Forums / Fun! / Just For Fun

I'm currently in library school so as a result, I've had to learn how the Dewey Decimal Classification System works. So as the title says, give me a topic and I'll try to create a Dewey Decimal Number from it. I'll also give a breakdown of the Number as well.

As an example:
323.4483 is the topic "Freedom from misuse of information in databases and government records"
300=Social sciences
320=Political science
323=Civil and political rights
323.4=Specific civil rights; limitation and suspension of civil rights
323.44=Freedom of action (Liberty)
323.448=Right to privacy
323.4483=Freedom from misuse of information in databases and government records

topic: Lizards

Delicious Irony

Wizardry.

So, if we're going with just "Lizards", the Dewey Decimal Number would be 597.95.

The breakdown of this is:
500=Science
580-590=Natural history of plants and animals
590=Animals (Zoology)
592-599=Specific taxonomic groups of animals
597=Cold-blooded vertebrates
597.9=Reptilia (Reptiles)
597.95=Sauria (Lizards)

The Dewey Decimal Number for this would be 133.43.

Breakdown:
100=Philosophy & psychology
130=Parapsychology & occultism
133=Specific topics in parapsychology and occultism
133.4=Demonology and witchcraft
133.43=Magic and witchcraft

Spectral analysis of Kuiper Belt asteroids

All the sweetest cheat codes.

This was actually a really fun and challenging one. The Dewey Decimal Number that I came up with for it was 523.4409993.

Breakdown:
500=Science
520=Astronomy
521-525=Astronomy (More along the lines of topics within Astronomy)
523=Specific celestial bodies and phenomena
523.3-523.7=Specific parts of solar system
523.4=Planets, asteroids, trans-Neptunian objects of solar system
523.49=Trans-Neptunian objects
523.492=Kuiper belt objects
T1--093-T1--099:09=History and geographic treatment (This includes extraterrestrial areas)
T2--993=Meteoroids and comets
Those last two get added to 523.492 which brings us to 523.4409993=Kuiper belt objects--meteoroids and comets.

A lot of Call Numbers (those numbers on the spine of the book at the library) don't get that specific and can vary from library to library. This was just my interpretation of the topic and someone else might use a completely different Dewey Decimal Number if given this topic.

The celebrated electronic music duo Boards of Canada.

Since Boards of Canada isn't a group that would have a Biography in the Dewey system, I made up my own number. Once again, this was a pretty fun one. For this one, I came up with 781.64809048092.

Breakdown:
700=Arts & recreation
780=Music
781-788=Principles, forms, ensembles, voices, instruments
781=General principles and musical forms
781.2-781.8=Other principles and musical forms
781.6=Traditions of music
781.63-781.69=Other traditions of music
781.64=Western popular music
781.648=Electronica
T1--09048=In order to designate the time period of 1980-1989, the period that the band started. Someone else might do it differently but this what I thought best.
T1--092=Designates Biography
Those last two numbers get added to 781.648 to get 781.64809048092=Electronica--1980-1989--biography as a final Number.

Alchemy

Rape.

The Number for Alchemy would be 540.112.

The breakdown is:
500=Science
540=Chemistry
540=Chemistry and allied sciences
540.1=Philosophy and theory
540.11=Alchemy and systems
540.112=Alchemy

Yes, there is a Dewey Decimal Number for Rape. It is 364.1532.

The breakdown:
300=Social sciences
360=Social problems & social services
364=Criminology
364.1=Criminal offenses
364.15=Offenses against the person
364.153=Sex offenses
364.1532=Rape

I'm glad you had fun! I'd like to make another request:

The History of the East Coast/West Coast Rivalry in Hip-Hop.

The airspeed of a compsognatus tooth when thrown by a pterygotus.

The use and effects of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War

This one would be have a Dewey Decimal Number of 781.64909049 which would signify Rap from 1990 to 1999, the time period that the Rivalry occurred. I didn't add in the part about it being specifically the East Coast and West Coast because, at that time, those were the areas when it came to rap. There really wasn't much between the two coasts.

