The Dewey Decimal System

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Research

Finding information in a research project is often difficult for students. If they don’t get instant results, they often give up. Sometimes they find too much information and have trouble selecting the portions they need for the assignment. In addition, students in the middle school work at a variety of ability levels, and have trouble locating information that is appropriately presented for their level of understanding.

The tools that are included here are designed to help students find and record the information that they need. This includes evaluating sources for reliability, locating information in the chosen sources, and extracting information from the sources once they are found.

THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM

Dewey numbers divide humanity'sknowledge,ideas,
and artistic creations into ten
major categoriesspanning a range
from 000 to 999:
200 Religion
300 Social sciences
400 Language
500 Natural sciences & math
600 Technology (Applied sciences)
700 The arts
800 Literature & rhetoric
900 Geography & history

Each sub-category is further divided into nine specialized topics ranging from 1 to 9:
520 Astronomy
521 Celestial mechanics
522 Techniques, equipment, etc.
523 Specific celestial bodies
524 [Unassigned]
525 Earth (Astronomical geography)
526 Mathematical geography
527 Celestial navigation / Each major category divides into nine sub-categories spanning a range of 10 to 90. For example:
500 Natural science & mathematics
510 Mathematics
520 Astronomy & allied sciences
530 Physics
540 Chemistry & allied sciences
550 Earth sciences
560 Paleontology & paleozoology
570 Life sciences

By adding decimals, the specialized topics are broken down even further:
523.3 Moon
523.4 Planets
523.5 Meteors, solar wind, zodiacal light
523.6 Comets
523.7 Sun
523.71 Constants and dimensions
523..72 Physics of
523.73 Motions

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THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM

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000 Generalities
010 Bibliography
020 Library & information sciences
030 Encyclopedic works
050 Serials & their indexes
060 Organizations & museums
070 New media, journalism, publishing
080 General collections
090 Manuscripts & rare books

100 Philosophy & psychology
110 Metaphysics
120 Epistemology, causation, humankind
130 Paranormal phenomena
140 Specific philosophical schools
150 Psychology
160 Logic
170 Ethics
180 Ancient, medieval, oriental philosophy
190 Modern western philosophy

200 Religion
210 Natural theology
220 Bible
230 Christian theology
240 Christian moral & devotional theology
250 Christian orders & local churches
260 Christian social theology
270 Christian church history
280 Christian denominations 290 Other & comparative religions

300 Social Science
310 General statistics
320 Political science
330 Economics
340 Law
350 Public administration
360 Social problems & services
370 Education
380 Commerce, communications, transport
390 Customs, etiquette, folklore

400 Language
410 Linguistics
420 English & Anglo-Saxon languages
430 German languages
440 French languages
450 Italian, Romanian, Rhaeto-Romanic
460 Spanish & Portuguese languages
470 Latin languages
480 Greek languages
490 Other languages

500 Natural science & mathematics
510 Mathematics
520 Astronomy & allied sciences
530 Physics
540 Chemistry & allied sciences
550 Earth sciences
560 Paleontology & Paleozoology
570 Life sciences
580 Botanical sciences
590 Zoological sciences

600 Technology (applied sciences)
610 Medical sciences
620 Engineering
630 Agriculture
640 Home economics & family living
650 Management
660 Chemical engineering
670 Manufacturing
680 Manufacture for specific use
690 Buildings

700 The arts
710 Civic & landscape art
720 Architecture
730 Sculpture
740 Drawings & decorative arts
750 Paintings & painters
760 Graphic arts
770 Photography
780 Music
790 Recreational & performing arts

800 Literature & rhetoric
810 American literature in English
820 English literature
830 Literature of Germanic language
840 Literatures of Romance language
850 Italian, Romanian, Rhaeto-Romanic Literatures
860 Spanish & Portuguese literatures
870 Latin literatures
880 Greek literatures
890 Literatures of other languages

900 Geography & history
910 Geography & travel
920 Biography, genealogy,
930 History of the ancient world
940 History of Europe
950 History of Asia
960 History of Africa
970 History of N. America
980 History of S. America
990 History of other areas

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Where can I find....?

(Getting to know the Dewey Decimal System)

Call Numbers, Fiction and Non-Fiction

/ Books in the library are put on the shelf in a special order. Each book has a number. This number is called a call number. It is found on the spine of the book. A call number is a group of numbers and/or letters that tell you where to find a book.
Remember: A call number is not made up of just numbers. Some call numbers are made up of letters or both numbers and letters.
Library books are sorted by fiction and non-fiction books.

Fiction books are stories that are made up by the author and are not true.
Non-fiction books are true and give you information about all kinds of things.

Fiction Books
Fiction books are given call numbers that use the author's last name. They are put on the shelf in alphabetical order by the author's last name.
In our library, fiction books can be found in two places.

Easy books (or picture books) are sorted using the first letter of the author's last name.
Chapter books are sorted using the first three letters of the author's last name under the letter F.

