Dewey call numbers

[RBETTENCOURT@umassd.edu]

Charlene,

The best source of Dewey classification numbers is the Library of Congress
catalog. It can be reached via Gopher at marvel.loc.gov or directly via telnet
at locis.loc.gov.

The LOCIS system is not particularly user-friendly, but once you learn how to
use it, it has a wealth of information. HELP screens are plentiful. To display
the Dewey number, you must view the MARC record. The command you give is to
display the set number, then the item number in the "edit" format, e.g.

d 4/1/edit

where d=display, 4 is the number of the set of records you're working with
(displayed at the top of the screen), 1 is the number of the first record in
that set, and "edit" to display in MARC.

All Dewey numbers are in field 082. Almost all new items have a Dewey number;
older (pre 1965?) items usually do not have Dewey numbers.

In addition to displaying the Dewey classification number for a specific
title, you can also search by Dewey number to see what titles are cataloged
under that number -- great for collection development since LOCIS usually
displays items in order by Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) which
generally follows publication date. Thus, you display the most current titles
first.

If you have any questions about this, please let me know. I'll be glad to
provide more information.

Ron Bettencourt
Cataloger
Keeley Library
B.M.C. Durfee High School
360 Elsbree Street
Fall River, MA 02720
Internet: rbettencourt@umassd.edu