# Dewey Decimal System **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 27, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849 "2006-01-27T15:38:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/21 "2006-01-31T19:00:49Z")
Don’t places like the Library of Congress and New York Public Library (and maybe archives like the NRLF) store the stacks to make efficient use of space? I thought I’d heard something like this, which would require another index into physical location. I always liked LOC classification better, as it’s easier to confine browsing to the exact subject section – I can just look up one book and easily find others near it. Bothering to memorize strings of numbers is useless to me. ---
**Author:** ![rootbeer277](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@rootbeer277](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rootbeer277)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/22 "2006-01-31T19:23:04Z")
The Library of Congress classification section states the Political Science is listed under “I” (eye). I believe it should be “J” (jay). ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/23 "2006-01-31T19:59:58Z")
> [@](#): > > The New York State Library organized its books alphabetically by title, without regard for subject. Imagine the problem every time a book was acquired! I’m trying to imagine. It’s not hard. Same problem as when a fiction title is acquired in a modern library, and has to be organized by author, without regard to subject, surely? Organizing books by title might make it difficult to _find_ a book unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, but I don’t see that acquisitions would be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/24 "2006-01-31T20:09:53Z")
So far as I know, the only _public_ library system using the Library of Congress system is the city of Inglewood. This is where computerized card catalogs are a must–for people brought up to use the Dewey Decimal system. But that system has a quirk or two–for example: 92 (not 092) is individual biographies. Since the library at El Camino College converted to the LOC system, I’ve had to use the computerized catalog to locate books I used to find via DDS. In an English textbook I used in junior-high school, a cartoon character used in the book is in the fiction section of his library. He looks at the spine of a book and says “Hmmm…no numbers…these must be miscellaneous.” The chapter then explains how to use the DDS and why fiction isn’t part of it. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/25 "2006-01-31T20:22:00Z")
Few library schools require students to take classes in cataloging anymore, let alone a course in classification. And a lot of library students don’t learn how to do reference interviews either, the art of getting someone to tell you that their original question “I need a book on Roosevelt” is actually a question about the study of growing U.S imperialism at the outset of the 20th Century. But the new librarians are really good at HTML! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/26 "2006-01-31T20:23:25Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > But the new librarians are really good at HTML! Whoopee. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/27 "2006-01-31T20:34:43Z")
I went to library school in 1987-88. I was taught how to program in PASCAL. That’s been very useful in my career. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/28 "2006-01-31T21:33:47Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > The question of who decides where a book should be categorized, and how it’s done, was something that I read about briefly in doing the research, and I started to get sidetracked into it, but then I decided it was way beyond the scope of the question. Hie thee to a library or a college that has a library science department, and they’ll show you the volumes devoted to classification. One can, after all, get advanced degrees in library science: it’s not something to be learned from a simple staff report. Yes, well, I live with a woman who has a Masters in Library Science; she has whapped me aside the head about 813, _et alia_. :smack: Honestly, I just assumed… The whole “P” category in the Library of Congress classification scheme is very very interesting. It also includes Linguistics, IIRC, as well as all the foreign language works, literature included. The whole B basement at UofR was “P”; it was the biggest floor of stacks in the Library. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/29 "2006-01-31T21:53:52Z")
28 posts and no one mentions the beswt Dewey Decimal system related quote ever? “Pathetic human race. Arranging their knowledge by category just made it easier to absorb. Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!” ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/30 "2006-02-01T00:09:00Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > 28 posts and no one mentions the beswt Dewey Decimal system related quote ever? > > “Pathetic human race. Arranging their knowledge by category just made it easier to absorb. Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!” OK, I’ll bite. Where is this from? I want to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/31 "2006-02-01T00:38:51Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. Where is this from? I want to use it. You’re sh\*tting us. :eek: :eek: :eek: Ain’t ya? :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/32 "2006-02-01T00:53:51Z")
According to this site [http://www.laughinglibrarian.com/sigliby.htm](http://www.laughinglibrarian.com/sigliby.htm) it’s from “Futurama”. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/33 "2006-02-01T08:30:46Z")
> [@riker1384](#): > > I think a good reason for learning the Dewey Decimal System is simply to avoid the wrath of [Conan the Librarian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_the_Librarian). You know what I love about this message board, truly? The fact that when I hear a muscular, scantily-clad, heavily-armed, seven-foot librarian growling at a man who can’t find a book on astronomy, I know I am not alone 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/34 "2006-02-01T19:19:49Z")
I was just reading a book called _Brand Name Bullies_ about bizzare disputes over trademark and copyrights. OCLC claims that they hold a trademark on the phrase “Dewey Decimal Classification” and that the system is copyrighted by them. [Official Dewey website](http://www.oclc.org/dewey/) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/35 "2006-02-01T21:24:50Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > So far as I know, the only _public_ library system using the Library of Congress system is the city of Inglewood. The Boston Public Library definitely uses those funny non-decimal call numbers (for non-fiction anyway. Fiction is by author.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/36 "2006-02-01T22:17:28Z")
There is no doubt that the _current_ DDC is owned by OCLC; the system is updated every few years. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/37 "2006-02-01T23:04:42Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > I was just reading a book called _Brand Name Bullies_ about bizzare disputes over trademark and copyrights. OCLC claims that they hold a trademark on the phrase “Dewey Decimal Classification” and that the system is copyrighted by them. [Official Dewey website](http://www.oclc.org/dewey/) There was a silly incident involving this in I believe Atlanta a couple of years ago. A restaurant/bar rented a building that was once a Carnegie Library and still had the name engraved on the stone. They wanted to call it “The Library” and have DDC numbers for their meals and drinks and the like. (As memory serves they also had a few rooms they were going to make into a small exclusive hotel and carry the theme there as well.) OCLC filed an injunction against them, making most librarians just shake their heads with a “has this become a problem…” irritation. Most of us thought it was cool that somebody wanted to do something like this for a “hip” establishment, but they ended up going with something else. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/38 "2006-02-02T01:26:28Z")
There was a reference in the book to a Library Hotel in New York which settled with the OCLC. Whether or not this is the same one, I am unsure. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/39 "2006-02-02T01:29:06Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > The Boston Public Library definitely uses those funny non-decimal call numbers (for non-fiction anyway. Fiction is by author.) Well, the DDS does it that way, too; but some libraries, and some bookstores (including the landmark bookstore Acres of Books in Long Beach, CA) separates fiction so that there are separate stacks for westerns, mysteries, short stories, and children’s fiction.) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849/40 "2006-02-02T01:31:05Z")
I see that it is _not_ the same one, as Atlanta is nowhere near New York City. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dewey-decimal-system/341849.md?page=3)