Welcome!

The course is designed for members of the library community who do not have formal library training.  It will help you understand basic information about how to assign and use the Dewey Decimal  Classification (DDC) system.  If you have not yet done so, you may want to take our course: Introduction to Technical Services and Catalog, which gives a basic understanding of cataloging that may be helpful for you to have before taking this course. We have also included a Bibliography at the end of the course for those who wish further information on cataloging in general and the DDC in particular.

The course is divided into nine sections.  Each section has one or more web pages, plus a self-evaluation test.  You will typically move ahead in the course by correctly answering the last question on each self-evaluation.  The course takes approximately two hours to complete.  If you have stopped working on the course and wish to re-enter at a section, you may do so by clicking on the objective for the section in the list below.

This course uses examples from the Abridged Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index, 13th edition (Albany, N.Y.: Forest Press, 1997).  If your library does not have access to this version of the DDC, you may borrow a copy from the Idaho Commission for Libraries by calling the Library Development Division.  (This service is available to staff members of Idaho libraries and Idaho residents only.)

Idaho library staff members or trustees completing the ninth self-evaluation examination will be eligible to receive a certificate of completion for the course.  Send a copy of the final page of the course to the Continuing Education Consultant, Idaho Commission for Libraries, 325 W. State Street, Boise, Idaho 83702.  Or fax it to 208-334-4016.

Completion of all Alternative Basic Library Education (ABLE) courses will earn a certificate of completion for the ABLE program. For more information contact the Continuing Education Consultant Team using our online contact form.. 

 

Course Objectives

In this course, you will learn the following:

        1. The purpose of classification

        2. The basic structure of the Dewey Decimal Classification system

        3. The steps in classification

    How to use the DDC

        4. Part 1: The Index

        5. Part 2: Table 2

        6. Part 3: Adding from the schedules

        7. Part 4: Table 1

        8. Part 5: Tables 3 and 4

       9. Creating the complete call number

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