The Dewey Decimal system is a system used to organize books based on their subject. The system consists of 10 groups or "classes" of related subtopics. For example, the History and Geography class, includes both Civil War history and travel. Books are assigned a 3-digit number between 000 and 999 (sometimes with additional decimal places) based on their subject. Libraries will often put a label with the classification number on the book's spine and shelve the books in numerical order.
Dewey Decimal Classification is typically used by public libraries and K-12 libraries in the United States. The MiraCosta College Library does not use the Dewey Decimal system. Instead, we use the Library of Congress Classification system.
Learn more about the Dewey Decimal system.
