Part 10: Making Sense in the Stacks, 000s

What could be left to classify after nine weeks?  This is the section that covers all the gaps, called the Generalities, 000s.

This section covers UFOs (001.942), computers (004-006, whether it's a program/software, hardware/devices, or the history of computing), library and information science (gratuitous plug for my favorite subject, 020s), and journalism (070).  Encyclopedias hang out here along with books about books--which ones to read, bibliophiles, or books about old manuscripts.  Then we reach the "generalities," the books that did not belong anywhere else, such as Robert's Rules of Order, books on the Bermuda Triangle or Atlantis, or guides on how to get published.  This is also the place for quote books for all occassions, oxymoronica, and guides to the iPad, the Internet, or Windows 7.


You may be curious why there are no books in the some number ranges.  When Dewey began his system, 140 years ago, he knew he might miss some fields at his library that might hold many shelves at another library.  So he left several sets of numbers empty.  Many have filled in the past decades, but several remain unassigned.  For a complete listing of which numbers are still blank and exactly what topic fits in what number, check out the list at Wikipedia.

In addition, each library has some discretion as to where to classify a book or where to display them. For example, biographies may be found in 921-928 or in 040s, but Ruidoso Public Library consolidates all biographies on one wall with the number "92" on the spine label, then the subject's last name.