Running head: CONCEPT BRIEFING REPORT

Concept Briefing Report: The Evolution and Future of the Dewey Decimal System
Elise Aiello
University of South Florida

Running head: CONCEPT BRIEFING REPORT

Concept Briefing Report: The Evolution and Future of the Dewey Decimal System
Since most public libraries use Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) as their
bibliographic classification scheme, it is important to understand the background and structure of
the scheme to effectively organize information resources. Libraries and information resources
have come a long way since DDC was developed in 1873, so it is just as important to know how
DDC is evolving to meet the demands of modern libraries. This report will first explore the
origins of DDC, examine the problems and common criticisms of DDC, and then go into how it
has changed with the times.
Melvil Dewey developed the Dewey Decimal Classification System when he was an
assistant librarian at Amherst College. The first edition was published in 1876 as A
Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a
Library and was only 44 pages long. Now, DDC consists of four volumes and a new edition
comes out every eight years. The DDC is often revised with changing times. Now the DDC is so
widely used that translations into a number of languages either already exist or are being
worked on, including: Arabic, French, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Persian, Russian, and Spanish.
(Taylor and Joudrey, 2009)
Important to note is that DDC introduced two features to classification schemes: relative
location and relative index. Relative location refers to where a book falls into place in relation to
other books, and the relative index brings together under one term the locations in the scheme of
a subject which falls into several fields of study. Now lets take a closer look at the structure of
DDC. The second of the four volumes of DDC looks at the beginning of the schedules, which
has several summaries. The first summary gives the ten main classes. The second summary

Running head: CONCEPT BRIEFING REPORT

divides each of the ten main classes into ten subdivisions. The third summary divides each of the
hundred divisions into ten sections, which creates thousand sections. According to Taylor and
Joudrey, Melvil Dewey was a strong advocated for the integrity of numbers. He did not want
the users of his system ever to have to change a number on an item because the numbers
meaning had been changed in the classification. He wanted new concepts to be assigned to new
numbers. (2009) Dewey had something of an obsession for the number ten, thus explaining the
motives behind the divisions: This native of upstate New York never could stop thinking about
the number 10. As an adolescent, Dewey fell hard for the metric system, whose great
superiority as he wrote in a high school essay. (Kendall, 2014) Obviously, some of Deweys
notations have had to be altered with new knowledge and information, but for the most part DDC
has remained unchanged.
Although DDC is widely used, there are many criticisms of the classification schemes.
Since the numbers of Dewey are fairly limited, some critics say the scheme doesnt allow enough
room for growth and classifying the wealth of new information that currently exists. A large
number of these criticisms come from school media specialists and childrens librarians who feel
that DDC does not work well for the organization of childrens materials. What I find most
interesting about the ditching Dewey issue is that its mostly school librarians who emphasize
its problems. (Schiano, 2013). According to the article One Size Does Not Fit All: Dewey is
about classifying. The hierarchy a young child has to figure out to find truck books is beyond
their level of development. Really, they just memorize the shelf the truck books are on in the
school library. (Kaplan, Gifford, Still-Schiff, & Dolloff, 2013). This frustration with the
limitations of Dewey also is felt by some librarians when it comes to organizing fiction and
genres of fiction. As Mark Rays article None of the above points out:

Running head: CONCEPT BRIEFING REPORT

Genre vs. Dewey is as much about the uncertainty of the future of school
libraries as it is about organization. Thankfully, in many libraries around our
nation, school librarians are embracing change and are seeking innovative
solutions to the informational and educational challenges of our time. They
are engaging with important questions about student learning and the future
of schools. And they are applying their leadership and organizational acumen
to a dynamic digital world that sorely needs the guidance of a good librarian.
(Ray, 2013).
Thats exactly what many school librarians are doing: creating their own classification schemes
that best meets the needs of their customers. The article Are Dewey's days numbered?
describes how some libraries have created their own system of organization:
Our post-Dewey system, which we've affectionately dubbed Metis (after the clever, crafty
mother of the Greek god Athena), puts things together in a way that encourages kids to
move easily from one idea to another. Zack's natural and simple segue from paper craft to
sewing would probably never have happened with Dewey: it would have entailed a jump
from 735 to 646. That's a big reason why a small but growing number of school and
public libraries -- from the Perry Branch Library in Gilbert, AZ; and Burke High School
in Omaha, NE; to the newly opened Carmel Elementary School in Clarksville, TN; and
Darien Library in Connecticut -- have ditched Dewey, or at least have escorted the 136year-old system partway out the door.
(Kaplan, Tali B., Dolloff, Andrea K., Giffard, Sue., & Still-Schiff, Jennifer, 2012).

Running head: CONCEPT BRIEFING REPORT

Even though there are many critiques of DDC, it still remains a widely used classification
scheme that serves to organize knowledge effectively. While it may not be the best system of
organization for certain populations of library users, it is a good way to efficiently find
information in a nonfiction section. With increasing changes in digital information, there will
certainly continue to be an evolution for DDC.

Running head: CONCEPT BRIEFING REPORT

References
Kaplan, Tali B., Dolloff, Andrea K., Giffard, Sue., & Still-Schiff, Jennifer. (2012). Are Dewey's
days numbered? School Library Journal,58(10), 24-28.
Kendall, Joshua. (2014). Melvil Dewey, compulsive innovator. American Libraries, 45(3/4), 5254.
Ray, Mark. (2013). None of the above. Knowledge Quest, 42(2), 60-61.
Schiano, Deborah. (2013) Curating the shelves. Knowledge Quest, 42(2), 66-68.
Taylor, Arlene G. and Jourdrey, Daniel N. (2009). The organization of information. Westport,
CT: Libraries Unlimited.