DeweySort v1.0
The Dewey Decimal Classification is one way a
library can classify and manage its collection of materials. Being able to
quickly and easily sort books labeled with Dewey call number tags is not only is a
handy skill to have when working in a library but also keeps the aging mind
sharp and agile.
To both
of those ends, I wrote a MS Windows application that lets a user practice sorting
Dewey call numbers. The program is call DeweySort and is shown and described below.
This Windows application is a one screen program that loads 4000 Dewey call numbers and then lets the user select random subsets of those call numbers to practice sorting. Sorting is accomplished through mouse drag and drop. The program will let the user check the sorting results, display sorting errors and even provide a stopwatch like timer for sorting speed tests. The areas of the application are described below.
Functions
A: The load buttons let the user select how many call numbers to load into the sorting window. The buttons can be pressed multiple times, meaning pressing “Random 10” three times will load 30 random call tags.
A: The load buttons let the user select how many call numbers to load into the sorting window. The buttons can be pressed multiple times, meaning pressing “Random 10” three times will load 30 random call tags.
B: The range options let the user the type of random
selection. Wide range means the selection will be made across all 900
categories and will result in many different call numbers (shown in the image above). Narrow range (see
the image below) selects a tighter range of call numbers, resulting in many
similar numbers which can be much more difficult to sort.
C: This is the main sorting window where the user will drag and drop items into the correct order.
D: The Check Results
and Show Errors buttons check the current sort window for accuracy. The
text display area will inform the user of their current status.
Clicking and
holding down the Show Errors buttons will also highlight the items in the main
sort area that are not in correct order. Releasing the Show Errors button will
remove the highlights.
E: The simple stopwatch timer will let the user practice speed sorting. The same set of call numbers can be reshuffled and resorted over and over for speed improvements.
F: Advanced users may want to sort many call tags and
placing a large number of call tags in the sorting area may cause scroll bars to
appear. The Font button is used to select smaller font for the sort area if
desired. Other users may sort less items but prefer larger font for visibility.
Application Code
The software is written in C# using Visual Studio 2008. The data for the application is
read in from a text file containing 4000 Dewey call numbers spread across all the 10 Dewey
main categories. The operation code and
the data file are made available as open source, with no restrictions on GitHub at digitalstew/DeweySort
Possible Modifications
The
application can easily be modified to load and teach sorting of many other kinds of
data with modifications to the code and the data file. The full Visual Studio project
solution is also provided as a ZIP file on GitHub and can be freely used and modified without restrictions.