Our books, DVDs, and Blu-Rays are arranged on the shelves according to the Library of Congress classification system. The Library of Congress system is similar to the Dewey Decimal System in that items on the same topic are grouped together, but call numbers begin with a letter instead of a number.
To learn how to find a book on the shelf using the call number, read on.
When you look up a library item, the library catalog will tell you the call number, enabling you to find it on the shelf. Let's say you look up this book and find that the call number is BF76.7 .P83 2020. What does that mean?
| BF | The first part of the call number, which consists only of letters, is read in alphabetical order. If there's only one letter, it's simple: A comes before B, and B comes before C. If there are multiple letters, they're still read alphabetically. BA comes before BB, BB comes before BF, and BF comes before BG. |
| 76.7 | The second part of the call number, which consists only of numbers, is read in numerical order. If there's only one number, it's simple: 1 comes before 2, and 2 comes before 3. If there are multiple numbers, or a decimal point, they're still read numerically. 76 comes before 76.7, 76.7 comes before 76.9, and 76.9 comes before 769. |
| .P83 |
The next part of the call number, which is called a Cutter number, is read alphanumerically. Cutter numbers start with a letter. That part is easy: K comes before P, and P comes before Q. The tricky thing about Cutter numbers is that they begin with a period, indicating that the numerical part is read as a decimal, not a whole number. In this case, .P7998 comes before .P83, and .P83 comes before .P9. "But wait," you might be thinking, "isn't 83 bigger than 9, and 7998 is bigger than both of them?" That would be true if these were whole numbers, but remember we're talking decimals. So 0.7998 comes before 0.83, and 0.83 comes before 0.9. If there isn't a period printed in front of the Cutter number, pretend it's there anyway and remember to read it as a decimal. Some books may have more than one Cutter number. |
| 2020 | The last part of the call number, which consists only of numbers, is read in chronological order. This number is the publication year of the item, so 1995 comes before 2000, and 2000 comes before 2020. |
This means is that if you have three items on the shelf:
|
BF |
comes |
BF 76.7 .P83 2020 |
comes before |
BF
|
Once you know the call number for your item, go to the shelf to find it. The shelves are labeled, but if you're not sure where to start, you can use the map below. Picture yourself in the same orientation as the person, with your back to the legal reference collection and facing the back of the library:
We also have some sections of specialized shelving, so if the book you're looking for has one of these prefixes in the call number, it might be in a different location:
E - Easy (located in the quiet study area)
J - Juvenile (located in the quiet study area)
GRN - Graphic Novel (located in the group study area near the front desk)
YA - Young Adult (located in the group study area near the front desk)
If you can't find the item on the shelf, come ask at the front desk! A student worker or librarian will go with you to the shelf to look for it.
The Library of Congress Classification System is arranged so that items on the same topic are grouped next to each other. One of the nice things about this system is that once you find one book on the shelf, most other books we have on the same topic will be nearby.
If you'd just like to browse, here are the sections where you'll find books on different topics. Click the links for more information from the Library of Congress' website:
