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Library Stuff What Stuff Does The Library Have Tips for Searching the Catalog
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When you know that the book is at the location you're at, you use the call number to actually find where it is on the shelf. Every book in the Library has a call number on the spine of the book. The call number is sort of like the address of the book and tells you exactly where you can find it. Most books are divided into two categories: Fiction (including mysteries and science fiction) and Non-Fiction (including biographies). Fiction books are stories that are made up. They are usually on the shelf by the author's last name and the call number will usually look like this: J FIC ROW (The J is for Juvenile; the FIC is for Fiction; and the ROW is the first three letters of the author's last name). Non-Fiction books are factual books and they have a call number that usually looks something like this: J 799.67 ROW (You probably already know what the J and the ROW stand for, but what are those numbers?) They're special numbers called Dewey Decimal Numbers - we'll talk more about those in the next section. Doo Wop? De Weep? Doweenie? What are those Dewey Decimal Numbers? The Dewey Decimal System is what you use to arrange the Non-Fiction stuff by subject in the Library. Can you imagine trying to find a book in the Library if all the books were in order only by size or color? You would probably be looking for a looong time! The Dewey Decimal System was invented by Melvil Dewey, a librarian that lived back in the 1870s. So, how does the Dewey Decimal System work? Well, first, books are divided into 10 main classes (you might recognize some of these as the subjects you study) and each class has a range of numbers to go with it:
Now, if you were looking for a book on fishing, you can probably figure out that it is somewhere between 700-799. But, that's still a lot of books! The Arts, Sports and Recreation class includes all the books on art, architecture, sculpture, drawing, painting, photography, movies, music, baseball, football, basketball, and fishing - to name just a few! So, Melvil got a little more detailed with the system and also divided things into the Hundred Divisions. We won't list all of them, but here are some:
Let's take a closer look at the 790 Division. That area includes all the books on Sports, Games and Entertainment. We're still talking about a lot of stuff! All the books on football, basketball, baseball, card games, horse riding, roller coasters, movies, theatre. How are we going to find that one perfect book on fishing? Don't worry, Melvil was prepared - he decided to add another section called the Thousand Sections. So, if you wanted a book on fishing, you would go to the 799 section - which includes books on fishing, hunting and shooting. Some other Thousand Sections are:
If you want to see a complete list of all of the Dewey numbers, click here. Now, there can also be numbers after these big numbers (Remember our example: J 799.67 ROW). The numbers after the decimal point get even more specific on what the book is about. So now you know how to find that book on fishing or almost any other subject! Remember, a Librarian is always around if you need more help! |
