Dewey Decimal System Recap

Hello everyone!  I thought this would be a good time to do a quick recap on the dewey decimal system.

Shelving Items in "Dewey Order"

In the Dewey Decimal System, books are filed digit by digit, not by whole number.  This means, for example, that our book at 595.789/BROC would come after 595.0123 and before 595.9. 

With Dewey decimal numbers, it doesn't matter how long the number is.  Items get shelved in order of the numbers, as if they all had the same number of digits. 

Here is another example - the Dewey call numbers below are in proper Dewey order:

331

331.01

331.016

331.02

331.041

331.0413

331.042

331.1

331.198

331.2

And again, after the decimal numbers come the letters from the author's name (or title).  When two books have the same number, then they go in alphabetical order by the letters.

Here is an example of Dewey order with decimal numbers and letters:

641

B54s

641.5

C23w

641.5

We45

641.555

R87

641.594

M45e

641.5945

F3s

641.596

M74s

Also, always remember the nothing before something rule, meaning that 823.91 W23 A69s is always going to come before 823.91 W23a 

Let me know if you have any questions!

Heidi