The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), or Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system created by Melvil Dewey in 1876. It has been revised and expanded through 23 major editions, the latest issued in 2011. Dewey was responsible for all revisions until his death in 1931. A designation number, such as Dewey 16 for the 16th edition, is given for each revision.
A library assigns a DDC number that unambiguously locates a particular volume to within a short length of shelving which makes it easy to find any particular book and return it to its proper place on the library shelves. The system is used in 200,000 libraries in at least 135 countries.
Read more about Dewey Decimal Classification: Design, Administration and Publication, Influence, Comparison With Library of Congress Classification
Famous quotes containing the words dewey and/or decimal:
“Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and of ideas. This condition is satisfied only as the educator views teaching and learning as a continuous process of reconstruction of experience.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)
“It makes little sense to spend a month teaching decimal fractions to fourth-grade pupils when they can be taught in a week, and better understood and retained, by sixth-grade students. Child-centeredness does not mean lack of rigor or standards; it does mean finding the best match between curricula and children’s developing interests and abilities.”
—David Elkind (20th century)