Library Skills
Jump to:
Types of Books
There are three kinds of books in the library. They are fiction,
nonfiction, and reference.
Fiction books are made-up, imaginary stories.
Nonfiction books give information and facts.
Reference books have a special purpose in the
library. They are used to get information for a report, to find
an answer to a question or to read about something in which you
are interested. A dictionary, a thesaurus, and an encyclopedia are
examples of reference books.
The call number of a reference book has a capital “R”
as part of it. This tells you that it is shelved in the reference
section.
An encyclopedia is a set of books that contain information about
many different subjects. Because the amount of information cannot
all put into one book, it is divided into many smaller books. Each
book is called a volume. The volumes in each set are arranged in
alphabetical order to make it easy to find the information. They
are also numbered to make it easy to keep them in order on the shelf.
On the pages, the subjects are arranged in alphabetical order with
guide words on each page like a dictionary.
Finding Information
To find a subject, look for the letter it begins with and choose
the volume. Then spell the subject correctly and use the guide words
to find it as you would do in a dictionary. The subjects are usually
printed with large, dark letters.
To find a famous person, look for the person’s last name.
 top
HOW THE BOOKS ARE ARRANGED IN THE LIBRARY
Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)
A long time ago an American librarian named Melvil Dewey
(1851-1931) invented a way to number books in a school or public
library so that they can easily be found. It’s called the
Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). It’s
also called the Dewey Decimal System. The Dewey Decimal system classified
books by dividing them into 10 main groups. Not all libraries use
this system. Other system is called Library of Congress Classification
that was developed by the Library of Congress.
Nonfiction books are arranged in number order with the Dewey Decimal
system from 000 to 999 except for Biography books with have a “B”
designation followed by the last name of the famous person.
TEN CLASSES IN THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM OF CLASSIFICATION
|
|
General Knowledge |
|
Philosophy and Psychology
(thinking, feeling) |
|
Religion and Mythology
(myths & legends, world religions) |
|
Social Science
(people in groups, government, customs, folklore)
|
|
Language
(dictionaries, English, foreign languages) |
|
Science
(nature, mathematics, solar systems, ecology, animals) |
|
Technology and Applied Sciences
(medicine, engineering, farming, cooking) |
|
Arts, Sports & Recreation |
|
Literature
(poetry, plays, short stories) |
|
Geography & History
(explorations, atlases, countries, Native Americans,
United States) |
To learn more about the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), click
the links below:
CyberDewey
Dewey Decimal
Made Fun
“Do
We” Really Know Dewey? (ThinkQuest)
KidsClick!
Web Search for Kids by Librarians
Let’s
Do Dewey (Middle Tennessee State University)
List of the Dewey
Decimal Classification System (Internet Public Library)
Important!!!
When you are finished with library books, please leave them on
the tables. Don’t return the books to the shelving. Thank
you!
top
Library Rules for the younger readers
(up to 3rd graders)
• Clean fingers mean clean pages!
• Clean backpacks mean clean books!
• Books don’t like spaghetti or apple juice or any food!
• Take care of books and turns pages carefully.
• Never write, scribble, glue, or cut the pages of a book.
• Leave the books on the tables. Don’t put them back
onto shelves.
• Books like to be returned so they can be read again and
again. Return books on time.
• If the book is damaged, bring it to the librarian.
• Use the Library Catalog with your teacher or staff all the
time.
• Use your walking feet in the library. No running!
top |
