Online Payments

We are currently experiencing an outage to our online payments system. Check other payment options.

The Dewey Decimal system

We shelve our non-fiction books according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system, which uses numbers to represent subjects.

Almost any subject you can think of has a corresponding Dewey number — from dinosaurs (567.91) to dessert recipes (641.86).

How does Dewey work?

Each non-fiction book is assigned a shelf location, or Dewey Decimal number, based on its main subject. This makes it easy to find either the area for all the books on a topic, or to find a specific item on the shelf based on its Dewey number.

We then add the first three letters of the author's surname or book's title (if there is no author) to help distinguish between items with the same number, e.g. 641.5 HOL for a general cookery (641.5) book by Alison Holst (HOL).

How do I find a book's Dewey number?

You can find a non-fiction book's Dewey number either on the results screen of a catalogue search (just under each book title), or — once you've clicked on a particular title — under 'Copy locations'. (Here you'll also find what branches hold an item).

Many topics, only one shelf location

Books can only have one Dewey number (shelf location), but may be about many subjects. To reflect this, we also add subject headings to books in our catalogue that you can click on to find items that have some information on a subject, but have been shelved in different parts of our collection because they're mainly about a different topic. You can browse by these subject headings either from a results screen, or from the full information page for a book or other item.

Searching the catalogue with your topic keywords or title is a much more effective way to find books on a topic you're interested in — but if you're locating a book on the shelf, or just want the pleasure of browsing, Dewey is very helpful.

As well, in terms of determining the 'main topic' of a book, it might be helpful to know that we also apply Dewey according to 'Discipline', so a book on climate change from a social sciences perspective will be in the 300s (social sciences) while a book on the science of climate change will be in the 500s (science).

Biographies

We shelve our biographies in a dedicated Biographies section, outside of the Dewey sequence. There are a notable few exceptions — some biographies where the people are strongly identified with a subject area, like photographers, sportspeople and musicians, are shelved in with the Dewey subject area for those topics. The catalogue will always identify where a biography is located.

Our separate biographies section is signposted at each of our libraries — ask a librarian if you're having trouble finding it.

What can I find in each Dewey section?

Below is a list of the 10 broad Dewey areas — from computer science and general works in the 000s, to history and geography in the 900s, as well as recent items for each area.

000 — Computer science, information & general works

000 — Computer science, information & general works
Topic Dewey number

Unexplained, UFOs, Bigfoot etc.

001.9

Computers and the Internet

004 - 006

Almanacs, encyclopaedias, world records

030

Journalism

070

100 — Philosophy & psychology

100 — Philosophy & psychology
Topic Dewey number

Philosophy

100

Paranormal phenomena, Witches, New Age, Astrology

130

Psychology

150

Self-help

158.1

Ethics, animal rights, euthanasia

170

Ancient philosophy

180 - 199

200 — Religion

200 — Religion
Topic Dewey number

Atheism

211

Bible

220 - 229

Buddhism

294.3

Christianity

230

Denominations and sects of Christian church

280

Hinduisim

294.5

Islam

297

Judaism

296

Sikhism

294.6

Sufism

297.4

Taoism

299.514

Wicca

299.94

300 — Social sciences

300 — Social sciences
Topic Dewey number

Relationships and family

306.7-8

Statistics, Almanacs, Population

310

Political Science

320

Economics

330

Jobs, Careers

331

Finance

332

Law

340

Social problems and services

360s

Environment, Recycling

363

Crime, Assassinations, Murders

364

Education

370

Clothing and dress

391

Folklore, legends, fairytales

398

400 — Language

400 — Language
Topic Dewey number

Linguistics

410

Etymology

412

New Zealand Sign Language

419

English (423 English dictionaries)

420

ESOL

420.7 & 428.24

Languages of the world

430-499

Māori and Pacific languages

499.4

500 — Natural sciences and mathematics

500 — Natural sciences and mathematics
Topic Dewey number

Philosophy of science

501

Mathematics

510

Astronomy

520

Physics

530

Chemistry

540

Earth sciences

550

Earthquakes

551.22

Fossils and preshistoric life

560

Dinosaurs

567.9

Biology

570

Plants (Botany)

580

Animals

590

New Zealand Native Animals

591.993

New Zealand Native Birds

598.0993

600 — Technology (Applied sciences)

600 — Technology (Applied sciences)
Topic Dewey number

Medicine

610s

Anatomy

611

Health, nutrition, fitness

613

Specific diseases

616

Pregnancy and childbirth

618.2

Engineering

620s

Electronics (including building computers)

621.3

Planes

629.1

Cars

629.2

Gardening

635

Pets

636 - 639

Home economics

640

Food and drink

641

Cooking

641.5

Remodeling, Home Repair

643

Home sewing and clothing

646

Parenting

649

CVs, job interviews

650.1

Accounting

657

Management

658

Commercial art, advertising

659.13

Manufacturing

670 - 689

Woodworking

684

Printing and typography

686.2

Construction, home building, carpentry, plumbing

690

700 — Arts & recreation

700 — Arts & recreation
Topic Dewey number

Art history

709

NZ art

709.93

Landscaping

710s

Architecture

720s

Jewellery

739.27

Drawing and graphic design

741 - 743

Textile arts (e.g. quilting, knitting, beadwork, embroidery etc.)

746

Interior decoration

747

Painting and painters

750 - 759

Printmaking and prints

760s

Photography

770 - 779

Music

780s

Music biographies

786.9, 789

Performing arts

790 - 792

Indoor games, including computer gaming

794

Sports

796

Camping, tramping

796.5

800 — Literature

800 — Literature
Topic Dewey number

Literature

800

Writing, getting published

808

Literatures of specific languages and language families

810s - 890s

Shakespeare's plays

822.33

900 — History & geography

900 — History & geography
Topic Dewey number

World histories

901 - 909

Geography and travel

910s

Atlases, maps

912

Archaeology and digging up the past

913

Europe - travel and geography

914

Asia - travel and geography

915

Africa - travel and geography

916

North America - travel and geography

917

South America - travel and geography

918

Pacific - travel and geography

919

Australia - travel and geography

919.4

New Zealand - travel and geography

919.3

Genealogy and family history

929.1 - 929.3

Names and naming (baby names, dictionaries of surnames)

929.4

History of the ancient world

930

History (by location in the world)

940s - 990s

World War II

940.5

History of the Pacific

990s

New Zealand history

993

Wellington history

993.63