The table below shows an explanation of the
Dewey Decimal System.
On the spine label of any non-fiction or reference book, you will find
a set of numbers. Use the table to decode them.
Melvil Dewey set up this system during the 19th century and it has been updated
many times
to add new subjects. The system uses sets of numbers to indicate a general
subject area. The more decimal places used, the narrower the subject.
| 000's | GENERALITIES | News, monsters, UFO's, Guinness books |
| 100's | PHILOSOPHY | Logic, ghost stories, optical illusions |
| 200's | RELIGION | Religions of the world, Greek, Roman myths |
| 300's | SOCIAL SCIENCES | Politics, govt., law, military, holidays, fairy tales |
| 400's | LANGUAGES | Dictionaries, thesaurus, foreign languages |
| 500's | PURE SCIENCE | Math, chemistry, weather, animals, astronomy, biology |
| 600's | TECHNOLOGY | Health, medicine, cooking, cars, trucks, airplanes, pets |
| 700's | THE ARTS | Drawing, painting, photography, sports, music |
| 800's | LITERATURE | Poetry, writing, authors, book lists |
| 900's | GEOGRAPHY & HISTORY | Maps, US history, countries, Native American tribes, wars |
Source: Abridged Dewey Decimal Classification and
Relative Index, 13th edition, 1997.