PJ READS TASK - FUN WITH THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM

[scherzo♫]

Tanja wrote: "Does anyone have fiction suggestions for one of the following?

302 Social interaction
303 Social processes
304 Factors affecting social behavior
305 Social groups
306 Culture & instituti..."

Tanja, look at messages 115, 116, 117. SuzieR asked about the same categories, she may have some suggestions.

[Patricia]

Tanja wrote: "Does anyone have fiction suggestions for one of the following?

302 Social interaction
303 Social processes
304 Factors affecting social behavior
305 Social groups
306 Culture & instituti..."

I read The Crowd in college which is a good choice for these categories.

[Night]

pjreads wrote: "Night wrote: "Please check if I'm correct.

My book Twilight has 384 pages
384 - Communication, Telecommunication
385 - Railroad Transportation
First book: I plan to read [book:The Christmas T..."


Thanks. Phew! So glad I don't have to dig more books out. I'm having trouble with so many tasks.

[Pollyanna]

pjreads wrote: "Pollyanna wrote: "Is this okay?

Circus of the Damned has 336 pages
335 Socialism - The Grapes of Wrath

Back 250 = 136
135 Dreams - Wake"

Good news: Yes for 335..."

Thanks for that my maths is terrible lol, I think I'll change to this:

Wicked Lovely = 328 pages

328: Slavery and emancipation - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

add 250 = 578

580 = plants and under the plants shelf, I found
Wings

That's okay right?

[scherzo♫]

Pollyanna wrote: "pjreads wrote: "Pollyanna wrote: "Is this okay?...

328: Slavery and emancipation - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

add 250 = 578

580 = plants and under the plants shelf, I found
Wings"

Yes to both. Enjoy!

[Bluemoon]

OK I think I have finally found what I want to read for this. I hope this works. My 5* book is The Bone Doll's Twin which has 525 pages. 525 is Earth so I would like to read Big Bone Lick The Cradle of American Paleontology by Stanley Hedeen. 525-250 is 275 so my range is 273-277. 274 is Christian Church in Europe. So I would like to read Communion Blood for that.

Does this work? Thanks in advance.

[scherzo♫]

Stephanie wrote: "OK I think I have finally found what I want to read for this. I hope this works. My 5* book is The Bone Doll's Twin which has 525 pages. 525 is Earth so I would like to read Big Bone Lick The Cradle of American Paleontology by Stanley Hedeen. 525-250 is 275 so my range is 273-277. 274 is Christian Church in Europe. So I would like to read Communion Blood for that. ..."

Sorry, the DDC number for Big Bone Lick is 560 Paleontology & Paleozoology. This is non-fiction, so must fit the assigned DDC number. Sounds like a great book, though.

1 DEC Rule about NF changed so Big Bone Lick is OK for 560

[Bluemoon]

pjreads wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "OK I think I have finally found what I want to read for this. I hope this works. My 5* book is The Bone Doll's Twin which has 525 pages. 525 is Earth so I would like..."

I kind of figured you were going there. What about

Earth The Biography for the NF part?

Again Thanks!!!!

[scherzo♫]

Stephanie wrote: "pjreads wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "OK I think I have finally found what I want to read for this. I hope this works. My 5* book is The Bone Doll's Twin which has 525 pages. 525 is Earth...

What about Earth: The Biography for the NF part? ..."

Sorry again -- The DDC number for Earth: The Biography is 551 Geology, hydrology, meteorology (although it sounds more like 525 to me). Another book that looks terrific.

The task allows both books to be fiction, if you want to go that way.

Have you tried searching the New York Public Library catalog by Call Number? It's one way to see which books are actually cataloged in a DDC range. Lots of interesting books from 523 to 527. http://catalog.nypl.org/

1 DEC Rule for NF changed so Earth a Biography is OK for 525

[Bluemoon]

pjreads wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "pjreads wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "OK I think I have finally found what I want to read for this. I hope this works. My 5* book is The Bone Doll's Twin which has 525 p..."

