Library Classification System

Goals of a library or of a librarian may vary in many different ways. Yet a few things that I am sure they can all agree on are:

• Creating an environment that makes kids want to read
• Keeping their library organized
• Keeping their library up to date
• Making their library accessible 

Although I'm sure there are many other instances in which libraries/librarians can compare these are just a few that come to mind.

When touching on the topic of keeping a library organized, not only am I discussing the need for the library to have a neat appearance, but also the library must have a classification system in order.

The point of this blog is to discuss the functions of The Dewey Decimal System.

Who Uses It?

According to Barbara Fister, someone who has researched and worked with The Dewey Decimal System closely stated, "...Dewey is currently the most widely used classification system in the world, employed in 138 countries by over 200,000 libraries" This clearly answers the question of who uses the system. These numbers were shocking to me at first but when you think about the simplicity and organization of the system it is clear that people would want to use this system in their library. As stated earlier in this blog, the universal approach of using a classification by numbers that is used in The Dewey Decimal System. 

To relate on a more personal level, from as far back as I can remember my school district of (Hazlet) had used The Dewey Decimal System. I remember posters being up in the library explaining how the system worked. Also I vaguely remember a little song we would sing when we did a lesson on fairy tales and we had to take out a fairy tale book.

It went something like, "398.2, those are the books we chose. For fairy tales and blah blah blah... 398.2" Obviously the blah blah blah is the part I forgot, but I think it is crazy how the mind works and how I still vaguely remember this catchy rhyme.

Why Was It Developed?

According to Britannica Academic Addition, The Dewey Decimal system was developed by Melvil Dewey in 1873 for application in the Amherst College Library. Melvil, referred to as the library genius still has his system in use today. Dewey invented this system when he was a 21 year old assistant in the library of Amherst College. It is said that his work created a revolution in library science and set in motion a new era of librarianship.

Advantages/Disadvantages

A simple breakdown of the Dewey Decimal System

Advantages:

• The Dewey Decimal System is a universal system in that it uses numerical notation opposed to words or letters. This makes it much easier to use for areas across the word that may have a different alphabet/language.

• Topics are listed/classified by subject. This makes it easy for the reader to narrow down what they are looking for an find it quickly. (shouldn't that be the goal of a classification system?)

• This system makes shelving books and locating books within a library very simple. You simply locate the number of the book you are looking for and you find it within the library.

Disadvantages:

• What happens when you are searching for a book that may land itself within different subject areas. For example : A book on Sports Medicine may find itself in the 700's as well as the 600's. Although this is not an unfixable problem, it still complicates things and is certainly a disadvantage of the system.

• Scary Numbers - it is noted that people have a fear of the complexity of the number system and that this has been said to turn people away from using this otherwise simple system. The numbers do not have a direct correlation with the subject they represent, therefore if you are not familiar with the system it may be difficult for you to use.

Like all things in life, there are going to be advantages and disadvantages. We as people get to chose whether or not we are able to out weigh the good with the bad or we avoid the situation, whatever it may be. So it is your choice whether you can see past the difficulties in using The Dewey Decimal System.

Basic Principles

In my mind the Dewey Decimal System is fairly basic and easy to follow. It is a classification system that has been tweaked over the years to become more and more user friendly. With the ever changing world and the never ending storm of technology that continues to sweep through our world, it is hard for any system to adapt. Yet I feel that The Dewey Decimal System converted well from paper catalogues to computerized ones. Whether using paper or a computer this system follows the same principles.

The Dewey Decimal System is broken down into ten main classes:

• 000 Generalities
• 100 Philosophy and Psychology
• 200 Religion
• 300 Social Science
• 400 Language
• 500 Natural Science and Mathematics
• 600 Technology
• 700 Arts
• 800 Literature
• 900 Geography and History 

These ten main classes are further broken down and become more specific. Lets look at the 500's for instance, 500 Natural Science and Mathematics breaks down to:

• 510 Mathematics
• 520 Astronomy
• 530 Physics
• 540 Chemistry
• 550 Earth Sciences
• 560 Paleontology
• 570 Life Sciences
• 580 Botanical Sciences
• 590 Zoological Sciences

As things get even more specific more numbers are added and decimal numbers are even added. In addition at times a cutter number or even letter (from the authors name or title of the book) is added to the call number in order to make it original and unlike any other call number so that the book can be located.

Prejudices/Bias Within The System

The Dewey Decimal System does in fact contain prejudice and bias. At the time the system was created, by founder Melvil Dewey, he created the 200 class. This category was to contain religion. Yet it has been argued that since Dewey was Christian the sub categories do not have enough information on other religions of the Eastern World.

In addition to Religious bias, the same type of bias is clear in the categories of History. At the time Dewey was only concerned with American History, and left out other parts of the world. Although this bias was present at the time of the systems creation, over the twenty revisions made by the system these bias' have since been adapted.

Obviously these prejudices and bias' have been worked on since the amount of libraries using this system still today is so high.

Why The Dewey Decimal System?

Among these three classification systems, The Dewey Decimal System, Library of Congress, and Book Store Method, I would have to pick The Dewey Decimal System for use in my Library.

The Dewey Decimal System is the system in which I am most comfortable, I have the most experience with, and I feel it is the most user friendly. It is easy to teach others how to use this system effectively. Even young children can become familiar with the components of this system. Whether it be presenting them with visuals such as posters or singing catchy songs or rhymes to them so that they understand the categories of the system. Whatever the case may be, I feel The Dewey Decimal System is right for any library especially my own.