Library of Congress Call Numbers

Most UConn Libraries material is arranged by the Library of Congress (LC) classification system, which begin with letters. The title, The Color Purple, appears in HOMER with the call number listed on a single line, with spaces between the five parts:

PS 3573 .A425 C6 1982

In the LC system, the first letter of the call number indicates the general subject area. The second letter indicates the specific sub-section within that subject. In the example given above, the first letter in the call number, P , indicates that the book is a work of literature . The second letter, S , indicates that it is American literature . In the LC system, works of fiction are assigned call numbers in the same way as nonfiction.

Library of Congress call numbers usually have four or five lines, and appear on the lower edge of the book's spine as a block:

PS
3573
.A425
C6
1982

• The first line is usually a single or a double letter. Single letters are shelved before double letters. For example, in the P s, the sequence would be P PA PB PC PD through PZ .
• The second line of an LC call number is usually a whole number from 1 to 9999 .
• The third line of an LC call number is usually a decimal point, followed by a letter and a number.
• The fourth line of an LC call number can be the year of publication, indicating an edition, or a volume number. An earlier edition of the same work is always shelved before a later edition. A lower volume number is shelved before a higher volume number.