I did not realize that both could be fiction. In that case could I read Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne?

[scherzo♫]

Stephanie wrote: "pjreads wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "pjreads wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "OK I think I have finally found what I want to read for this. I hope this works. My 5* book is The Bone Doll's Twin..."

Yes.

[Usako]

Jennifer - The Friday Night Knitting Club looks great for this task! I've had it on my TBR and heard it was great reviews about it.

[Juniper]

Tanja wrote: "Jennifer - The Friday Night Knitting Club looks great for this task! I've had it on my TBR and heard it was great reviews about it."

Awesome Tanja! I read it and really did enjoy it. It is a 'nice' book.

[Cynthia]

This task is now worth 35 points!

[Deedee]

My top read of the Fall Challenge was Julian Comstock A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson --- 416 pages. The related Dewey Decimal System is:
414 Phonology
415 Structural systems (Grammar)
416 No longer used -- formerly Prosody (linguistics)
417 Dialectology & historical linguistics
418 Standard usage; Applied linguistics

I'm planning to read Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue The Untold Story of English by John H. McWhorter, a non-fiction book that should fit under Historical Linguistics (417)

Not sure what I'm doing for Part B yet ....
416 + 250 = 666

664 Food technology
665 Industrial oils, fats, waxes, gases
666 Ceramic & allied technologies
667 Cleaning, color, related technologies
668 Technology of other organic products

The ones I'm considering are Glass A World History by Alan MacFarlane (666) or A Perfect Red Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire by Amy Butler (667) or An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage (664) (description says: and invoking food as a special form of technology) . Would these be OK, PJREADS?

[scherzo♫]

Deedee wrote: "My top read of the Fall Challenge was Julian Comstock A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson --- 416 pages. The related Dewey Decimal System is:
414 Phonology
..."

Sad to say: DDC for Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue is 490 and DDC for An Edible History of Humanity is 394.

Good news if you can find another book for the 414-418 range: The MacFarland book is 666 and the Butler book is 667.

1 DEC Rule for NF changed so Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue is OK for 417 and An Edible History of Humanity is OK for 664

[Deedee]

How about Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by Fogarty, Mignon? My local library has it at 415.

[scherzo♫]

Deedee wrote: "How about Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by Fogarty, Mignon? My local library has it at 415."

Yes

Interesting that different libraries have this book at 428 Standard English usage and 808 Rhetoric & collections of literature (??) as well as 415 Structural systems (Grammar).

Since there may be a library that has Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue at 417 Dialectology & historical linguistics, I'll accept that one, too.

[Cindy AL]

OK, PJ, my original book was Lord of the Flies at 192 pages, which gave me these Dewey Decimal numbers:
190 Modern western philosophy
191 Modern Western philosophy United States & Canada
192 Modern Western philosophy British Isles
193 Modern Western philosophy Germany & Austria
194 Modern Western philosophy France

Then I went backwards 250 places which gave me these numbers:

940 General history of Europe
941 General history of Europe; British Isles
942 General history of Europe; England & Wales
943 General history of Europe; Central Europe Germany
944 General history of Europe; France & Monaco

Then I selected this book, Descartes' Bones which is 194 SHO in my library, and I am going to pick a fiction book about British history for the second book…am I good?

[scherzo♫]

Cindy wrote: "OK, PJ, my original book was Lord of the Flies at 192 pages, which gave me these Dewey Decimal numbers:
190 Modern western philosophy
191 Modern Western philosophy United States & Canada
192 M..."

Yes - Descartes' Bones 194 and British History 941.

