Working with Dewey - 400s

Greetings!

This week we will discuss the 400s. In this section we have books on languages. Usually when we think of languages, we think foreign (to us) languages, however, English is a language so put your dictionaries, grammar, vocabulary, and books on etymology in this section. You can see where to catalog books on other languages in the breakdown below.


400 Language

410 Linguistics
412 Etymology
413 Specialized dictionaries: Thesaurus, Synonyms
415 Grammar
419 Sign languages

420 English and Old English
423 Dictionaries
425 Vocabulary, grammar (or in 372 section)
430 Germanic languages; German

440 Romance languages; French

450 Italian, Romanian and related languages

460 Spanish and Portuguese languages

470 Italic languages; Latin

480 Hellenic languages; classical Greek

490 Other languages



What to weed from here? Discard old-fashioned and outdated books of grammar. Check the condition of the books and either repair or replace any that are in poor condition.

What to add? Check your dictionaries. Do you have any unique dictionaries? Consider putting in a rhyming dictionary, a book of idioms, or any other interesting ones that you come across. One type of 400 book that is popular in our library is the series “The First Thousand Words in . . .” published by Usborne. We have the typical Spanish, German, French, and Italian but a couple of years ago, students asked for Chinese, Latin, and Russian, so we added those as well. Check with your students to see what languages they would like to have in the library. As children see their ideas come into the library, they become more interested in using it. You might have Spanish-English dictionaries or other dictionaries with dual languages in it. Put those here.

Do you have any children going on vacation to a foreign country? Ask them to bring back a children’s picture book for the library written in the country’s language. I just talked to a girl who will be going to Thailand and asked her if she would try to bring something like that for the library. Most families would not think of this and would be very happy to try to find a book for you.

I hope you have a great day.

Audrey