How Dewey organised information

To help people find information in a library, the Dewey Decimal System organizes information into 10 main subject areas.

Remember from our last lesson that each subject is given a number and the books and other items are arranged on the shelves in number order, according to their topic.

Here are the 10 main Dewey Decimal System subject areas with a list of some of the topics and types of items to be found in each one.


000 General Knowledge Almanacs and Encyclopedias are kept here and you'll find information about libraries and museums here.


100 Psychology & Philosophy Information about death & dying, Ethics (ways of behaving) , Feelings, Logic (about thinking) and about making friends. Optical illusions and superstitions are here too.


200 Religions & Mythology All about the religions of the world such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Quakers.


300 Social Sciences & Folklore Careers (occupations or jobs) , Customs such as marriages and birthdays, environment and recycling, about families, how governments work, and about manners, and money.


400 Languages & Grammar All the languages spoken including Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish.Sign Languages are here too and you'll find dictionaries here.


500 Maths & Science Animals, Chemistry, Dinosaurs, Fish, Geology, Insects, Physics, Planets, and Plants600 Medicine & Technology Computers, Engineering, Farming, Health, Human Body, Manufacturing, Nutrition


700 Arts & Recreation Architecture, Crafts, Drawing, Games, Jokes & Riddles, Music, Puppets and kites, Sports


800 Literature Stories, Plays, Poetry, and all about the authors who wrote them.


900 Geography & History Biographies, Countries of the world and travel, Native Americans and the Inuit, Australia, information about wars.



Remember: Always acknowledge where you find informationIf you use any of the information on this page acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:Thomas & Sydenham, 2006 How Dewey organised information [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au