Developed by the Jacksonville Public Library Training Office

!Shelve It Right !Shelve It Right !Nonfiction Shelving Made Easy !Nonfiction Shelving Made Easy

Help this poor little book find its way home!

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Dewey Decimal System

Nonfiction books are shelved in a numerical order called Dewey Decimal Classification.

In the 1876, Melvil Dewey came up with the idea of dividing all the world’s knowledge into ten classifications

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The Dewey Classifications

000 Generalities 100 Philosophy and Psychology 200 Religion 300 Social Science 400 Language 500 Natural Science and Mathematics 600 Technology (Applied Sciences) 700 Arts 800 Literature 900 Geography and History

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The Dewey Subclasses

Dewey then divided each of those classes into ten sub-classes. For example, let’s take the 900’s

900 History 910 Geography & travel 920 Biography &

genealogy 930 History of ancient

world (to ca. 499) 940 History of Europe

950 History of Asia 960 History of Africa 970 History of North

America 980 History of South

America 990 History of other

areas

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…and ten more…

The next level is even more specific! Here are the sub-classifications for the 940’s

940 General history of Europe

941 British Isles 942 England & Wales 943 Central Europe;

Germany

944 France & Morocco 945 Italian Peninsula &

adjacent islands 946 Iberian Peninsula &

adjacent islands 947 Eastern Europe;

Soviet Union 948 Northern Europe;

Scandinavia 949 Other parts of

Europe

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So the Decimals mean…?

Yes, they mean something! For example: 940.544973 (World War Two American aerial

operations) 940.544941 (World War Two British aerial

operations) 940.544943 (World War Two German aerial

operations) 940.544952 (World War Two Japanese aerial

operations)

When the first three digits of the call number are the same, put the decimals in order next

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Call Number Order

Nonfiction books are shelved in order by call number, left to right

Always compare the Dewey Number character by character, number by number, decimal place by decimal place

940.544973940.544952940.544943940.544941

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Think of it this way…

A typical Dewey Decimal number looks something like money 144.77 241.53 467.98

You always know when you have more money & when you have less, right?

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When it gets tricky…

The tricky part is the really long decimals 144.778354 144.77857 144.778691

Just remember to compare each decimal place one by one

●

●

●

196877441

75877441

453877441

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If The Call # Is The Same…

If the Dewey number on several books is identical Compare the Author name,

and put in alphabetical order Or compare the code at the

bottom of the spine label, and put it in alphanumeric order.

Alphanumeric order means compare letters in the code under the call number & put in alpha order Put in numeric order if letters

are the same This code is called a Cutter

Number.

641.5

C436

641.5

C632

641.5

CHILD

641.5

COOK

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Cutter Numbers…?

Cutter Numbers are representations for names (or words) and aid in the more exact arrangement of materials on the shelves. Used primarily in the Fine

Arts (700-792), Literature (800's, primarily literary criticisms), the Florida Collection, and the Genealogy Collection

Here are some examples: 813.54 HIMES [a book BY

Chester Himes] 813.54 H6STYml [a book

ABOUT Chester Himes] 813.54 HODGINS [a book

BY Eric Hodgins] 813.54 H776Yg [a book

ABOUT Hugh Hood] 813.54HYMAN [a book BY

Mac Hyman]

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If they are identical…

If call numbers (or author name/title word) on the spine labels are identical, including the decimal places, place in alphabetical order by the book’s title (drop “a” “an” & “the” from the beginning of the title) Example: books all 641.5 Lagasse

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Check with a supervisor

If you are unsure where any item goes or if you find an item you believe to be incorrectly classified or marked, check with your supervisor.

Set aside any items that are significantly damaged or have anything missing. Bring these items to a supervisor’s attention.

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Shelving Nonfiction

Let’s practice! Click on the call number you think should go first BIO 973.86092 HARRISON BIO 973.56092 JACKSON BIO 973.46092 JEFFERSON BIO 973.7092 LINCOLN BIO 973.54092 MONROE BIO 973.41092 WASHINGTON

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got the first one right!

Now which one comes next? BIO 973.41092 WASHINGTON BIO 973.86092 HARRISON BIO 973.56092 JACKSON BIO 973.46092 JEFFERSON BIO 973.7092 LINCOLN BIO 973.54092 MONROE

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got 2 right!

Now which one comes next? BIO 973.41092 WASHINGTON BIO 973.46092 JEFFERSON BIO 973.86092 HARRISON BIO 973.56092 JACKSON BIO 973.7092 LINCOLN BIO 973.54092 MONROE

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got 3 right!

