We use the Library of Congress system for organizing our materials. Many research and academic libraries use this system, so it is transfereable in many cases from one academic library to another. The following is an anatomy of a call number:
GT
2490
.A45
2007
When looking for an item on the shelf, it is best to break the call number down line by line, starting from the top.
- GT <--- These letters indicate the subject of the item. There are posters in both libraries displaying Library of Congress letters and their subject areas. Here, GT indicated that the subject of this book is Manners and Customs.
- 2490 <--- The second line of the call number is called the classification, and should be read as a whole number: two thousand four hundred and ninety. In other words, GT 1900 would come before GT 2490.
- .A45 <--- This line generally refers to the author of a work, and is a combination of letters and numbers. Here, you will need to look at each letter and number individually in order to determine the location of the book. For example, .A45 would come before .A239, because the 4 is higher than the 2.
- 2007 <--- The final line is the publication date, which can be useful if you are looking for current information. This line is read as a whole number: 1998 would come before 2007
For the basic Library of Congress Classification Outline, go to http://libguides.asub.edu/LOC_Class.