The breakdown:
700=Arts & recreation
780=Music
781-788=Principles, forms, ensembles, voices, instruments
781=General principles and musical forms
781.2-781.8=Other principles and musical forms
781.6=Traditions of music
781.63-781.69=Other traditions of music
781.64=Western popular music
781.649=Rap
09049 comes from Table 1, specifically the section about historical time periods which, in this case, is the 1990s. That number gets added to the previous one which brings us to 781.64909049=Rap--1990-1999. This was another really good one.

Another interesting one. The Number that I came up with was 615.9513709597. Once again, while a cataloger may officially give an item a call number (the number on the spine of the book) this long, they'll typically have a number much shorter displayed to make it easier to search for.

The breakdown:
600=Technology
610=Medicine & health
615=Pharmacology and therapeutics
615.9=Toxicology
615.95=Organic poisons
615.951=Synthetic and manufactured poisons
615.95137=Agent Orange--human toxicology
09 to signify geographic treatment from Table 1 and 597 from Table 2 to signify Vietnam. Those two numbers get added to the previous number to get 615.9513709597=Agent Orange--human toxicology--Vietnam.

Now I understand why the people who works on libraries piss off when found books on the wrong sections or if there lost books.
BTW that number could work as a good password.
Thanks for answer my question :D

Trick question. The Pterygotus lived during the Silurian and Devonian Periods while the Cosmpsognathus lived during the Late Jurassic Period. But as a serious topic, the Number would be 565.493.

The breakdown:
500=Science
560=Fossils & prehistoric life
562-569=Specific taxonomic groups of animals
565=Fossil Arthropoda
565.4=Chelicerata
565.49=Merostomata and Pycnogonida
565.493=Eurypterida

This would signify that the book (or whatever the item is) is about the Pterygotus and would contain the information that you seek.

Maybe a fun one:
The origin of language

This one was interesting to try and figure out. I spent a bit of time on this topic and the Dewey Decimal Number I came up for it was much shorter than I expected. The number was 417.7.

The Breakdown:
400=Language
410=Linguistics
417=Dialectology and historical linguistics
417.7=Historical linguistics (Diachronic linguistics)

Basically, this Number is used to classify an item (book, DVD, computer program, etc.) that talks about the study of language over time while not concentrating on a specific geographic area.

History of the Internet

I know that isn't going to be hard, but trust me.
I'll be setting my passwords in the Dewey Decimal Number System now. Only I would know what they are and it would be a pain in the ass.

This one was pretty interesting to figure it out. As a Number, I came up with 004.6780904. This Number signifies that the item talks about the subject of the Internet and its development during the historical period of the 20th Century (1900-1999).

The breakdown:
000=Computer science, information & general works
000=Computer science, knowledge & systems
004-006=Computer science; computer programming, programs, data; special computer methods
004=Computer science
004.6=Interfacing and communications
004.65-004.68=Computer communications networks
004.67=Wide-area networks
004.678=Internet
I then used the historical time period section in Table 1 in order to designate the 20th Century which got me 0904. This got added to the previous number which brings us to 004.6780904=Internet--20th century, 1900-1999.

you got some skills there
may not be useful but it is still (kinda) awesome

Interesting, so what would it be of the Manhattan Project?

This one is a really long one and also pretty interesting. The topic pertains to Nuclear Weapons in the United States during the 1940s so the Number is 355.825119097309044.

The breakdown:
300=Social sciences
350=Public administration & military science
355=Military science
355.8=Military equipment and supplies (Matériel)
355.82=Specific kinds of weapons (ordnance)
355.823-355.826=Other specific kinds of weapons
355.825=Ammunition
355.8251=Charge-containing devices
355.825119=Atomic bomb
I then used Table 1 and 2 to designate the United States (0973) and just Table 1 to determine the time period of 1940 to 1949 (09044). These last two numbers get added to the whole thing to give us the Number 355.825119097309044=Atomic bomb--United States--1940-1949.

what's the dewey decimal number for the origins of the dewey decimal number?

