How to use the Nonfiction Section of the Media Center

Nonfiction books are usually informational books. In them you will find factual knowledge on many different topics. In some cases the books in this section will seem like fiction, however. Examples of these are plays, poetry, mythology, or folktales.

To understand how the Nonfiction section of most libraries is organized, you must know a little about the Dewey Decimal System.

It was first developed by a man named Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey

He was born in New York in Melville was always a bit of a reformer, someone who like to improve or correct things. One of the things he tried to change was the way we spell. He thought the spelling of English words should be much more simple. He even changed the spelling of his own name to Melvil Dui.

When he was a student at Amherst College in Massachusetts, Melville worked as a student- assistant in the library. He thought he could improve upon the way the books were organized.

Before Mr. Dewey invented his system, each library had to find its own way of organizing its books Some of these systems were not very good.

For his system, he chose certain main subjects and assigned numbers to them, so that all nonfiction books on the same subject would be together on the shelf..

He choose these subjects by imagining himself to be a prehistoric or primitive man. He asked himself questions he thought such a man would have asked

100's PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY (Man thinks about himself.)‏ Who am I?

200's RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY (Man thinks about God.)‏ Who made me?

300's SOCIAL SCIENCE (Man thinks about other people.)‏ Who is the man in the next cave?

400's PHILOLOGY (Language) (Man learns to communicate with others through words.)‏ How can I make that man understand me ?

500's NATURAL SCIENCE (Man learns to understand nature on the land, in the sea, and in the sky.)‏ How can I understand nature and the world about me?

600's APPLIED SCIENCE AND USEFUL ARTS (Technology) (Primitive man learned about fire and how to make weapons. Man through the ages learned about the wheel, about medicine, planting crops, cooking food, building bridges, and how to make all the things we use.)‏ How can I use what I know about nature?

700's FINE ART AND RECREATION (By this time, primitive man had more time to do the things he enjoyed. He learned how to paint pictures and to create music. He also learned how to dance and play games.)‏ How can I enjoy my leisure time?

800's LITERATURE (Man became a storyteller. He creates sagas, fables, epic poetry, and plays about his ancestors and the people he knew. Later, man put these into writing for all people to read.)‏ How can I give my children a record of man's heroic deeds?

900's GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY (So man began to write about events that had occurred everywhere, and about people who had participated in these events.)‏ How can I leave a record for men of the future?

000's GENERAL WORKS The numbers up to 100 are used for bibliographies, books about books, and for books which contain information on many subjects such as encyclopedias and other reference books, computers, and things we do not understand. ?

The Dewey system he created has ten main categories. They are: 000 Generalities 100 Philosophy and Psychology 300 Social Science 200 Religion 400 Language 500 Natural Science and Mathematics 600 Technology (Applied Sciences)‏ 700 Arts 800 Literature 900 Geography and History

A Dewey number always has three digits to the left of the decimal. Examples: or Even if it is in the 000's (we call this the zero hundreds) it would be written like this: 001.9

To the right of the decimal, there is no limit on number. The more numbers you add to the right of the decimal, the more specific the subject is. For example, the Dewey number for dogs is and for dachshunds it’s

Call numbers on nonfiction books always contain a Dewey number followed by three letters COL If a call number starts with a Dewey number, you’ll be sure to find that book in the Nonfiction section. (Think Number = Nonfiction)‏

If the letters REF appear before the Dewey number, you’ll find the book in the Reference section. REF COL Reference books are nonfiction books in which the information is arranged for easy access

The books in the Nonfiction and Reference sections are arranged by number order Because Dewey numbers are assigned by subject, that means that the books are arranged by subject on the shelves.

When looking through the nonfiction books, always be careful to keep them in correct number order. That will enable others to easily find them on the shelves.

THE END Great job! Now do the following things: 1. Make sure you’ve answered all the questions. 2. Make sure your name(s) are on your paper. 3. Log off of the computer, and quietly get a book to read while you’re waiting for others to finish.