How to find a Dewey number for a book
Information from the Library of Congress on their website states-- http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/libsci/faq.html#class1
"There is no comprehensive resource or database that you can check to locate a book's Dewey decimal number. The best place to begin your search is the Library of Congress Online Catalog. When you open a record for a book in the catalog, click on the Full Record tab at the top of the page and look for a field labeled "Dewey Class No." If this field is listed, it will give the book's Dewey classification. Unfortunately, while many Library of Congress catalog records contain Dewey numbers, the majority do not."
This is how we determine what number we will use.
Also from the library of Congress website-
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/libsci/faq.html#class1
Unfortunately, while many Library of Congress catalog records contain Dewey numbers, the majority do not. The Library generally assigns Dewey numbers to nearly all U.S. trade imprints--including all titles cataloged in the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) program, children's literature, and to many books in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
If you don't find a book's Dewey number through the Library's online catalog, another resource you can use to locate it is OCLC's WorldCat database. WorldCat functions as a collective catalog of thousands of libraries around the world. A subscription version of WorldCat is available at some public and many academic libraries, while a free version is available on the Web at http://www.worldcat.org. The subscription version of WorldCat will often provide the Dewey class number (the first part of the Dewey number) for a book, and both the subscription and free versions list libraries known to hold copies of a book. Search the catalogs of the public libraries that WorldCat lists as holding a copy of a book to see if any have assigned the book a Dewey number. The numbers may vary slightly from one library to another based on local guidelines and standards, but but they will give you an idea of the Dewey numbers that libraries have assigned to a specific book.
Another option is to use a prototype service developed by OCLC known as Classify. Classify is designed to support the assignment of classification numbers for books, DVDs, CDs, and many other types of materials. Using Classify, you can identify a work by title, author, ISBN, LCCN, UPC, or OCLC number. The record that is returned will include the Dewey classification (as well as the LC classification) most commonly assigned to that work by WorldCat member libraries."
"There is no comprehensive resource or database that you can check to locate a book's Dewey decimal number. The best place to begin your search is the Library of Congress Online Catalog. When you open a record for a book in the catalog, click on the Full Record tab at the top of the page and look for a field labeled "Dewey Class No." If this field is listed, it will give the book's Dewey classification. Unfortunately, while many Library of Congress catalog records contain Dewey numbers, the majority do not."
This is how we determine what number we will use.
- In a new book, the Library of Congress information is often printed in the front of the book. This is the first place to start. The suggested Dewey number will be at the end of the listing and will be a 3 digit number, possibly followed by a decimal and further digits. If this number suits your organizational system, use it.
- Check in you own system. If it's a book about elephants, and you already have another book about elephants, use the same number so they will be together on the shelf.
- Check with other libraries to see how they number the book. You can search for books here http://www.worldcat.org/ and then look for how libraries number them.
- Try to use the general Dewey Decimal system to determine where the book will fit.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dewey_Decimal_classes#700-799_.E2.80.93_Arts
- http://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/summaries/
Also from the library of Congress website-
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/libsci/faq.html#class1
Unfortunately, while many Library of Congress catalog records contain Dewey numbers, the majority do not. The Library generally assigns Dewey numbers to nearly all U.S. trade imprints--including all titles cataloged in the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) program, children's literature, and to many books in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
If you don't find a book's Dewey number through the Library's online catalog, another resource you can use to locate it is OCLC's WorldCat database. WorldCat functions as a collective catalog of thousands of libraries around the world. A subscription version of WorldCat is available at some public and many academic libraries, while a free version is available on the Web at http://www.worldcat.org. The subscription version of WorldCat will often provide the Dewey class number (the first part of the Dewey number) for a book, and both the subscription and free versions list libraries known to hold copies of a book. Search the catalogs of the public libraries that WorldCat lists as holding a copy of a book to see if any have assigned the book a Dewey number. The numbers may vary slightly from one library to another based on local guidelines and standards, but but they will give you an idea of the Dewey numbers that libraries have assigned to a specific book.
Another option is to use a prototype service developed by OCLC known as Classify. Classify is designed to support the assignment of classification numbers for books, DVDs, CDs, and many other types of materials. Using Classify, you can identify a work by title, author, ISBN, LCCN, UPC, or OCLC number. The record that is returned will include the Dewey classification (as well as the LC classification) most commonly assigned to that work by WorldCat member libraries."