[scherzo♫]

Index of key decisions for Dewey Decimal Classifications (DDC) task with post number in [:]:

[23:] Revisions to task made on 11 NOV
- book related to subject rather than match subject
- fiction okay for either book
- move fwd / bwd from either DDC number for first book OR your original page count

[29:] "... one of the seven (7) top rated books ..."
- does not need to be 5*

[32:] Options when DDC number in NOT USED or no book found

[58:] Options for DDC 050 - 059 Magazines & Serials

[177:] “related to” applies to Non-Fiction as well as Fiction
(since different libraries assign different DDCs to same book)

[Sarita]

Can you please confirm this is correct:

I'm starting from 384 (What I Loved - Siri Hustvedt)

250 backwards is 134 (not used) so 133 Parapsychology and Occultism

Can you accept Before I Wake by R Wiersema about a 3 year old comatose girl who has healing powers?

Thanks

[scherzo♫]

Sarita wrote: "Can you please confirm this is correct:

I'm starting from 384 (What I Loved - Siri Hustvedt)

250 backwards is 134 (not used) so 133 Parapsychology and Occultism

Can you accept Before I Wak..."


Yes to Before I Wake for 133.

[scherzo♫]

Since different libraries assign different DDCs to the same book, the criteria is "related to" the DDC subject applies for both fiction and non-fiction.

This reverses several previous answers:

Cindy - either fiction or NF by a German author is OK

Stephanie - Big Bone Lick and Earth a Biography are OK for 525.

Deedee - Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue is OK for 417 and An Edible History of Humanity is OK for 664.

[Deedee]

Wow, PJREADS, yeah! "Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue is OK for 417 and An Edible History of Humanity is OK for 664." Those were the two that looked most interesting to me; A Perfect Red Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire by Amy Butler Greenfield looks good, too. I can use A Perfect Red Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire for another task (25.8 A. Read A Book With An Unnecessarily Long Title (At Least 7 Words) )

[Helen]

PJREADS - I just spent an hour in the stacks at my library checking out possibilities for my 5 star books. Great fun - in college there were other kinds of fun to be had in the stacks - but now I really do like the books!!

See if I have this right. I used Team of Rivals for my starting point -- 944 pages.

944 General History of Europe: France and Monaco
Would like to read "Once Upon a Time Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier"

944 + 250 = 1194 which I converted to 194
Found three possibilities:
1. "Descartes" - short book 89 pages but deep
2. "Descartes' Bones a Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason"
3. Fiction - "The Little Prince" which is related and often referred to regarding French philosophy

Did I do the calculations correctly and do any of these choices work?

By the way, I am impressed by your diligence in walking us through your task. Kudos.

[Donna Jo]

Helen wrote: "PJREADS - I just spent an hour in the stacks at my library checking out possibilities for my 5 star books. Great fun - in college there were other kinds of fun to be had in the stacks - but now I ..."

I read Descartes bones a skeletal history... for the Fall Challenge and found it very interesting.

[scherzo♫]

Helen wrote: "PJREADS - I just spent an hour in the stacks at my library checking out possibilities for my 5 star books. Great fun - in college there were other kinds of fun to be had in the stacks - but now I ..."

Yes to Once Upon a Time Behind the Fairy Tale for 944, and to Descartes Bones for 194.

Since this is a 35 point task, Descartes at 89 pages and The Little Prince are OK if you read both, both not long enough separately.

[Abigail]

PJReads, if I use my 400-page 5-star The Goose Girl, I *think* I can work with 398 (folklore) and 648-49 (housekeeping and child rearing). With that in mind, I'd like to read, for folklore, Pop Goes the Weasel The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes or possibly one of Andrew Lang's "rainbow" fairy tale books such as The Green Fairy Book, and, for housekeeping/child-rearing (this might be a stretch), The Wednesday Sisters A Novel -- in which raising kids plays a big role in plot and character development for all the main characters ... at least so far, and I'm about halfway through. ;) Would those be okay?

Thanks!

[Helen]

pjreads wrote: "Helen wrote: "PJREADS - I just spent an hour in the stacks at my library checking out possibilities for my 5 star books. Great fun - in college there were other kinds of fun to be had in the stack..."

