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Student Assistants: Guide to the Collections and How to Shelve Books: Dewey Decimal compared to Library of Congress System

Training guide for student assistants

The Two Most Widely-Used Classification Systems in Lbraries

The Carl S. Swisher Library organizes its books using the Dewey Decimal System.  The Dewey Decimal System is one of the two most widely-used library classification systems. (The other major classification system is one developed at the Library of Congress)

Below are some images that illustrate the differences between the two systems.

Dewey Decimal System

Dewey Decimal Chart (Credit:printablee.com)

Credit: www.printablee.com

Example of books with Dewey Decimal call numbers

Library of Congress Classification System

Infographic of Library of Congress (LC) System. credit: McMaster University Libraryy

Credit: McMaster University Library

Infographic Hw to read LC Call Number (credit: McMaster University Library)

Credit: McMaster University Library