Dewey Tip Sheet
I designed a Dewey Tip Sheet as my Dewey Training Aid for MEDT 6463: Cataloging. The
Adairsville Middle School students use their agendas for numerous activities. Students check
out books by using a barcode on the front page of the agenda. The students’ lexile scores are
also written on the first page. This strategy informs the media specialist if the students are
checking out library materials that are appropriate for their reading skills.
Teachers and students also use these agendas. Students use these tools as permission slips for
moving around the school during traditional classes. The teachers also mandate that the students
write assignments and notes in the pages to improve students’ achievement on tests and
homework activities.
The Dewey Tip Sheet is a four page handout that can be distributed to students and integrated
into the agendas. The Tip Sheet will provide students with a brief summary of the ten main
classes and the different texts included in each of the Dewey numbers. The resource also
includes images of potential books and the Dewey numbers assigned to each of these texts. I
suggest that the students can use this Tip Sheet to improve their library skills and knowledge of
the Dewey Decimal System. The learners can incorporate this tool into their agendas and use it
in the library. If a student needs a book on algebra, the student can quickly use his or her
agenda’s Tip Sheet and learn what class includes books on mathematics. I assert that this tool
will improve students’ ability to obtain library texts and educate students about the Dewey
Decimal System
The Dewey Tip Sheet also includes comprehensive information on appropriate techniques for
utilizing the school’s OPAC. Students learn how to use the Keyword, Author, and Subject
options of the card catalog. They are also provided with fundamental information that can
improve their library skills. I suggest that the Dewey Tip Sheet will inform students about
appropriate strategies for obtaining resources and will improve students’ ability to use the
library.
Dewey Tip Sheet
000s
General Knowledge and Computer Technology
Instructions for using
the Adairsville Middle
School OPAC:
Library Resources and Subjects Areas:
Encyclopedias, almanacs, bibliographies, magazines,
journals, manuscripts, and computer systems.
The Adairsville Middle
School library can provide
you with access to numerous
resources and books that can
assist you with all your
classroom assignments, but
you need to know how to
obtain these resources.
The library’s online public
access catalog is a
computerized database that
will allow you and other
classmates to navigate and
utilize a variety of references.
Example: 025.4
Weaving the Web: The Original Design of the World
Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee
100s
Philosophy and Psychology
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
Modern western philosophy, Socrates, Cicero, logic, ethics,
Plato, parapsychology, and Aristotle.
Keyword: You can use this
option to filter the library’s
resources and obtain the call
numbers for library texts
written on a single subject
area.
Title: This technique allows
you to write in a book title,
name of a movie, journal
article’s title, or other
potential titles of resources.
Author: You can also
reference the name of an
author to obtain the call
number of a book or resource
included in the library’s
inventory.
Lexile: This option allows
you to customize library
materials to accommodate
your lexile range. You can
write in your lexile score, and
you will be provided with a
comprehensive list of books
that achieve your reading
needs and abilities.
Example: 158 CAN
The Success Principles for Teens by Jack Canfield and Kent
Healy
200s
Religion
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
Christianity, Bible, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam,
other religions, principles of Christianity, tenets of
Islam, religious figures, and history of Christianity.
Example: 299 BER
Confucianism: A Short Introduction by John H.
Berthrong and Evelyn Berthrong
300s
Social Sciences
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
Economics, folklore, political science, statistics,
education, communications, and trade.
Example: 398.2
Aesop’s Fables by Aesop
400s
Languages
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
English, linguistics, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese
languages, Anglo-Saxon languages, grammar of
languages, and writing systems.
Example: 428.1 TER
Building Your Vocabulary by Marvin Terban
500s
Science and Mathematics
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
Algebra, arithmetic, physics, zoology,
geology, magnetism, electricity, and
astronomy.
Example: 511.5 NAG
Tiger Math by Ann Whitehead Nagda and
Cindy Bickel
600s
Technology
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
Engineering, office management, aerospace
engineering, metalworking, agriculture, anatomy,
metallurgy, building, and manufacturing.
Example: 623.7 HAM
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Larry Hama and
Bill Cain
700s
The Arts
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
Painting, drawing, photography, music
architecture, dance, folk music, gymnastics,
rugby, horse racing, and hunting.
Example: 741.5 COH
Cartooning: Character Design by Sherm
Cohen
800s
Literature
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
American literature, English poetry,
Classical Greek literature, French drama,
Spanish essays, literature of other
languages, American essays, and English
speeches.
Example: 822.3 SHA
Othello by William Shakespeare
Example:
900s
History and Geography
Library Resources and Subject Areas:
Ancient history, World War I, history of the
Middle East, geography and travel in North
America, World War II, biographies, history
of Great Britain, history of other areas, and
American history.
Example: 973.3 DOE
The Boston Tea Party by Matt Doeden
Fiction Fun in the Library
Fiction books are categorized using a different strategy; however, you can learn a few
rules that will allow you to become an effective library learner.
Rule 1: Fiction books are in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.
Rule 2: All students must read one fiction book per nine weeks.
Rule 3: Fiction books will not have a Dewey Decimal number.
Example: FIC KIN
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff
Kinney
Example: FIC HAL
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
All book images were accessed from www.Amazon.com.
References
Aesop. (2005). In Rochelle Larkin (Ed.), Aesop’s Fables. Delafield, WI: Baronet Books.
Accessed September 26, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.
Berners-Lee, Tim. (2000). Weaving the Web: The Original Design of the World Wide Web. New
York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers Inc. Accessed September 26, 2010 from
http://www.amazon.com.
Berthrong, John H. and Evelyn Berthrong. (2000). Confucianism: A Short Introduction. Boston,
MA: Oneworld Publications. Accessed September 26, 2010 from http://www.amazon.
com.
Canfield, Jack and Kent Healy. (2008). The Success Principles for Teens. Deerfield Beach, FL:
Health Communications, Inc. Accessed September 26, 2010 from http://www.amazon.
com.
Cohen, Sherm. (2005). Cartooning: Character Design. Laguna Hills, CA: Walter Foster
Publishing. Accessed September 27, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.
Doeden, Matt. (2005). Boston Tea Party. Bloomington, MN: Capstone Press. Accessed
September 27, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.
Hale, Shannon. (2005). Princess Academy. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing. Accessed
September 27, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.
Hama, Larry and Bill Cain. (2007). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.
Accessed September 24, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.
Kinney, Jeff. (2007). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. New York, NY: Amulet Books. Accessed
September 27, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.
Nagda, Ann W. and Cindy Bickel. (2000). Tiger Math. New York, NY: Henry Holt and
Company. Accessed September 26, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.
Shakespeare, William. (1989). In Roma Gill (Ed.). Othello. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Accessed September 27, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.
Terban, Marvin. (2002). Building Your Vocabulary. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. Accessed
September 26, 2010 from http://www.amazon.com.