Melvil Dewey developed the Dewey Decimal Classification system in the late 19th century to organize library collections. He envisioned how a primitive man might think about and categorize the world, and used those questions to develop the main classifications. The system is now used worldwide to organize libraries into 10 broad subject categories addressing questions like who I am, how I understand nature, and how I can pass knowledge to future generations.

1. A Short Story About Dewey

5. Who am I? 100 Philosophy and Psychology Man thinks about himself.

6. Who made me? 200 Religion Man thinks about his Creator.

7. Who is the man in the next cave? 300 Social Sciences Man thinks about other people.

8. How can I make that man understand me? 400 Philology – Language Man learns to communicate with others through words and signs.

9. How can I understand nature and the world around me? 500 Science Man learns to understand the nature of air, land, and sea.

10. How can I use what I know about nature? 600 Applied Science/Useful Arts Primitive man learned about fire and how to make weapons; over time, he also learned about the wheel, medicine, planting crops, cooking food, building useful structures, and how to make things to ease our burdens.

11. How can I enjoy my leisure time? 700 Fine Arts and Recreation As time passes, man learns about painting pictures, creating music, as well as dancing to music, playing games, Sports, and hunting.

12. How can I pass on man’s heroic deeds? 800 Literature Man becomes a storyteller; he creates sagas, fables, epics, poems, plays about relatives, friends, and characters; he writes for others to read, learn, and enjoy.

13. How can I leave a record for people of the future? 900 History, Geography, and Biography Man writes about what happened, where it happened, and who made it happen.

14. What else is there? 000 General Works The numbers up to 100 are used for books about books, and for books that contain information on many subjects such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and other reference books; – much of the sorts of books one would find in the reference section of the library.