Melvil Dewey
Melvil Dewey was born on December 10, 1852 in upstate New York. While attending Amherst College, he began working at their library at the age of 20. Ever since then, Dewey’s goal was to improve libraries and everything involving them, including their efficiency. In 1876, after graduating Amherst and becoming the manager of its library for two years, Dewey published the “A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloging and Arranging Books and Pamphlets in a Library,” more commonly called the “Dewey Decimal System.”
Dewey's system is still used in majority of the libraries today, making it easier and easier to find information using books. Many libraries have posters of the Dewey Decimal System located for a searcher's convenience. There are also computers that give you the call number of the book from the Dewey Decimal System, quickening the search for a book as well.
|
This classification system did just what Dewey intended. The Dewey Decimal System made it so each book belonged to a certain section in the library. Librarians could organize the books accordingly, and in turn allow students and teachers to find books related to their topic of interest without much trouble. Before Dewey passed away on December 26, 1931, he had succeeded in organizing meetings for librarians, as well as many clubs and organizations. These included, but are not limited to: the New York Librarian Club, Library Bureau library supplies in Boston, Columbia University's School of Library Economy, and the Spelling Reform Association.
|