1. Library Review

2. Library Terms Librarian Fiction Nonfiction Biography Spine CallNumber Dewey Decimal System Shelf Marker OPAC Keywords Take a second to review these terms. Do you know what they mean?

3. Librarian A librarian is an information professional who can help you find materials in the library. She can also recommend a good read. What is the name of your librarian?

4. Fiction Stories that are made up by authors, and are not factual types of information are called fiction books. When these books are in the library they are arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name. Who is your favorite fiction author? What would your call number be if you were a fiction author?

5. Nonfiction Nonfiction literature is based on fact. These books have their own section in the library and they are arranged by Dewey Decimal Classification numbers. What is your favorite type of book to check out from the nonfiction section?

6. Biography Biographies are books written about people’s lives. They are located in the nonfiction section. These books are arranged with a letter B followed by the subject’s last name. Who would you most want to read a biography about? What would the call number of that book be?

7. Spine The spine of a book holds the pages together. It also shows the author’s name, the book title, and the call number when it is sitting on a library shelf.

8. Call Number The call number is located on the spine of the book that lets you know where books belong in the library. Some call numbers contain only letters while others have a combination of numbers and letters. Which kinds of call numbers only contain letters? Which kinds contain numbers and letters?

9. Dewey Decimal System The Dewey Decimal System is used by libraries all over the world to classify nonfiction library materials by subject. It divides all of knowledge into ten main categories and further into more specific numbers. How many Dewey categories can you name?

10. Shelf Marker A shelf marker is a tool you use in the library to hold the place of a book that you take off of the shelf. When you are selecting a book to check out you should always use a shelf marker.

11. OPAC The Online Public Access Catalog is the database used for locating library materials. Library users search the OPAC by looking up authors, titles, or keywords. The OPAC can give you book summaries, tell you if a book is available for checkout, and the location of a book. What is another name we might use for the OPAC in our library?

12. Keywords Keywords are words selected to type into a search box. You will use keywords when you are searching the OPAC for a book as well as when you are using the internet. Good searchers choose these words to carefully describe what they are looking for. What keywords would you use if you were searching for information about outer space?