library

1. Library Classification Systems:
The Dewey Decimal System vs. The Library of Congress System
Melvil Dewey Library of Congress

2. The Dewey Decimal System
(Used at NTUT)
• Melvil Dewey invented the
system in 1876.
• Before that, libraries often
didn’t have a subject-based
classification system. Instead
books were often shelved
based on their height and
when they were bought by the
library.
• Dewey divided books into ten
major subject categories and
many smaller sub-categories.

3. Dewey Decimal System
000 500
100 600
200 700
300 800
400 900
Do you know your Dewey Decimal System?
What types of works does each set of numbers contain?

4. Dewey Decimal System
Generally, the categories are as follows:
• 000 – General works, Computer
science and Information
• 100 – Philosophy and psychology
• 200 – Religion
• 300 – Social sciences
• 400 – Language
• 500 – Science
• 600 – Technology
• 700 – Arts & recreation
• 800 – Literature
• 900 – History & geography
But things can also get pretty specific:
370 Education
371 School management; special education
372 Elementary education
373 Secondary education
374 Adult education
375 Curriculums
376 Education of women
377 Schools & religion
378 Higher education
379 Government regulation, control, support
380 Commerce, communications, transport
381 Internal commerce (Domestic trade)
382 International commerce (Foreign trade)
383 Postal communication
384 Communications Telecommunication
385 Railroad transportation
386 Inland waterway & ferry transportation
387 Water, air, space transportation
388 Transportation Ground transportation
389 Metrology & standardization
390 Customs, etiquette, folklore
391 Costume & personal appearance
392 Customs of life cycle & domestic life
393 Death customs
394 General customs
395 Etiquette (Manners)
398 Folklore
399 Customs of war & diplomacy

5. Dewey Decimal System
Making sense of a call number
Here is a sample of a book title and Dewey
decimal call number. Note how, as we
analyze the call number, each line leads
to more specific information about the
book's topic:
Existential America by George Cotkin
142.780973 C826e
What can we tell from this call number?
100 = Philosophy & psychology
140 = Specific philosophical schools
142 = Critical philosophy
142.7 = Phenomenology
142.78 = Existentialism
142.780973= About Existentialism in America
(0973 at the end means history and
description about America)
The second line in the call number is called the
Cutter number, which indicates the author of a
book (or the title if there is no author). The
Cutter Number is taken from a table matching
names to a set of numbers: Cotkin=C826. If the
author has several works in a subject area, you
will see a work mark at the end of the Cutter
Number. The work mark is usually the first letter
or letters of the first distinctive word in the title.
Existential= C826e
Since the libraries often have a large collection, there
may be some additional information after the
Cutter Number line. Some examples include:
813 Sa33c 1994 (1994 is the year of the edition)
and Q 503 G131 2004 v.3 (Q means that the
book is oversized [quarto]). Oversized books
may be organized together or they may be
integrated into the rest of the collection. This
depends on the library. V.3 is the volume
number.
From "How to Read a Call Number.” University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 27 July 2012. Web. 27 Sept. 2013.

6. Dewey Decimal System: Literature
810 American literature in English
811 Poetry
812 Drama
813 Fiction
814 Essays
815 Speeches
816 Letters
817 Satire & humor
818 Miscellaneous writings
820 English & Old English literatures
821 English poetry
822 English drama
823 English fiction
824 English essays
825 English speeches
826 English letters
827 English satire & humor
828 English miscellaneous writings
829 Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
If you know what the numbers ought to be, sometimes you can just go to the shelf
directly without looking up your subject in a catalog.
However, the neat 817/827 satire correlation here does not continue: 837 is
German American Literature (not satire), 847 is French Canadian Literature, 857 is
Sardinian Literature, 867 is Catalan, and 1897 is literature in North and South
American native languages.
Literature in East Asian AND African Languages are grouped together in 895–96.

7. The Dewey Decimal System:
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages of the Dewey Decimal
System
• It’s easy to learn the general
categories, and then you can go
directly to the shelf that interests
you.
• It’s a number-based system,
which can be used in any
language.
Disadvantages of the Dewey
Decimal System
• There are only ten major
categories.
• Some books can be categorized
in more than one subject area,
so things get confusing.
• The numbers can get really
long, to the point that it is
difficult, not only for library
patrons, but even for library
employees to shelve the works
correctly
• The system was invented by an
American in the nineteenth
century. It is both American-
centric and limited by its time
(though it has been updated).

8. Library of Congress Classification
(Used at NTU)
A -- General Works
B -- Philosophy, psychology, and religion
C -- History: Auxiliary Sciences
D -- History: General and Old World
E -- History: America and U.S., general
F -- History: America and U.S., local
G -- Geography, anthropology, folklore,
etc.
H -- Social sciences, economics, business,
sociology
J -- Political Sciences
K -- Law
L -- Education
M -- Music
N -- Fine arts
P -- Philology, linguistics, language, and
literature
Q -- Science
R -- Medicine
S -- Agriculture
T -- Technology
U -- Military Science
V -- Naval science
Z -- Bibliography and library science
I, O, X, and Y are not used

9. LC P call numbers (a selection)
P—Philology, linguistics, language, and
literature
PA—Philosophy
PC—Romance Languages
PD—Germanic Languages
PE—English Languages
PG 2900–3698—Russian Languages and
Lit
PL 901–998—Korean Language and Lit
PL 1001–1960—Chinese Language
PL 2250–3208—Chinese Literature
PN—Literature: General
PR—English Literature
PS—American Literature
PZ—Fiction and Juvenile Literature

10. How the LC system works
The three main parts are organized in this way:
a letter or letters (KF 801 .C65)
1. A single letter represents a broad, general
subject. For Example: K = Law;
Multiple letters mean a narrower subject within
it. For Example: KF = US federal law.
This part of the call number is arranged
alphabetically on the shelves, so J would
come before K which would come before KF
2. A number (KF 801 .C65)
This middle part further defines the
subject. For Example: In the subject area of
law, it designates a type of material.
801 = general/comprehensive works.
To determine the arrangement of the call
number on the shelves, read these numbers
the way you would count: 30 comes before
300 which comes before 3000.
3. A Cutter numbers (KF 801 .C65)
Named after a cataloguer, this number
represents the beginning letter of a person's
(author, editor, etc.) last name with a number
that interpolates it between other names
beginning with the same letter
For Example: Calamari, John D. =
.C26 Corbin, Arthur L. = .C65
From
"Library Organization and Classification Systems."
Learn: Insider's Guide to the Library. University of
Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, 9 July 2013.
Web. 27 Sept. 2013.

11. What do you have to remember?
When looking for a Dewey decimal
number, long numbers are
classified by their beginning, not
the entire number:
If you have the number
142.78 C18z, that will be shelved
before
142.7894579 B43a and both will be
before
142.8 A18a.
So 810.7 does NOT come before
810.63. The first number after the
decimal point always takes
precedence.
(If the NTUT books are occasionally not shelved
like that, some confused person put them in
incorrectly.)
When looking for an LC number, it is
the opposite:
P 105 comes before
PN 30 which comes before
PR 30 which comes before
PR 60 which comes before
PR 185 which comes before
PR 1740.