A Short Story About Dewey

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A Short Story About Dewey
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Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey

• Born December 10, 1851
• His intense interest in simplified spelling
  caused him to tinker with accepted concepts once
  becoming Melvil Dui in the process
• Established the American Library Association in
  1876
• Co-founded and edited Library Journal
• Librarian of Columbia College (now Columbia
  University) in 1883 and founded the worlds first
  library school there in 1887
• Died after suffering a stroke on December 26,
  1931
• Online http//www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/biogr
  aphy/ 12 October 2003

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• Some years ago, Melvil Dewey devised a system for
  classifying books. The system has come into use
  all around the world.
• It has been explained that he devised the system
  by imagining himself as a prehistoric or
  primitive man and asked himself questions he
  believed such a man would ask.
• This presentation demonstrates those questions in
  a manner designed to entertain as well as educate.

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Who am I?
100 Philosophy and Psychology Man thinks about
himself.
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Who made me?
200 Religion Man thinks about his Creator.
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Who is the man in the next cave?
300 Social Sciences Man thinks about other
people.
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How can I make that man understand me?
400 Philology Language Man learns to
communicate with others through words and signs.
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How can I understand nature and the world around
me?
500 Science Man learns to understand the nature
of air, land, and sea.
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How can I use what I know about nature?
600 Applied Science and Useful Arts Primitive
man learned about fire and how to make weapons
over time, he also learned about the wheel,
medicine, planting crops, cooking food, building
useful structures, and how to make things to ease
our burdens.
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How can I enjoy my leisure time?
700 Fine Arts and Recreation As time passes, man
learns about painting pictures, creating music,
as well as dancing to the music and playing games.
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How can I pass on mans heroic deeds?
800 Literature Man becomes a storyteller he
creates sagas, fables, epics, poems, plays
about relatives, friends, and characters
he writes for others to read, learn, and enjoy.
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How can I leave a record for people of the future?
900 History, Geography, and Biography Man writes
about what happened, where it happened, and who
made it happen.
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What else is there?
000 General Works
The numbers up to 100 are used for books about
books, and for books that contain information on
many subjects such as encyclopedias,
dictionaries, atlases, and other reference books
much of the sorts of books one would find in
the reference section of the library.