Dewey UnpluggedBeyond the Dewey Decimal

Classification System

Who was Melvil Dewey?

Pioneer of American librarianship

Created the decimal classification system in 1876

Who was Melvil Dewey?Pioneer of American librarianship Created the decimal classification system in 1876 -This was the time of the Industrial Revolution. There

were many things invented then that we still use today BUT there are many others that have outlived there usefulness:the rotary washing machinethe automatic player pianothe tin can with a key openerthe Pullman sleeping car for train travel

The Dewey System10 broad topics which are then divided into

10 sub-topics, yielding 1000 topics that can be referred to by an integer number

Each of these can be indefinitely subdivided using decimals

The Broad TopicsWe think about ourselves:  100s -

Psychology and PhilosophyWe wonder about the creator: 200s –

Religion and MythologyPeople learn to get along together:  300s -

Social SciencesWe communicate with each other: 400s -

Languages

More Broad TopicsWe learn about nature and the world

around us: 500s - Natural Science.How we can make nature useful? 600s –

Applied ScienceHow we can use our spare time? 700s Fine

Arts and Recreation ~ 800s LiteratureWe wonder about the world and our place in

it. 900s - Geography and History

The Leftovers Everything else: Encyclopedias, books about

libraries, museums, journalism, computers, and controversial or unexplained topics 000s - General Works

Dewey Still Has Its PlaceWe don't think Dewey is wrongWe are just offering an alternative that we

think users will understand betterThe choice is completely up to you

General Problems with DeweyLong strings of numbers to uniquely identify No one but a cataloguer can understand the

system after the decimal pointHard to slot in new inventions, thoughts and

ideasMany overlapsReligion, language, customs, and history are the

primary reasons prompting adaptationsDewey places biographies by the subjectDewey places fiction in the 800s divided by

country then date

General Problems with DeweyNew topics cause a required shift in the entire

collection, it causes TLs to struggle to find shelving often in the middle of the collection and their is simply no room

With Dewey popular topics like Gardening can be scattered 580 Botany635 Gardening712.6 Landscaping

Problems For Our UsersOur users often

cannot understand the numbers past the decimal

Limited access to a teacher-librarian

Limited use of the non-fiction collection

Limited access to the online catalogue

More problemsOur patrons are

most often looking for books on a topic rather than a specific book

Cannot find the topics they are looking for

Our SolutionUsing a less

confusing classification system

Unplugging Dewey Using a system with

words that our patrons understand

Bigger and better signage

A Note on Signage

A note on Signage

Our SolutionUsing a less

confusing classification system

Unplugging Dewey Using a system with

words that our patrons understand

Bigger and better signage

Creating categories and sub-categories that children can understand

Enter sur~F !

sur~F

seeuse

reshelve~

FAST

Main CategoriesActivitiesAnimalsThe ArtsBiographyCanada HealthHome and FamilyIndustriesLanguagesLiteratureLiving and Working

Look it Up Math Mind and SoulNaturePeople of the PastScience Social IssuesSportsThings that GoThe UnexplainedThe World

Look it upAlphabetAlmanacsDictionaries

General 1English 2French 3Beginners 4Thesaurus 5Illustrated 6Science 7

EncyclopediaFactsIdioms

Language ArtsGeneral 1Composition 2Reading 3

MapsQuestion and

AnswerGeneral 1Guinness world

book 2Sports 3Animals 4Earth 5Science 6History 7

The Process

After the sortingAfter assigning new

categoriesAfter the attaching

new labelsTime to start putting

it all backOriginal signs

Building the sections back up

Hanging the signs

(don’t do it)

Fine-tuning the sub-classes

What sur~F Can Fix for Yousur~F will fix your Biography problemsur~F will put all your Social Studies together (eg

Medieval Times)sur~F will attract readers with eye catching words

they understand (e.g .,The Unexplained)sur~F will make shelving the books so easy even a 3rd

grader can do itsur~F will improve the circulation statistics of your

nonfiction sectionsur~F will have your users asking for more nonfiction

books and you will be buying nonfiction books rather then spending all your money on graphic novels

Your books on soil may not fly off the shelves but at least they are together now

Worried your users will never learn Dewey?

The average library user has the possibility of learning 4 classification systems in their lifetime:OCLC (Dewey), LC (Library of Congress), BISAC (Book Industry Standards and

Communication)OSC (Open Shelves Classification System)

We think the concept of a classification system is what is important and sur~F embodies all of the elements of a classification system

Wanna sur~F ??

RequirementsWe are making a list for SeptemberWill be doing a few schools in the summerThere is a cost of $350.00 for materialsPresentation to principal and staff Estimated time is 1-2 weeks for a 5000

nonfiction book collectionThe Dewey number will be changed in your

catalogue to reflect where the book is on your shelf