The Dewey Decimal System Connie Poulsen-Hollin Erica Rorvik Valorie McKain

Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey a.k.a. Melvil Dui  Born December 10, 1851, to Joel and Eliza Greene Dewey in Adams Center, New York  Fifth child, second son  Marion(1833)  Manfred (1839)  Marietta (died in infancy, born 1842)  Marissa (1844)  Died December 26, 1931 (after a stroke)

Dewey and his parents  Mother’s Church: Independent Seventh Day Baptist Church of Adams  Father’s Church: Adams Center Baptist Church  Dewey chose to attend both churches but was baptized in his father’s church at the age of 12

Dewey’s family life  Parents favored education-- the goal to build “character”  Sister took care of Dewey most of his growing up years  Extended family was important to his parents -- “relatives were thick as blackberries” (Wiegand, 1996) according to Dewey

Dewey’s World Work begins  Age 14 joins the Templars  Age 15 Dewey starts diary -- entry indicates he is Five feet and a fourth inches tall, 120 pounds and worth $125.  Settled on “reform” as his life’s work and purchased a pair of cufflinks with an “R” to remind him  Age talking about his destiny

Schooling  1868 Hunderford Collegiate Institute  1869 Oneida Institute  1870 Amherst College  Dewey’s diary says he is now 6 feet tall, 160 pounds and worth $225

Dewey’s Reforms  Metric System  Spelling reform  Provision of public libraries with good organization  Shorthand  Was “stuck” on simplicity and efficient use of time

Dewey’s Accomplishments  Assistant Librarian Amherst College  Creation of the American Metric Bureau  Charter Member and secretary of the Spelling Reform Association  Creation of the Dewey Decimal System  Helped establish American Library Association  Secretary  President for 1890/1891 and 1892/1893

Dewey’s Accomplishments  Co-founder and Editor for Library Journal  Established first library training school at Columbia College 1887  Director New York State Library, Albany

Dewey Decimal System  Dewey studied Cutter, Harris, Shurtleff, Jewett and Schwartz’s classification schemes and looked at each system’s strengths and weaknesses  Solution came in the midst of a very long sermon one Sunday morning- decimals  Submitted scheme May 8, 1873 to the Amherst College Library Committee-- finished in 1876

DDC - How it works  Code of three digit numbers  First digit the main DDC group  Second digit is the subdivision of the main group  Third digit allows more specific subject information  Additional digits after the decimal point allow for further specificity

DDC Main Categories

Subdivisions Example  700 Arts (general)  710 Civic and landscape art  720 Architecture  730 Sculpture  740 Decorative arts  750 Painting  760 Graphic Arts  770 Photography  780 Music  790 Recreation

How students were taught to use DDC 10 years ago

Benefits of DDC  Helps find the book quickly  Allows for browsing on the shelves  Helps shelve the book in the appropriate place again  Used worldwide (over 135 countries in 2004)  Format is easy to understand & use  Drop-Back Theory & other tricks can help one's search  Can continually expand

Disadvantages to DDC  Categories are now overlapping or have shifted  Psychology vs. Philosophy  Architecture & Buildings  Wicca  Focuses on Western thoughts  Heirarchical Format  Other languages & cultures are provided minimal space or are thrown together under one category  Other cultures/patrons feel “conquered”

Disadvantages to DDC  Call numbers can get lengthy  “Bookstore format” allows greater access and use  Fiction is usually shelved separately from Dewey  Non-fiction separated from fiction  Cutting off access for males especially  Anthologies are set apart from single works by authors  Explaining non-fiction & Dewey in relation to fairy tales, and such

Updates to DDC  Created in 1876 some things didn’t exist back then, OCLC updates it  Official website  PDF download of information about the 22nd edition published mid  Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index. Edition 22. Four volumes Permanent paper. ISBN Cost from OCLC $375

Exceptions to DDC  Fiction books are usually shelved in a different section alphabetically by author’s last names  Oversize books or other media may be shelved elsewhere, where space is appropriate  Not the only classification system: other main one is Library of Congress Catalog system

References  Dewey Decimal Classification. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online:  “Drop back theory” (specific to general). Retrieved July 15, 2007, from "Do we" really know Dewey? Web site:  Fowler, A. (1996). The Dewey Decimal System. New York: Childrens Press (pages 14, 15, and 25)  General to specific. Retrieved July 15, 2007, from "Do we" really know Dewey? Web site:  Hogsett, Nancy (2006).Teaching Dewey. Library Media Connection. 24, 28-31

References (cont.)  Hopkins, Sarah (2007).Decimating Dewey: Introducing a bookshop arrangement for shelving the nonfiction collection. Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services. 20,  Kua, Eunice (2004).Non-Western languages and literatures in the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme. Libri. 54,  Melvil Dewey Biography. (2007) Retrieved July 10, 2007 from  Tapper, Janet (2006).Dewey does a number on Wicca. Library Journal. 131, 16.  Wiegand, W.A. (1996) Irrepressible Reformer: A biography of Melvil Dewey. Chicago: ALA

Other sites to “check out”  Melvil Dewey: Father of Librarianship by Kristen Patschke December 12,  Dewey decimal classification and relativ index for libraries. [sic] dewey.php August 29, dewey.php

What do you think? Do We Keep Dewey?

Questions or would that be Kweschuns?