HOW TO LOCATE CALL NUMBERS IN THE LIBRARY

ARCS Library uses the Library of Congress Classification System, which classifies books by subject. Each book has a label with its Call Number printed on it and it shows where exactly the book is shelved. All Call Numbers consist of a combination of letter/letters and numbers.

ex. DR36 .H35 2011 (Hall, Richard C. The Modern Balkans: a history)

The first letter represents one of the 21 general divisions of the LC system. In this case, D stands for History. The second letter is a subdivision of the general subject, in this case - Balkan Peninsula. The numbers after the letters are yet a greater subdivision of the subject; in this case Call Numbers in the range DR32-48.5 stand for History. Balkan War, 1912-1913. 

The second part of the Call Number gives information about the author or the title (according to the Cutter Table), and the last is the year of publication. Some Call Numbers might have other information as well, such as Serial, Oversize, Pamphlet, Map, CDROM - before the Call Number or v.1, text, plates, etc. afterwards.

HOW BOOKS ARE SHELVED IN THE LIBRARY

If we look at an example of a Call Number like this:  

The first line just needs to be treated alphabetically. Thus, 

Line two is read in straight numerical order; numbers range from 1 to 9999 and are shelved accordingly: 

Line three is often misunderstood. Line 3 is the Cutter number (named after Charles A. Cutter). It is a DECIMAL number, not a whole number like the second line. Therefore, .K79 comes before .K8. (There is usually a decimal point before the letter on that line, so line three is treated as a decimal number.)  

Line four is called the Double Cutter number. It is also treated as a decimal number even though there is no decimal point showing: 

 PLAN OF THE LIBRARY

 1st floor

Room 1 - Serials, Oversize, Pamphlets, Maps, CDROM

Room 2 - G-ZZ

2nd floor

Room 1 - CN360-F

Room 2 - A-CN355