Dewey Decimal System

The Dewey Decimal System is a way to put books in order by subject. It is often used in public libraries and schools in the United States and other countries. It places the books on the shelf by subject using numbers from 000 to 999. It is called "decimal" because it uses numbers to the right of the decimal point for more detail (e.g. 944.1 for History of Brittany). Each subject has its own group of numbers. The system was created by Melvil Dewey in 1876. It is also called the Dewey Decimal Classification. The classification has been changed many times. The latest change is number 23 in 2011. There is also a smaller one for small libraries called "Abridged Dewey". 

Each subject is broken up into 10 smaller, more specific categories.

Here is a list of some sections in it:
 000 – Computer science, information, and general works
 100 – Philosophy and psychology
 200 – Religion
 300 – Social sciences
 400 – Language
 500 – Science
 600 – Technology
 700 – Arts and recreation
 800 – Literature
 900 – History and geography

Related pages
Literature
Reading
Book

More information
Full, 2011
Abridged 2014

Category:Libraries