Thanks - I thought the both Descartes and The Little Prince would be too short. Nice to know that I can combine them. Probably will go with Descartes Bones. Thanks for the feedback.

[Cait]

I just wanted to make sure these are ok:

One of my 5 star books for the Fall Challenge was Her Fearful Symmetry, which is 401 pages. My choices would be 399-403. So for the first book:

403 Dictionaries and Encyclopedias - The Know-It-All One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

For the second book, 403-250 = 153. 153 +2 = 155

155 Differential and Developmental Psychology - Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes? Bodies, Behavior, and Brains--the Science Behind Sex, Love, and Attraction (Call #155..31)

Do those work? If so, that'll be so awesome! I already have both books on my TBR. :o)

[scherzo♫]

Abigail wrote: "PJReads, if I use my 400-page 5-star The Goose Girl, I *think* I can work with 398 (folklore) and 648-49 (housekeeping and child rearing). With that in mind, I'd like to read, for folklore, [book:P..."

Yes to all.

[scherzo♫]

Cait wrote: "I just wanted to make sure these are ok:

One of my 5 star books for the Fall Challenge was Her Fearful Symmetry, which is 401 pages. My choices would be 399-403. So for the first ..."

Yes to both.

[scherzo♫]

Helen wrote: "pjreads wrote: "Helen wrote: "PJREADS - I just spent an hour in the stacks at my library checking out possibilities for my 5 star books. Great fun - in college there were other kinds of fun to be ..."

You're welcome ... Enjoy!

[Dionisia]

Hi pjreads, I would like to make sure my selections are appropriate for your task. I started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is 793 pages long.

For Part A, I settled on 791 Public performances. I thought Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster would be a good match. If this is not acceptable I'm hoping I could use Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold as a backup.

For Part B, I subtracted 250 and decided to use 542 Techniques, equipment, materials. Longitude The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of his Time by Dava Sobel seemed related to this subject. Do you agree?

When I added 250 I ended up in the 040 No longer used -- formerly Collected essays by language section. Is this section ok to use, say by reading Ex Libris Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman? Thanks for your feedback.

[Manday]

Hey, Just wanted to make sure I got this right.

I am using Unbearbale Lightness of Being, 306 pp

A. 304 Factors Affecting Social Behavior/305 Social Groups - Disobedience A Novel, a book about some women in a tightly closed Jewish community (a social group, think it will fit in nicely with the topic).
B. Could be 555 (Earth Science of Asia) or 055 (Serials in Italian/Romance Languages) - could I read a book translated from italian/romance languages? or perhaps a book from an italian/romance language series? or should it be more closely related?

[Slayermel]

Okay Just wanted to make sure this works

For my 5 Star book from the Fall challenge I chose Obsidian Butterfly which had 596 pg.

For my first book (594-598)
597 Cold-blooded vertebrates, fishes The Lost World by Michail Crichton

For my second book 597 - 250 (345-349)
345 Criminal Law The Accused by Deborah Chiel

[scherzo♫]

Dionisia wrote: "Hi pjreads, I would like to make sure my selections are appropriate for your task. I started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is 793 pages long.

For Part A, I settled ..."

Yes to all -- fascinating choices, have fun!

[scherzo♫]

Manday wrote: "Hey, Just wanted to make sure I got this right.

I am using Unbearbale Lightness of Being, 306 pp

A. 304 Factors Affecting Social Behavior/305 Social Groups - [book:Disobedience A Novel|20267..."

Yes to all.

[scherzo♫]

Slayermel wrote: "Okay Just wanted to make sure this works

For my 5 Star book from the Fall challenge I chose Obsidian Butterfly which had 596 pg.

For my first book (594-598)
597 Cold-blooded ve..."

Yes to both.

[[deleted user]]

Hi I just wanted to make sure I'm doing this righ. I'm using Girl with a Dragon Tattoo which has 590 pages. 590 is Zoological. Is We Bought a Zoo... okay for this. Then with +250 I get 840 which is French Literature is Gigi by Colette good?

