Dewey Decimal
Classification System
Pacific Avenue Elementary
Ms. Cortes
© 2010 Daisy Cortes
Unless otherwise noted all pictures credited to Microsoft Word ClipArt
What is the DDC?
DDC- Dewey Decimal
Classification System
 It’s the way we
organize non-fiction
books in a library
 School & public
libraries use the DDC
 Libraries at
universities use a
different system
called Library of
Congress- LC

Image from: http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/dre/deweydirectory.html
Who invented the DDC?





Melville (Melvil)
Dewey
1851-1931
He was a librarian
He wanted libraries to be
free for everyone!
He created a way to
organize books.
The Dewey Decimal System
There are 10 main classes/categories
(100s, 200s, 300s…)
 It is only for the non-fiction section

Generalities 000-099
Computers
 Encyclopedias
 Libraries

100-199 Philosophy & Psychology
Thinking & Feelings
 Friendship
 Remember these are books about facts!

– You won’t find stories about friendship here.
200-299 Religion
Religious stories
 Mythology

300-399 Social Sciences
Social Sciences- these books are about
how people live in the world
 Government
 Military
 Holidays
 Folk & Fairy Tales- WHAT??!!! Those
are fiction books.

Fiction in Non-Fiction?

Some books in the non-fiction section are
fiction books (made up stories)

Folk & Fairy Tales in the 300s are fiction
stories. Many times they tell us about
legends or famous stories like Little Red
Riding Hood
Fiction in Non-Fiction?

The Upstairs Room by
Johanna Reiss

Fiction because most of the
characters are not real
people.

It is in the 900s because the
setting is World War II a big
part of US History.
400-499 Language
Different Languages
 Sign Language
 Dictionaries
 We don’t have a lot of these books in our
library. Visit your public library!

500-599 Natural Sciences
Natural Science is how nature is
found (unbothered by humans)
 Planets & Stars
 Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Tsunamis
 Dinosaurs
 Botany= plants
 Animals & Bugs

600-699 Applied Science
Applied Science is how humans use
nature or thought
 Inventions
 Health
 Transportation
 Pets
 Cooking

500s vs. 600s What’s the
difference?
500s Natural Science
 600s Applied Science
 Trees are Natural
Science
 USING a tree to make
it into paper or a
house makes it
Applied Science

Natural Science
Applied Science
500s vs. 600s

500s Natural Science

600s Applied Science

A coyote would be
found in Natural
Science. It is a wild
animal.

A dog would be found
in Applied Science.
Humans took dogs
and made them into
pets.
Animals in 600s
Domesticated Animals
 Domesticated- to tame; animals that live
closely with humans
 Farm Animals & Pets

– Horses, Cows, Chickens, Cats, Dogs, etc
700-799 Arts & Recreation
Arts- drawing, music, painting etc
 Recreation- things we do for fun, games

– Sports
– Magic
800-899 Literature
Poetry
 Jokes & Riddles

900-999 History & Geography
Atlases & Maps
 Country books
 Ancient Civilizations
 Wars
 Presidents

What is a call number?
A call number tells you where a book goes
in the library. (It’s like an address)
 It is located on the spine of a book

Call
Number
How are books organized?
FICTION
 Author’s last name
 Ex

– Diary of a Wimpy Kid’s
author is Jeff Kinney
– The call number will
look like this:
FIC
KIN
NON-FICTION
 DDC number and
author’s last name
 Ex

– Elephants by Roland
Smith
– The call number will
look like this:
599.67
SMI
How do we look for books on the
shelf?
LR TB
Left to
Right
Top to
Bottom