Chapter 13. Library
Section 13.4. Locating and Borrowing Materials
Definition
Library of Congress Classification System (LCCS): A system in which letters of the alphabet represent areas of knowledge. Library material in all collections except government documents is shelved according to the Library of Congress Classification System.
General Information
The LCCS can help patrons browse the Library's collections. For example, to find what reference books the Library has on chemistry, go to the QD section in the reference collection; to find what current chemistry journals are available, go to the QD section in the current journals area. However, to do a thorough search of the Library's collection for material on a particular subject, it is best to use Voyager.
The LCCS letters are combined with numbers to create call numbers that serve two purposes: to indicate where books are located, and to group material on the shelf by subject.
Example: A 1984 book by Stanley I. Grossman entitled Calculus has the call number QA303.G89 1984.
| QA | represents mathematics | |
| 303 | focuses on calculus, a specific area of mathematics | |
| .G89 | is based on the author's last name (or on the title of periodicals or collections containing works of many authors). The number is treated as a decimal, so | |
| QA | would come before | QA |
| 303 | 303 | |
| .G878 | .G89 on the shelf | |
| 1984 | represents the year of publication. | |
| History | ||
| Adopted: | 08/20/2001 |
Last Revised: 10 January 2002 - activated Search Engine
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