Which one comes next? BIO 973.41092 WASHINGTON BIO 973.46092 JEFFERSON BIO 973.54092 MONROE BIO 973.86092 HARRISON BIO 973.56092 JACKSON BIO 973.7092 LINCOLN

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got 4 right!

Which one comes next? BIO 973.41092 WASHINGTON BIO 973.46092 JEFFERSON BIO 973.54092 MONROE BIO 973.56092 JACKSON BIO 973.86092 HARRISON BIO 973.7092 LINCOLN

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got 5 right!

This is too easy! Which one comes next? BIO 973.41092 WASHINGTON BIO 973.46092 JEFFERSON BIO 973.54092 MONROE BIO 973.56092 JACKSON BIO 973.7092 LINCOLN BIO 973.86092 HARRISON

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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Nice try!

Remember to go character by character & watch those decimals!

Click here & try again! Not sure how to get started? Click here to review

or for a more detailed explanation.

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You nailed it!

BIO 973.41092 WASHINGTON BIO 973.46092 JEFFERSON BIO 973.54092 MONROE BIO 973.56092 JACKSON BIO 973.7092 LINCOLN BIO 973.86092 HARRISON

Note: Do you see another pattern here? Does it look like the Presidents are in the order in which they served?

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Children’s Non-Fiction

Call numbers will have a Y (for “Youth”) designation before them

Subsections Biography (BIO) Reference (REF) Parent/Teacher (P/T) Periodicals Foreign Language (AKA – international languages)

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Shelving Y Nonfiction

Let’s practice! Click on the call number you think should go first Y 577 LORBIECKI Y 577.636 PARKER Y 578.7699 RING Y 577.4 SPILSBURY Y 577.586 TOCCI Y 577.4 TOUPIN

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got the first one right!

Now which one comes next? Y 577 LORBIECKI Y 577.636 PARKER Y 578.7699 RING Y 577.4 SPILSBURY Y 577.586 TOCCI Y 577.4 TOUPIN

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got 2 right!

Now which one comes next? Y 577 LORBIECKI Y 577.4 SPILSBURY Y 577.636 PARKER Y 578.7699 RING Y 577.586 TOCCI Y 577.4 TOUPIN

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got 3 right!

Which one comes next? Y 577 LORBIECKI Y 577.4 SPILSBURY Y 577.4 TOUPIN Y 577.636 PARKER Y 578.7699 RING Y 577.586 TOCCI

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got 4 right!

Which one comes next? Y 577 LORBIECKI Y 577.4 SPILSBURY Y 577.4 TOUPIN Y 577.586 TOCCI Y 577.636 PARKER Y 578.7699 RING

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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You got 5 right!

This is too easy! Which one comes next? Y 577 LORBIECKI Y 577.4 SPILSBURY Y 577.4 TOUPIN Y 577.586 TOCCI Y 577.636 PARKER Y 578.7699 RING

Not sure how to get started? Click here to review or for a more detailed explanation.

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Nice try!

Remember to go character by character & watch those decimals!

Click here & try again! Not sure how to get started? Click here to review

or for a more detailed explanation.

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You nailed it!

Y 577 LORBIECKI Y 577.4 SPILSBURY Y 577.4 TOUPIN Y 577.586 TOCCI Y 577.636 PARKER Y 578.7699 RING

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Congratulations!

You’ve completed the nonfiction portion of the training.

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Decimal Order

Still not certain of how to put a set of decimal numbers in order?

Let’s break down the following set of numbers step by step to try to simplify the process

270 320 . 296 270 . 9 270 . 86 277 . 5 270 . 8992 268 . 335 270 . 899

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Identify Whole Numbers

Identify whole numbers first. We’ll concentrate on decimals in a minute.

.899270

.335268

.8992270

.5277

.86270

.9270

.296320

270

DecimalsWhole #

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Put Them In Order

Putting only the whole numbers in order, you should come up with this arrangement.

The decimal part only matters when the whole number is the same.

.9270

.5277

.899270

.296320

.335268

.8992270

.86270

270

DecimalsWhole #

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Same Whole Number

Once we’ve identified the items with the same whole number, we can look at the decimals.

One way to make it clearer is to add zeros to the decimals to make the same number of decimal places .8990270

.8992270

.8600270

.9000270

.0000270

DecimalsWhole #

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Put the Decimals in Order

Now put the Decimals in order

Always compare the numbers one by one in place 0000 comes before 8600 8600 come before 8990 8990 comes before 8992 8992 comes before 9000

.8990270

.9000270

.8992270

.8600270

.0000270

DecimalsWhole #

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The Correct Order!

This is the correct order for this group of items

.9270

.5277

.899270

.296320

.335268

.8992270

.86270

270

DecimalsWhole #