ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Universal Decimal Classification

Have you ever seen a library with lots of books and wondered how it's possible to find a book you're looking for? The universal decimal classification is like a big secret code that libraries use to organize books so that people can find them easily.

This secret code assigns a number to every book based on what the book is mainly about. For example, books about plants might get the number 5 while books about history might get the number 9. These numbers have a bunch of digits after them that get more specific.

For example, a book about rocks might have the number 552.5. Meanwhile, a book about butterflies might have the number 595.78. By looking at these numbers, librarians can put books that are similar together on the same shelf.

This is really helpful because if you know the number of the book you're looking for, you can go straight to the right shelf and find the book there. The universal decimal classification is used all over the world, so no matter where you go, you'll be able to find the book you need using the secret code.