SD42 Teacher Librarians

The first step in determining what Shelf Location to assign to a book is to look up other books about the same topic in your library collection (Use PAC to search by keyword or subject.) It is important to maintain consistency when cataloguing resources. If you discover that there is no consistency of cataloguing for a particular topic, then you may wish to pull items from the shelves and re-catalogue them in a consistent manner. Tip: You can also use the SD42 MRPM PAC to look up how others have catalogued similar books to get an idea of how others have approached cataloguing that topic.

If you cannot find any books on the same topic in your library, then use any of the following online resources to assist you with determining what Dewey Decimal Classification number to use.

LS2 Cataloguing Tip for Shelf Location entry: Enter the Dewey number and the cutter (usually the first three letters of the author's name) in the Shelf Location field. Note 1: Leave a space between the Dewey number and the cutter. Note 2: If your Dewey number has numbers after a decimal, leave a space before the decimal. This will wrap the decimal portion of the number onto the next line on the spine label. This helps it to fit on the spine label.
Example: 880 .08 SMI

Site 1 - OCLC Dewey Decimal Classification Summaries

Use this first link to see summaries of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system. This orients you to the main classification system.
OCLC DDC Summaries

Scroll down past the text to the summaries. There are ten main classes, which are divided into divisions (hundreds) and sections (thousands), which allows for narrowing of topics. Most of the time you will use numbers in the sections, but sometimes, for a broad subject, you will use a number in the divisions. This gives you a good idea of how the system is set up.

For example, look at the different numbers you would use for different books on animals:

From the classes table – major classification
500 - A book on any animal will be in the 500 -  Natural Sciences and Mathematics classification. Narrow the number as indicated below.

From the divisions table – broad topic
590 - A book about all animals (Zoological Sciences division)

From the 500 sections table – narrower topics
598 A book about birds (Aves section)
599 A book about mammals (Mammalia section)

Site 2 - Melvil Decimal System: Library Thing Interactive Index

This is the most detailed free site that is available for determining Dewey classification numbers. You can use this site once you are familiar with the summaries outlined in Site 1 above.

Melvil Decimal System: Library Thing Interactive Index

To use this site:

1. Click the main class number you need - in the top row. (For example: 5 Natural Sciences and Mathematics).
2. Then, click the division number that you need in the second row that pops up. (For example: 59 Zoology)
3. Then, click the section number that you need in the third row that pops up. (For example: 597 Cold blooded vertebrates; fishes)
4. Then choose the appropriate number from the fourth row. (For example: A book on sharks - 597.3)

Note 1: You can continue to fifth and sixth rows if needed.
Note 2: You can see the list of books other libraries have catalogued with the number you have clicked (below the rows).

Use these online library catalogues to find records for books. These records can help you with determining the Dewey Decimal classification and subjects. The first three online catalogues are particularly useful when no records exist in the American LS2 databases.

OCLC Classify
The British Library
National Library of Australia
The Library of Congress
ITS.MARC
Username: 201331
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