Dewey Decimal Classification Flashcards
The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), colloquially the _____ _____ _____, is a proprietary library classification system first published in the United States by Melvil Dewey in 1876.
Dewey Decimal System
The Decimal Classification introduced the concepts of _____ _____and _____ _____ which allow new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject.
relative location; relative index
How many libraries is this classification system used in?
200,000 libraries
How many countries is this classification system used in?
at least 135 countries
The Dewey Decimal Classification organizes library materials by _____ or field of study.
discipline
The scheme comprises ten _____, each divided into ten _____, each having ten _____.
classes; divisions; sections
The system’s notation uses _____ numbers, with three whole numbers making up the main classes and sub-classes and decimals designating _____ _____. The classification structure is hierarchical and the notation follows the same hierarchy.
Indo-Arabic; further divisions
Libraries not needing the full level of detail of the classification can do what to obtain more general classifications?
trim right-most decimal digits from the class number
The classification was originally enumerative. What does this mean?
that it listed all of the classes explicitly in the schedules
What are the ten classes in the DDC?
000 – Computer science, information and general works 100 – Philosophy and psychology 200 – Religion 300 – Social sciences 400 – Language 500 – Pure Science 600 – Technology 700 – Arts and recreation 800 – Literature 900 – History and geography
What are the tables used in the DDC?
T1 Standard Subdivisions
T2 Geographic Areas, Historical Periods, Biography
T3 Subdivisions for the Arts, for Individual Literatures, for Specific Literary Forms
T3A Subdivisions for Works by or about Individual Authors
T3B Subdivisions for Works by or about More than One Author
T3C Notation to Be Added Where Instructed in Table 3B, 700.4, 791.4, 808–809
T4 Subdivisions of Individual Languages and Language Families
T5 Ethnic and National Groups
T6 Languages
The _____ _____ is an alphabetical index to the classification, for use both by classifiers and by library users when seeking books by topic.
The Relative Index (or, as Dewey spelled it, “Relativ Index”).
How does a relative index work?
The index was “relative” because the index entries pointed to the class numbers, not to the page numbers of the printed classification schedule. In this way, the Dewey Decimal Classification itself had the same relative positioning as the library shelf and could be used either as an entry point to the classification, by catalogers, or as an index to a Dewey-classed library itself.
Adaptations of the system for specific regions outside the English-speaking world include the Korean Decimal Classification, the New Classification Scheme for Chinese Libraries, and the _____ _____ _____ (Japanese).
Nippon Decimal Classification
Dewey Decimal Classification numbers formed the basis of the _____ _____ _____ (UDC), which combines the basic Dewey numbers with selected punctuation marks (comma, colon, parentheses, etc.)
Universal Decimal Classification
