Library of Congress Classification (LCC)

Boatwright Library and Parsons Music Library both use the alphanumeric Library of Congress classification (LCC) system which allows us to efficiently keep track a large amount of materials.  

Call numbers can be found on the spine or front of most library items.  

Library of Congress call numbers are generally made up of several elements including letters, numbers, decimal numbers and occasionally additional information like publication date, volume or copy numbers.  

For example, a Music Library patron wants to find Harvey Sachs' book The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824.   To find it, they go to the library's website and search for the book using OneSearch (the online library catalog).  The catalog record will display the call number like this: 

ML410.B4 S117 2011 

but the call number will look like this on the book: 

ML

410

.B4 

S117 

2011

Starting at the top of the call number proceed element by element.  

• Alphanumeric subject  - The LCC system uses the beginning letters and first line of numbers to indicate the subject of the book (in this case ML 410:  ML = Music Literature; 410  = Composer biography).  As you might expect, the letters are ordered alphabetically.  The number on the second line is read as a whole number.  
• Cutter numbers - The next part of the call number (.B4 in our example) is called the Cutter number and contains letters, which are ordered alphabetically and DECIMAL numbers. Add imaginary zeros to the end of a Cutter number, for example:  .B14 would come BEFORE .B4 on the shelf (.B40).  
• Additional letters, numbers and/or dates - The next part(s) of the call number contain additional information.  In our example, S117 is a second Cutter number relating to the author's last name, and 2011 indicates the year the item was published.  Sometimes other information can be included, especially with music materials (more on this shortly) . 

• The first line of the call number is always a letter and is filed alphabetically
• The second line is a whole number and is filed numerically
• The third (and sometimes 4th) line is a Cutter number and begins with a decimal followed by a letter & a number 
• Each item in a Cutter number should be looked at separately and numbers are treated like decimals 
• Other lines may contain info like volume numbers, copy numbers or publication dates
• Letters come before numbers
• Nothing comes before something
• No date comes before something with a date 
• Volumes are compared before copies

The above information is adapted from Kent State's Library of Congress tutorial.  

Visit this link for a general outline of LCC