/ / Non-Fiction Books
Non-fiction books are also sorted by the first letters of the author's last name. However, they are also organized by their subject or what the book is about.
Each subject has its own number. This number is based on the Dewey Decimal System.
When you sort non-fiction books, the number comes first. After the numbers have been put in order, you can put the letters in alphabetical order.

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Parts of a Book

Author

Person who writes a book

Title

Name of the book

Title Page

Page that includes basic information about the book

Table of Contents

List of chapters at the beginning

Glossary

List of words at the back of the book

Index

List of subjects included at the back of the book

Place of Publication

City where the book is published

Date book is published

Illustrator

Person who draws the pictures

Publisher

Company that produces the book

USING THE PARTS OF A BOOK

A book has many parts. The title page of a book has the information about when and where the book was published. It will give you the name of the author. It will tell you the copyright date or the date the book was written or published.

The table of contents in a book will help you to find the names of the chapters of the book and the page number where each chapter begins. Each chapter of the book will have a name and usually has a chapter number.

The glossary of a book will give meanings to words used in the book. Vocabulary words or new words in the book will be here. The glossary can help you to understand your reading and will make it easier for you to learn and study the information.

The index of a book is very valuable to learners. You will find a listing of each topic in the book, names of people, maps in the book, or any other information in the book listed here. The listing will be in alphabetical order and will have the page number in the book where you can find the information you are looking for.

Notes

Often, students become overwhelmed when faced with a large amount of information on a subject. Being able to extract necessary information from a text, website, video, or other source is vital to the research process. The following pages are designed to help students take notes while researching.

To assist students in this task, we have created a uniform note-taking format that students can use while taking notes. This format can be adapted for students of different learning styles and abilities, as well as tailored by teachers to different levels of complexity. Regardless of any adaptations made, it is important that students follow the rules outlined below:

Information is separated. Notes should be written one fact at a time. This allows information to be sorted later.
Source information must be included. This includes page numbers for printed works.
Ability to categorize. Once students have taken their notes, they must have a way to sort the information. Categories can be assigned ahead of time or students can create them after they have finished their research.

We are including two templates here. One is for note cards. Gathered from many different teachers, this format includes all of the required elements listed above. When using note cards, it is important that students also keep a master list of their sources.

The other template is a notes page. It contains the same information as the cards, but is kept in one place for a student who may have trouble keeping track of cards. The source information is gathered on the same page as the notes. If used as single-sided handouts, the sheet could later be cut and organized in the same was as the cards would be.

One step further: color-coding

Color-coding can be another way to organize notes. Using different colored index cards can help students to organize by topic, provided topics are given with the assignment and that the assignment does not have more than five or six topics. They can also be used to keep track of what information came from what source (different color per source) or from what source type (blue for book, white for web, green for video, etc.)

Students can also use white note cards and later sort by color using highlighters. This may be a better option if students are using more topics for longer assignments.

Learning to Use Note Cards

When it comes to organizing information for a term paper or even a short two or three page paper, the "Note Card System" can be very useful. By using this system, you create note cards from blank 3x5, 4 x 6, or 5x7 index cards that you fill with information pertinent to the subject that you are researching. Make sure the information is expressed in your own words, unless it is a quotation. Use good sentence structure: this will save you time when you start to write the paper.

On the side with the lines:

Sub topic (Optional)
One fact OR
One quote OR
One thought
Internet Source Title
OR
Author and Page Number

On the side with the lines Example:

Jane Parker was born August 21, 1960 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Mellencamp, 32

On the blank side:

Topic
(Ex.) Childhood

What to Do With Your Cards:

Organize the cards by topics to create an outline for your paper.

Write the term paper following this sequence. Use topical, concluding, and transitional sentences to link the information on the cards.

Keep a separate set of cards with the complete information of books, magazines, films, etc. These will be used for entering citations, and when compiling the works cited page.

Color or highlight note cards so that you can vary the number of sources in the paper. (Examples) Pink card or highlight is for books, Blue card or highlight is for magazines, newspapers or online journals, Yellow card or highlight is for Internet websites, and Green card or highlight is for audio or video sources.

When organizing your paper try to vary the color of each source so that your paragraphs and paper are not comprised of entirely one or two color sources.

NOTE TAKING FORM

Type of Source (Circle one):

Book MagazineNewspaper VideoOnline JournalInternet Website

Other: ______

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Author(s): ______

Title: ______

City of Publication: ______Publisher______

Web Address: ______

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Topic/Subtopic
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The Path to Researching on the Internet

Evaluate:

Where am I?

Is this page worth visiting?

Does the site offer anything informative, unique, or insightful?

Is it free of errors, misspelled words, and poor grammar?

Do you understand the language? Is it too casual and basic or detailed and scholarly?

Relevance: (Relates to the topic)

Does this site address the topic you are researching?

Are there enough details for this to be useful?

Objectivity: (Point of view)

Who wrote this?

Is it a trusted source?

Is there an obvious bias or point of view?

What gives the author authority or expertise on the subject?

Accuracy:

Is the information consistent with other sources?

Are the website’s sources listed?

Are the sources also useful to you?

Date:

When was the page originally written?

When was it updated?

Is the information current?