[Louvaine]

Hi, my numbers are 370 (education) and 618 (gynecology--oh boy!). Does this mean I can/must read books about these general subjects? I was thinking of reading general educational theories and maybe specific gynecological cases/treatments. Is this OK?

[scherzo♫]

Gina wrote: "Hi I just wanted to make sure I'm doing this righ. I'm using Girl with a Dragon Tattoo which has 590 pages. 590 is Zoological. Is We Bought a Zoo... okay for this. Then with +250 I get 840 which is..."

Yes to both.

[scherzo♫]

Louvaine wrote: "Hi, my numbers are 370 (education) and 618 (gynecology--oh boy!). Does this mean I can/must read books about these general subjects? I was thinking of reading general educational theories and maybe..."

Not exactly "must read books about these general subjects."

The task says "related to" the subject (tangentially related is fine) and fiction is OK for both books.

What you're thinking is OK, but your choices can be much wider.

[Dree]

OK, I have looked through this thread and am just sooooo confused. I am looking at 508 Natural History. But I don't need to find a book filed under 508? My library (the Los Angeles PL!) does not allow catalog searching by call number (I actually think this may be a new change) and I get 99% of my books from the LAPL. I don't get the subject of 509 (Historical WHAT?!). From 508 I go to 758 or 258--one is no longer in use.

I am finding this task so interesting and so hopelessly confusing I am ready to give up on it. It shouldn't be this complicated!

[scherzo♫]

Dree wrote: "OK, I have looked through this thread and am just sooooo confused. I am looking at 508 Natural History. But I don't need to find a book filed under 508? My library (the Los Angeles PL!) does not al..."

There's a drop-down on the LAPL catalog page to Browse by Call Number which works for DDC numbers.

The 500s are Natural Sciences & Mathematics so 509 is Historical stuff about Nat Sciences & Math.

The 700s are the Arts.
756 Not assigned or no longer used
757 Human figures & their parts
758 Other subjects
759 Historical, areas, persons treatment
760 Graphic arts Printmaking & prints
so 758 is Other subjects about the Arts ("other" than any of the rest of the 700s) and 759 is Historical about the Arts

256-260 Not assigned so you can use the option to move 125(+/-2) numbers to 383 or 133

381 Internal commerce (Domestic trade)
382 International commerce (Foreign trade)
383 Postal communication
384 Communications Telecommunication
385 Railroad transportation

131 Occult methods for achieving well-being
132 Not assigned or no longer used
133 Parapsychology & occultism
134 Not assigned or no longer used
135 Dreams & mysteries

You can choose fiction or non-fiction related to the DDC subject.

Let me know which areas you're interested in and I'll offer some book suggestions.

[Juniper]

Hi PJ!

I have selected the following books for this task, and just want to ensure they are a-okay with you:

I started with my 5 star read ~ Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida which was 226 pages.

I then chose category 227 ~ Epistles. I have selected The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and epistolary novel.

Next I went to category 977 ~ General History of the USA (north and central states). I have selected to read O Pioneers! by Willa Cather which is set in Nebraska at the turn of the 20th century and deals with immigrant homesteading.

Thanks PJ!

[scherzo♫]

Jennifer wrote: "
Hi PJ!

I have selected the following books for this task, and just want to ensure they are a-okay with you:

I started with my 5 star read ~ Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vid..."

Yes to two great choices -- enjoy!

[Bluemoon]

pjreads wrote: "Since different libraries assign different DDCs to the same book, the criteria is "related to" the DDC subject applies for both fiction and non-fiction.

This reverses several previous answers:
..."

Yeah!!! Big Bone Lick sounded interesting to me. I will try to pick it up at the library today.

[Sarita]

Hi PJ, is The Mystery of the Blue Train - Agatha Christie acceptable for 385 railroad transportation? Thanks, Sarita