Summary of a Survey of the Use of the Dewey Decimal Classification in the United States and Canada

ithin the last ten years, three studies have been performed dealing with the use of Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) outside the North American continent. To date, there has not been a similar survey aimed at assessing the situation in the United States and Canada. In response to this need, Forest Press, publisher of the DDC schedules, has sponsored a survey to measure the use of the DDC by libraries and processing centers in these two countries. This paper highlights some of the findings of this survey. The full report has been published by Forest Press.^ There were four major objectives of the survey: (l)to determine the extent of use of the DDC by U.S. and Canadian libraries of different sizes and types, (2) to obtain information about the application of the DDC to library collections, (3) to determine the problem areas in the application of the DDC for collections in these two countries, and (4) to ascertain to what extent the DDC is taught in library schools and what problems are encountered in teaching it.published or submitted for publicatio