Basics of Dewey Decimal Classification

By liblex | Updated: July 9, 2025, 6:58 p.m.

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Introduction to the Dewey Decimal Classification system

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TWO
MINUTE
SKILL
The Basics of the Dewey Decimal System
Hello, I'm Melvil Dewey, the fellow who invented a marvelous system -named after me, by the way- for organizing books in a library.

Join me as I show how my system works.

Before I devised my system, each library organized their books in their own way. Boy howdy! It was a mess. Libraries couldn't really loan books to each other, and moving to a new town meant one had to get used to a whole new way of finding books.
Some libraries arranged their books alphabetically by title.
Other libraries arranged their books alphabetically by author.
Some even arranged their books by color!  Makes a pretty bookcase, but it is horrible to find anything—unless you remember the book's color.
While attending Amherst College I was hired to reorganize the library's collection. It was then that I came up with my decimal classification system.
I decided that I could categorize all the world's knowledge into ten major categories. I called these categories "classes."
I then divided each class into ten divisions, and I further divided each division into ten sections. (Don't worry, I'll show you how this works in a bit.)
Here are a couple of classes, for example. 1) Science, 2) Technology.
Science is assigned the 500s, and technology 600s. You could think of the 500s as theoretical science, and the 600s as applied science.

A class covers a broad range of topics. For example, science will include math, chemistry, physics, and the like. 
Each section in a division, narrows the focus even more. 
Look! Up in the sky!
Is it a Bird?
A plane?
No, it's a super decimal point!
What makes the decimal point super?  While there are only 3 digits to the left of the decimal point, the number of digits to the right can go "to infinity—and beyond!" This means that my system can be VERY precise.
Allow me to demonstrate...
The 900s class is about history, geography, and travel.
The 910s division is about geography and travel.
The 917s section is about geography and travel in North America..
Now we activate that lovely decimal point!
917.69 is about geography and travel in Kentucky.
917.6947 is about geography and travel in Lexington, Kentucky.
Now you know how my system works.  Goodbye for now.
As always, please ask one of the friendly librarians if you have any questions.

Basics of Dewey Decimal Classification

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