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http://pustaka.unp.ac.id/file/abstrak_kki/EBOOKS/LIBRARIES Learn Dewey Decimal Classification.pdf

The DDC number for the Dewey Decimal Classification is 025.431

Some awesome sources on the Dewey Decimal Classification system are provided by OCLC (Dewey Summaries, this is mostly a list), OCLC (DDC23 Summaries, this one has a bit more explanation), by LibraryThing (LibraryThing uses the term ‘MDS’ for Melvil Decimal System, but its the same as the DDC), by Wikipedia, by some university libraries (Los Angeles City College, for instance), and some public libraries (such as Cains Public Library)

The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system is found throughout public libraries and is easily recognisable by the trio of numbers and followed by decimals which adorn the spines of shelved books. The name ‘Dewey Decimal’ comes from its inventor, Melvil Dewey, and the fact that knowledge is grouped into 10 main categories. Each of these categories is known as a ‘class’, and receives a different numeral in the hundreds place of the three-digit number.

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^the PDF document of the Dewey Decimal System, from OCLC Dewey Summaries

It’s worth mentioning that I tried to use this mnemonic story for the sequence of the Dewey classes in the table on the right - which incidentally mirrors the biblical story of creation - part of a job application for a entry-level library shelving position, but alas my efforts failed… At least the knowledge itself is valuable…?

Dewey Class Topic Mnemonic story by me (heavily biblical-inspired because it makes sequential sense, and Dewey’s system is Christian-focused)
000’s Generalities and computer science Before humans, there was nothing but unsorted information, floating aimlessly in the aether (000 Generalities)
100’s Philosophy and psychology Then, one came into being. With little else to do, the person turned inwards (100 Philosophy and Psychology)
200’s Religion Of course, the person had to come from somewhere. Perhaps the work of a higher being? (200 Religion)
300’s Social studies Another person manifested from the aether. Two people are the smallest unit of a community/society, and more probably followed (300 Social science)
400’s Language However, people cannot cooperate without meaningful interaction, and thus arose language as a means to communicate (400 Languages)
500’s Natural science With an awareness of themselves and one another, a hint of a higher power, and a means to share their ideas, they set out to discover the natural world around them and gain wisdom (500 Natural Sciences)
600’s Technology and applied science After learning about the world, they experimented and devised new ways to enhance their existence (600 Applied Sciences)
700’s Arts, Leisure, and Recreation Aside from the increased quality of life, their innovative efforts yielded one important thing: spare time. They found new ways to spend their free time and pursue pleasure (700 Arts and Recreation)
800’s Literature Content with their existences’ newfound balance of sapience, toil, and leisure, they preserved their knowledge and ways of living through writing and literary composition (800 Literature)
900’s Geography and History They travelled to far-off locales to spread their words of wisdom, to discover new livelihoods beyond their own realm, and to record their endeavours for those who come next (900 History and Geography)

If you want to be precise when communicating, the hundreds place in a Dewey number is known as a ‘Class’, the tens place is known as a ‘Division’, and the ones place is known as a ‘Section’.

The easiest way to remember this hierarchy is that Classes, Divisions, and Sections are in alphabetical order (C → D → S)…

…and knowledge is grouped in order of general to specific by the hundreds first, then the tens, and then the ones (X00s → 0X0s → 00Xs).

Put short…

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Classes → Divisions → Sections (alphabetical order, C→D→S)

Hundreds → Tens → Ones (broadest/most general to narrowest/most specific) 🌏 > 🦠

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UPDATE: sometimes the tens and ones are predictably assigned according to certain patterns. It seems that these patterns are defined in ‘standard tables’ (Columbia edu [mistakenly swaps tables 3 and 4], OCLC Technical Intro to DDC [slide 6], Wikipedia) and maybe ‘special tables’.

Table 1 - Standard Subdivisions 💡 (these seem to relate to knowledge and resources in general) OCLC

-01 Philosophy & Theory
-02 Compends
-03 Dictionaries
-04 Essays
-05 Periodicals
-06 Societies
-07 Study and teaching
-08 Polygraphy, collections
-09 History

Table 2 - Geographic Areas, historical periods, persons 🗺️ (corresponds exactly with the divisions of the 900s History & Geography) OCLC, slides

N/A N/A
-2 Persons
-3 Ancient World
-4 Europe
-5 Asia
-6 Africa
-7 North America
-8 South America
-9 Oceania

There seems to be no -1, which would have been Travel Guides 910s. Idk

Table 3 - Arts, individual literatures, literary forms 📚 (these look like different types of writing that are related to their publication format; relevant to 800s ) OCLC, slides

| --- | --- |

There seems to be no -9

There might also be a Table 6, but I can’t find consistent info about it… (and notion only allows for 5 columns in the formatting)

I have included some (hopefully) helpful thoughts about memorising and understanding the Divisions (tens) in the lists and tables below, along with some example titles from the catalogues of public libraries within Sydney via TROVE.

Emojis seem really fun and whimsical while also giving colourful visual aid, so I’ve tried to include them too (though I may have gone overboard…). If some cells of the tables are empty, then I haven’t gotten around to writing anything in it yet (sorry!), but will try to fill out everything eventually.

Click the little triangle next to each heading to expand it.

Since most libraries use the Dewey Decimal Classification to organise their books, it is worthwhile to practice shelving with DDC call numbers.

Practice can be performed however you want, and here are some of the methods I have tried: