How to Read a Dewey Number Where to Find a Call Number in the Library Summary of the Dewey Decimal Numbers
The Dewey Decimal System takes the entire world of knowledge and breaks it down into ten major categories. The "hundreds" (000 - 900) are used to represent this first level: 000 Generalities 100 Philosophy & psychology 200 Religion 300 Social Science 400 Language 500 Natural sciences & mathematics 600 Technology (Applied sciences) 700 The Arts   Fine and decorative arts 800 Literature 900 Geography & History	Each major category is then broken down into nine sub-categories. The "tens" (10 - 90) are used to represent the second level: 600 Technology (Applied sciences) 610 Medical Sciences   Medicine 620 Engineering and allied operations 630 Agriculture and related technologies 640 Home economics and family living 650 Management and auxiliary services 660 Chemical engineering and related technologies 670 Manufacturing 680 Manufacture of products for specific uses 690 Building
The sub-categories are then broken into even more specific topics. The "ones" (1 - 9) are used to represent this third level: 630 Agriculture and related technologies 631 Specific techniques; apparatus, equipment, materials 632 Plant injuries, diseases, pests 633 Field and plantation crops 634 Orchards, fruits, forestry 635 Garden crops (Horticulture)   Vegetables 636 Animal husbandry 637 Processing dairy and related products 638 Insect culture 639 Hunting, fishing, conservation, related technologies	The final break-down to the most specific topics is created by adding decimals to the existing number. The more numerals after the decimal point, the more focused the topic. 633 Field and plantation crops 633.1 Cereal grains (Cereals) 633.2 Forage crops 633.3 Legumes, other forage crops   633.31 Alfalfa   633.32 Trifolium clovers   633.33 Cowpeas   633.34 Soybeans   633.35 Vetches
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