callnumbers

Call Numbers

The books in your college library are arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification System. Most academic libraries use this system which separates knowledge into 21 large subject classes, and then into smaller sub-topics under each large subject.

Call numbers are used to keep the items in order on the shelves.
To locate the books or videos, you match the call number shown in the WebPAC with the call number on the spine of a book or cover of a video or cd-rom.

What do call numbers stand for?
The first letter or letters of a Library of Congress call number indicates the main subject of the book. Items are shelved in alphabetical order by these letters.
For example:
E = American History
PE = English Language
QA = Computer Science
(A condensed outline of the Library of Congress Classification scheme is shown on the next page of the tutorial.)

The numbers following the first letter or letters are whole numbers between 1 and 9999. Within each letter or letters, books are arranged in numerical sequence: the 1's come before 10's; 10's come before 100's; and 100's come before 1000's.

HV	*is before*	HV	*is before*	HV
52		*502*		*4311*

^{The
letters and numbers after the period are treated as a a decimal.}

HV	*is before*	HV	*is before*	HV
52		52		52
*.A729*		*.C622*		*.C80*

Since there is a decimal point before the C, .C622 is a smaller number and comes before .C80. If you are sure you understand how decimals work, continue to the next page for the next question on your answer sheet.