Did you know that the Dewey decimal classification makes it easy for you to access books in a library?
Ever imagined how impossible it would have been to manage knowledge and arrange books, documents in a logical sequence, group and order in a library without a knowledge classification system? And do you know it is the contribution of a young student assistant in the Library of Amherst College that revolutionised the library science and the profession of librarianship by evolving a classification system for organising information related to various fields and their retrieval in the conventional library?
The code
Well, it is Melvil Dewey, hailing from a poor family in a small town in Upper New York State, who devised the monumental Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system or the number building theory when he was 21 years old. The first edition of DDC was published in 1876. Thanks to DDC, the librarianship changed from a vocation to the present knowledge management profession. Even now the DDC rolls on with upgraded editions, its 22nd edition has four volumes and the Web Dewey and its online services are under OCLC, an organisation striving for spread of knowledge without commercial temptations. DDC has remained the popular and foremost classification system even today. But what is this DDC ? It is a hierarchical classification system that divides all knowledge into 10 main classes and numbers them 0 to 9 and a decimal at the end of the 3rd digit. The digit `0' is used to fill in the missing digits in the main class numbers.The following are main class numbers:000 : Computers, information and general reference
100: Philosophy and Psychology
200: Religion
300: Social Sciences
400: Languages
500: Sciences
600: Technology
700: Arts and Recreation
800: Literature
900: History and GeographyDewey was also the key personality in establishing the American Library Association in 1876 and was the co-founder and editor of Library Journal. He was the founder of world's first Library School in 1887. He passed away at the age of 80 on December 26, 1931.
100: Philosophy and Psychology
200: Religion
300: Social Sciences
400: Languages
500: Sciences
600: Technology
700: Arts and Recreation
800: Literature
900: History and GeographyDewey was also the key personality in establishing the American Library Association in 1876 and was the co-founder and editor of Library Journal. He was the founder of world's first Library School in 1887. He passed away at the age of 80 on December 26, 1931.