I was actually wondering when this one was going to come up. The number that I came up with was 025.43109034.

The breakdown:
000=Computer science, information & general works
020=Library & information sciences
025=Operations of libraries, archives, information centers
025.4=Subject analysis and control
025.43=General classification systems
025.431=Dewey Decimal Classification
Since Melvil Dewey created the Dewey Decimal Classification system in 1876, I used the historical time period section in Table 1 to create the number 09034 to signify the 19th century (1800-1899). When that number is added in, the final number is 025.43109034=Dewey Decimal Classification--19th century, 1800-1899.

I still can't find CHEAT CODES in the library. Where dey at?

Calm yourself, I've got it right here. The Number that I came up with was 794.80202.

The breakdown:
700=Arts & recreation
790=Sports, games & entertainment
794=Indoor games of skill
794.8=Electronic games
I then used Table 1 to create the additional number 0202 to designate Synopses and outlines, the most likely place that cheat codes for video games would be. Add that number to the previous one and the final Number is 794.80202=Electronic games--synopses and outlines

Burzday.

The Number that I came up for Burzday was 781.6609481.

The breakdown:
700=Arts & recreation
780=Music
781-788=Principles, forms, ensembles, voices, instruments
781=General principles and musical forms
781.2-781.8=Other principles and musical forms
781.6=Traditions of music
781.63-781.69=Other traditions of music
781.66=Rock (Rock 'n' roll) [Note: There was no Number specifically for Black Metal even though there is a Library of Congress Subject Heading for it.]
I then added in the number 09481 from Table 1 to designate that the item would focus on the geographic area of Norway. That number gets added to the previous one which brings us to 781.6609481=Rock (Rock 'n' roll)--Norway

Origin of Gibberish!

A challenging one… well, maybe not. I'm positive you can find it, however!

The influence of social media on modern society.
Maybe a challenging one, maybe not.

feces

Well, "Origin of Gibberish" could mean either the literal origin of gibberish or the origin of the word "gibberish." For this Number I decided to go with the latter. While searching for preliminary information, I found that there were quite a few theories for the origin of the word so I decided to use the theory that claims that "gibberish" came from the Irish word "gob." As a result, the Number that I go was 412.09415.

The breakdown:
400=Language
410=Linguistics
411-415=Standard language--description and analysis
412=Etymology of standard forms of languages
I then used Table 1 to show that I was talking about Geographic Treatment and Table 2 to signify Ireland specifically which resulted in 09415. This got added to the previous number which brings us to 412.09415=Etymology of standard forms of languages--ireland.

This actually took me a while because the Dewey Decimal System doesn't have any Numbers specifically for social media. They have one for mass media which social media tends to fall under so I went with that. The Number I came up with was 302.23019.

The breakdown:
300=Social sciences
300=Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
302-307=Specific topics in sociology and anthropology
302=Social interaction
302.2=Communication
302.23=Media (Means of communication)
I then used Table 1 to determine the that the subject was about the psychological principles of mass media which got me 019. I added this to the previous number which gave me 302.23019=Mass media--sociology.

The number for this one is 612.36.

The breakdown:
600=Technology
610=Medicine & health
612=Human physiology
612.1-612.8=Specific functions, systems, organs
612.3=Digestive system
612.36=Large intestine
The website that I'm using says that, since it the Number is talking about the large intestine, the subject of defecation gets included in it.

The Dewey decimal system.

Yo dawg, I hear you like classification so I classified your classification system so you can classify while you classify! It's 025.431.

The Breakdown:
000=Computer science, information & general works
020=Library & information sciences
025=Operations of libraries, archives, information centers
025.4=Subject analysis and control
025.43=General classification systems
025.431=Dewey Decimal Classification