How to Practice the Dewey Decimal System
The Dewey Decimal System is the way in which most public libraries organize their books so that it will be easier for library customers to find them. Although most libraries don't use DDS for fiction, it is possible to assign a number to those books as well. There are 10 main number categories, and those 10 categories are divided into many more to cover all the subjects in the world in an orderly fashion.
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Instructions
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Familiarize yourself with the 10 major classes of the system.
000: General Knowledge, including almanacs, encyclopedias, libraries, museums
100: Psychology and Philosophy -- death & dying, ethics, feelings, logic, optical illusions and superstitions
200: Religions and Mythology
300: Social Sciences and Folklore -- careers, customs, environment, folktales, government, manners and more
400: Languages and Grammar, including dictionaries
500: Math and Science
600: Medicine and Technology
700: Arts and Recreation -- including art history, crafts, how to paint and sculpt, and sports and music
800: Literature -- poetry, plays, literary criticism and sometimes fiction
900: Geography and History, including biographies and travel
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2
Study the way a Dewey number is laid out. The first digit gives the general location of the book. For instance 900 is for Geography and History. Travel and geography come under 910, and 914 is for travel and geography of England. Then comes the decimal point. Numbers after the decimal make the classification more specific 914.2FOD designates that the book is a travel book of England and the FOD is for the author -- in this case, Fodor.
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3
Select a nonfiction book from the card catalog and write down the entire Dewey decimal number. For instance a book on armored and horned dinosaurs such as triceratops will have the number 567.915, and if the author's name is Jones it will be 567.915JON.
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Go to the 500 aisle and scan the shelves for the 560s. Once you're in the right place go number by number until you find 567. Books are kept in strict numerical order up to the decimal point and beyond.
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Start reading number by number again. Skip over everything 567.1 through 567.8, and at 567.9 see what digit follows the "9." If it's 0 or there's no number move on to the next book until you reach 567.91. Again if there is no number move on the the next book and keep reading until you reach 567.917. All that's left is the check the first three letters of the author's last name. This is in strict alphabetical order; read one letter at a time.
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References
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