Hi James from Alpena County Library. We are implementing a system called the browse method for JNF. Part of my job is moving all the dewey books to this new system. It uses 4 digits from 0000 - 9999 and then it is color coded into major categories:
Gray = General Information (i.e Guinness World Records) // Library & Information Sciences
Teal = Philosophy // Body & Soul (i.e. spirituality, wican, tarot) // Religion // Bibles // Death & Dying // Psychology // Self-Improvement // Family & Relationships // Fashion & Beauty // Health & Fitness // Medical Conditions (i.e. cancer, palsy, arthritis, flu, not anatomy) // Parenting Resources
Yellow = Cooking // Entertaining (i.e. etiquette, weddings, party planning) // Home Design (not architecture) // Antiques & Collectibles // Gardening // Pets // Crafts & Hobbies //
Pink (Rose) = Photography // Art // Design // Architecture // Language Arts (i.e. alphabet and writing) // Literary Criticism // Poetry // Drama (i.e. Shakespear) // Literary Collections
Blue = Humor (i.e. joke books) // Games (card, board, and video) // Magic (tricks, magicians like Houdini) // Performing Arts (celebrities, movies, tv shows) // Music // Sports
Orange = Education // Study Aids // College Planning // Careers // Business // Economics // Personal Finance // Computers (includes coding) // Technology
Green (Biggest section by far) = Engineering // Mathematics // Science // Agriculture // Nature // Sustainable Living // Medicine (i.e human anatomy, specialities) // Transportation
Lavender = Travel // Foreign Language (learning and ESL, not written non-english) // Social Sciences (cultural fairy and folk tales in this section) // Genealogy // Political Science // Law // True Crime // Biographies
Purple = Military History // Geography // World History // US History
These main categories are divided into subcategories, and even sub-subcategories which would still be under the number of the sub. So spine labels are from top - number, main category, sub or sub-sub, author. So the book "The Great Lakes, our Freshwater Treasure" by Barb Rosenstock would have a call # - 6954 (number) J NATURE (main) GREAT LAKES (sub) ROSE (author last name first 4). Hope this gives you a good idea of what the breakdown is. Some categories are used a lot like Nature, and others I have no books in like Genealogy. Thank you