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CALL NUMBERS |
Call numbers are a librarian thing.
Call numbers allow librarians a way to arrange books and other materials systematically. In theory (and usually, but not always) every book, periodical, newspaper, cassette, video tape, and roll of microfilm in the library will have a unique call number.
The Ithaca College Library uses the Library of Congress Classification System. If you are used to the Dewey Decimal System from your high school or public library, you may find the LCCS a bit different. This system starts off with letters and then uses both letters and numbers in different lines. Each line of the call number symbolizes some specific information, such as its subject and author.
The first line of a call number will be a letter or two letters. Letters in the first line represent broad subject areas. Call numbers work logically and are pretty easy to figure out, once you become familiar with them. For example, if a call number has an H at very beginning, the book will deal with some aspect of the social sciences, including business, economics, sociology, and social work. HF more narrowly represents business. It makes sense then that books on accounting will start with HF. HG, however, is another business related first line, so some other business books will found under these two letter, specifically finance. Soon, after you become library literate after using the collection a few times, it will all make sense that books on accounting will be in the HF section and books on banking or insurance will have call numbers starting HG.
There are exceptions. First of all, reference materials and periodicals start with special letter symbols, Ref or Per, that appear before the "first line" of the call number. These superscripts indicate that the materials are part of non-circulating collections that are located in their own separate locations. Reference books (all books with call numbers starting with Ref) are located on the main floor of the library. Periodicals (all materials with call numbers starts with Per) are not all located in the same place. Bound periodicals will be found on one floor, microfilm holdings of periodicals on another. None will be found in the general stacks mixed in with the books. There is more about periodicals and their locations elsewhere.
There are some exceptions to the one or two letter rule in the real "first line" of a call number. It is hardly worth mentioning, but in the K section (Law), the first line may be one letter (K is general law), two letters (KF represents law of the United States), or three letters (KFN is the call number beginning for books on laws of New York State). One other exception is DJK, which is the first line for some books about Slavic and Eastern European history and culture.
The second line of the call number will be a whole number or whole number with a decimal. The numbers represent a narrower aspect of the subject.
The third line of the call number and occasionally the fourth line will contain both letters and numbers. The combination of a letter and a number in the same line is called a Cutter number. Cutter numbers represent either a further narrowing of the subject or an alphanumerical representation of the author's name.
The final line of the call number may end with a date or volume number or copy number.
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HQ |
HQ represents Family, marriage, women,
sex |
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RA |
RA represents Public Health |
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HG |
HG represents General Finance, Money, Banking, and Insurance |
No, you aren't supposed to memorize what each letter and number stands for. But what you should know is that the call number puts a book near other books that share the same subject. So, for example, if you know the call number of one book about wheelchair sports or stereotyping of the elderly or monetary policy is, then you can often use that information successfully to find other books about that same topic. It may not be the only place to look, however. The book above appears from the title to have more to do with accounting ethics than monetary policy, so other books on accounting ethics may not be very close by.
Once you know the call number, you still have to know how to find it on the shelf. And that's where call number order comes into play.