How to Locate

CALL NUMBERS

Call numbers are assigned to each book/journal in order to :

Give you a way to locate the book/journal on the shelf by looking for its unique number
Arrange books/journals on the shelf in broad subject categories; books with the same call number are on the same subject, so you can find them together

WHAT IS A "CALL NUMBER"

The call number for a book/journal is the combination of letters and numbers that appears in the online catalog record for the book/journal and on the spine of the book/journal. The University Libraries use the Library of Congress classification system of call numbers. This system uses one or two letters to indicate the subject area of the book/journal. Successive numbers and letters are used to represent a further definition of the specific subject covered by the book/journal and also to represent the author's name.

The call number on the book Campus Shock by Lansing Lamont is described below :

LA	L	=	Education; LA = History of Education
229	229	=	Student life within the history of higher education in the United States
L28	L	=	First letter of author's name
	28	=	"cutter number" to represent author's name. "L28" is assigned so this book will shelve alphabetically by author with other books on the same subject. There is *an invisible decimal point* in the "Cutter number" which causes it to be read L.28 or L2.8. The first numbers are the whole numbers.

HOW TO LOCATE LIBRARY MATERIALS BY CALL NUMBER

Dewey, EXT
Dewey Graduate Library
Downtown Campus

SCI
Science Library
Uptown Campus, between Campus Center and Physical Education Building

ULIB
University Library
Uptown Campus, Podium

Uptown Campus Collections(ULIB)

A thru L	Third Floor
M thru Z	Second Floor
,,**, OVER	Second Floor, NE
GovDoc	First Floor, NW
Interactive Media Center (IMC)MC	Basement
Juv, juvenile	Basement Floor (behind Interactive Media Center)
Law	First Floor, SW
Mic	Basement
over*	Second Floor, NE
PER	Basement
RBR	Basement
Ready Ref	First Floor, SW
Ref	First Floor, SW

HOW ARE CALL NUMBERS ARRANGED?

Basically, call numbers are arranged alphabetically and numerically by the letters and numbers that comprise the call number. There are some important rules to remember, however:

The first line of a call number is almost always a letter or two letters (occasionally 3 - ex. KFN). A single letter will shelve before the same letter followed by another letter :

P before PE, L before LA
The second line of the call number is a whole number. It may be extended with a decimal :

10 before 100, 35.2 before 350, 759 before 7337.
The third line of the call number is treated as a decimal, although it does not contain a decimal point. Any line subsequent to the first that begins with a letter is treated as a decimal number :

P345 before P38, F47 before F5
In cases where a book has been republished in a new or revised edition, the new date of publication is added at the end of the call number to distinguish it from other editions of the same book. Here is a sample group of call numbers as they would appear in correct shelf order :

N 71.7 H35
N 73 H35
NA 73 H35
NA 519 H35 1978
NA 519 H35 1985

IF THE BOOK YOU WANT IS NOT ON THE SHELF

First, check the call number on Minerva, the University Libraries' online catalog, to see if the book is already checked out to someone else, is on Reserve, or has some other special status.
If not, ask at the Circulation Desk on the First Floor to have a search done on the book.

January 2007
This page is maintained by Carol Anne Germain
Comments to cgermain@uamail.albany.edu