LMC Organization

Dewey Decimal System

How does it work?

"The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system is a general knowledge organization tool that is continuously revised to keep pace with knowledge. The system was conceived by Melvil Dewey in 1873 and first published in 1876" (OCLC). The DDC is the most widely used classification system in the world. Libraries in more than 140 countries use the DDC to organize and provide access to their collections, and DDC numbers are featured in the national bibliographies of more than 60 countries. (OCLC) The DDC is in its 15th edition and uses 10 categories to organize information. Before the DDC, libraries used a variety of methods to organize their collections, like size, color, or binding.

What do all those numbers mean?

Review the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Summaries of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) summaries paying close attention to how the hierarchy breaks down larger topics into smaller more manageable topics.

Reflections:

What do you notice about the 200s?

Nonfiction

Organized using the Dewey Decimal System. Tabs numbered from 0-9 label the 10 major subsections to assist students in locating their book.

What's Here: Factual information

Fiction

Organized alphabetically by the author's last name. Alphabet tabs from A-Z label the beginning of a new subsection to assist students in locating their book. All books in this section have been genrefyed to support student reading interests.

What's Here: stories which are imagined or untrue.

Story Collection

Organized alphabetically by the author's last name. All books in this section have been genrefyed to support student reading interests.

What's Here: fictional short story collections on a similar theme or written by a single author.

IASL Award Nominated Books placed on top of this sections shelving.

Yearbooks

Organized by year. UHS yearbooks are some of the only LMC items which cannot be checked out by students to teachers. The collection dates back to the 1950s.

Professional Collection

Organized using the Dewey Decimal System.

What's here: Literature for teachers about a teaching methods or interest area of the education.

Biography

Organized alphabetically by the subject's last name. Alphabet tabs from A-Z label the beginning of a new subsection to assist students in locating their book. Collective biographies (920s), books with several biographies, are in the last stack of the section.

What's here: stories about a persons life and experiences.

Graphic Novels

Organized alphabetically by the author's last name as all Graphic Novels have a GR 741.5 dewey designation. It is likely this section will be relocated as the collection expands overtime.

What's here: fictional novels composed in comic-strip format

Reflection:

Why might learning to use a physical library be a skill Teacher Librarians want students to learn before graduation?

Please continue to the Discover section of this lesson.

Works Cited

"Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) Summaries." OCLC, 2019, www.oclc.org/en/dewey/features/summaries.html#ten. Accessed 15 Feb. 2019.

Report abuse