Reading the Dewey Decimal System

A collection of juvenile literature is located on the second floor. These books are identified by the location "UNCW Juvenille" in the Library catalog. Within this collection all of the nonfiction books are arranged using the Dewey Decimal Classification Schedule (DDC). Below is the general subject breakdown of the DDC and some tips for reading DDC call numbers so you may successfully locate books on the shelf. If you need further assistance, ask for assistance at the Learning Commons Help Desk.

Outline of the Dewey Decimal Classification Schedule

• Every Dewey Decimal (DDC) call number begins with three numbers (003 is never written as 3 in DDC), some with decimal numbers followed by various letters, and/or number combinations.
• Numbers to the left of the decimal point in Dewey call numbers are whole numbers. Therefore, 015 comes before 150.
• Numbers to the right of the decimal point in DDC call numbers are decimal numbers. Therefore, 970.13 comes before 970.3.

The following call numbers are in correct shelf order for the reasons given:

1. 468.642 Ab2a
2. 468.642 Al1c 1995 - Al comes after Ab
3. 970 T16n - 970 (970.000) is a large number than 468.642
4. 970 We 37 - We comes after T alphabetically
5. 970.01 C72: - 970.01 is larger than 970 (970.0000)
6. 970.13 B61d - 970.13 is larger than 970.3
7. 970.3 B36o - 970.3 (970.300) is larger than 970.13 (970.130)