
education.
At 21 (1873) he invented the system
that is now used to classify books and
other items including internet resources,
in libraries around the world.
Known as the Dewey Decimal
Classification system it organises
information into 10 main subject areas.
5. How Dewey organised
information
000 General Knowledge
Almanacs, encyclopedias, new media, computers
100 Psychology & Philosophy
Information about death & dying, ethics (ways of behaving),
feelings, logic (about thinking)
200 Religions & Mythology
Religions of the world – Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Bibles.
300 Social Sciences & Folklore
Careers (occupations or jobs) , transport, environment and
recycling, about families, how governments work, community,
money.
400 Languages & Grammar
Languages spoken including Chinese, English, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Spanish, sign languages & dictionaries.
6. 500 Maths & Natural Science
Maths, Animals, Chemistry, Dinosaurs, Fish, Geology,
Insects, Physics, Planets and Plants
600 Medicine & Technology
Computers, inventions, Engineering, Farming, Health,
Human Body, Manufacturing, Nutrition
700 Arts & Recreation
Architecture, Crafts, Drawing, Games, Dance, Music,
Puppets and kites, Sports
800 Literature
Stories, Plays, Poetry, and all about the authors who wrote
them.
900 Geography & History
Biographies, Countries of the world and travel, Australia,
information about wars, Atlases.
7. Dewey divided the 10 subject areas
into smaller topics. Each topic has its
own special number
500s are divided into 520, 520, 530
…
Each of the 10s is divided into 510,
511, 512 …
A decimal point is an even more
specific sign of what the book is
about
8. Here’s how Dewey divided
590s
Suppose you are looking for a book on
butterflies
500 Natural sciences
590 Zoology (animals)
595 Other invertebrates (animals w/o backbones)
595.7 Insects
595.78 Lepidoptera (moths & butterflies)
595.789 Butterflies
9. CALL NUMBERS
The Dewey numbers form part of the
call number of a book
1st three letters of the author’s
surname follows
Call number – ‘address’ of the book
on the shelves
The call number for a book on
mammals by J.S. Brown would be
599 BRO
11. Cataloguing Fiction
Organised by collection location
(junior, senior, picture)
Then first three letters of
author’s surname. EG:
Stephenie Meyer = MEY
Books by the same author
appear in alphabetical order on
the shelf
12. Now it’s your turn …
In pairs organise a set of fiction and
non-fiction books as they would
appear in shelf order on the
tables.
Ask Ms Roache or myself for
assistance
We will check when you are
completed