SPECIFIC COLLECTIONS (with their own shelving areas)
Call number which have nothing above a Dewey number are nonfiction and go upstairs.
Call numbers sometimes have prefixes to identify a special location where the book or other material is shelved. If there is no prefix or reserve label, the materials are nonfiction and are shelved on the 2nd floor. Current issues of journals and magazines are shelved by title on the first floor at the end of the reference collection. Older issues and bound volumes of journals are shelved on the second floor behind the public computing area.
Example:
Ref
801.542
Sch15a
1989
Prefixes used in the Boreham Library include the following:
- Reserve (no matter what else the label says) all go in the Reserve section behind the Circulation Desk.
- Oversize (shelved on the first floor near the print release station)
- Grants (shelved at the beginning of the reference area)
- Index (shelved at the beginning of the reference shelves)
- Ref (reference items shelved on the first floor in the reference area)
- PC Ref (shelved on the reference desk counter)
- J or Juv (Juvenile nonfiction shelved on the first floor at the east end)
- JF or Juv F (Juvenile fiction shelved on the first floor at the east end)
- F or Fic (Adult fiction shelved on the first floor before the juvenile collection)
- Computer, CD, DVD (shelved in their own section behind the Circulation desk)
- Video (VHS videocassettes - shelved in their own section behind the Circulation Desk)
- Peb (Pebley Center, room 137 – put any Peb items in their mailbox behind the Circulation desk)
Always feel free to ask questions about shelving location and order! J
What is a call number?
Every book in the library is given a unique call number to serve as an address for locating the book on the shelf. The call number itself is composed of at several parts, starting with:
- any special location such as Ref, Pebley, Grants or other
- then the Dewey decimal classification (which may be one or two lines)
- then below that, the Cutter number
- then a volume number if needed (may or may not be present)
- then possibly the date (may or may not be present)
- and finally a copy number.
For shelving purposes, nothing else matters but the call number label.
Also remember that something may not be shelved where you might expect it to be, so focus on the call number label.
REF
123.4567
C910y
Vol. 2
1980
Copy 1
The above shows this book is in the REFerence section, the Dewey is 123.4567, the Cutter is C910y, it is Vol. 2 of a set (we may or may not have an entire set), the date is 1980, and this is Copy 1.
987.65
M456ag
1999
Copy 1
The above shows no special section tag, but it has a Dewey 987.65 so it must be in the non-fiction section upstairs.
F
P432r
2012
Copy 1
The above doesn't start with a location or a Dewey, but an F, so it must be fiction and goes in that section downstairs.
If it was Juvenile fiction, it would start with a J.
Dewey Decimal Classification System
The Dewey decimal system coordinates materials on the same subject and on related subjects to make items easier to find on the shelves by using a combination of letters and numbers. The Dewey system has ten main classes:
000 Generalities
100 Philosophy and Psychology
200 Religion
300 Social Science
400 Language
500 Natural Science and Mathematics
600 Technology (Applied Sciences)
700 Arts
800 Literature
900 Geography and History
Each class is further sub-divided into ten more divisions. These divisions are further divided, and then further divided again. Each division becomes more specific. The more numbers, the more specific the subject. In this way, the Dewey classification system progresses from the general to the specific. The decimal place is used to make the number even more specific.
Remember: The more numbers, the more specific. When filing in a decimal system, file digit by digit – not by whole number. Therefore, a useful concept to remember is that nothing comes before something.
331
331.01
331.011
331.016
331.02
331.026
331.041
331.04136
331.042
331.1
331.198
331.2
For example, in 331.011 and 331.016, you do not look at 11 versus 16 once you go right of the decimal point.
You look at the three places at the end of both, and the final number. 1 comes before 6.
In 331.041 versus 331.04136, think of 331.041 nothing nothing versus 331.04136. Nothing files before something.
Cutter Numbers
The cutter number for a book usually consists of the first letter of the author's last name and a series of numbers. This series of numbers comes from a table that is designed to help maintain an alphabetical arrangement of names. What if the library has several works by the same author? How do we keep the call number unique? To do that, a work mark or work letter is used to distinguish the various works of a single author. The work mark is a lower case letter that is usually the first letter of the title of the book.
REMEMBER: the Cutter number is a decimal, not a whole number, so go digit by digit to determine order.
- Look at this example carefully.
813.54
C767s
813.54
C768m
813.54
C77a
813.54
C77g
813.54
C773e
- Multiple copies of the same book are shelved in order by the copy number.
833.912
M31
Copy 1
833.912
M31
Copy 2
833.912
M31
Copy 3
SUBJECT GUIDE TO DEWEY NUMBERS
000 Generalities
010 Bibliography
020 Library & information sciences
030 General encyclopedic works
040 Special topics
050 General serials & their indexes
060 General organizations & museums
070 New media, journalism, publishing
080 General collections
090 Manuscripts & rare books
100 Philosophy & Psychology
110 Metaphysics
120 Epistemology, causation
130 Paranormal phenomena
140 Specific philosophical schools
150 Psychology
160 Logic
170 Ethics
180 Ancient, medieval, oriental philosophy
190 Modern western philosophy
200 Religion
210 Natural theology
220 Bible
230 Christian theology
240 Christian moral & devotional theology
250 Christian orders & local churches
260 Christian social theology
270 Christian church history
280 Christian denominations & sects
290 Other & comparative religions
300 Social Science
310 General statistics
320 Political science
330 Economics
340 Law
350 Public administration
360 Social problems & services
370 Education
380 Commerce, communications, transport
390 Customs, etiquette, folklore
400 Language
410 Linguistics
420 English
430 Germanic languages
440 Romance languages (French)
450 Italian
460 Spanish & Portuguese
470 Italic languages (Latin)
480 Hellenic languages (Classical Greek)
490 Other languages
500 Natural Science & Mathematics
510 Mathematics
520 Astronomy & allied sciences
530 Physics
540 Chemistry & allied sciences
550 Earth sciences
560 Paleontology & Paleozoology
570 Life sciences
580 Botanical sciences
590 Zoological sciences
600 Technology (Applied Sciences)
610 Medical sciences
620 Engineering
630 Agriculture
640 Home economics
650 Management
660 Chemical engineering
670 Manufacturing
680 Manufacture for specific use
690 Buildings
700 The Arts
710 Civic & landscape art
720 Architecture
730 Sculpture
740 Drawings & decorative arts
750 Paintings & painters
760 Graphic arts
770 Photography
780 Music
790 Recreational & performing arts
800 Literature
810 American literature in English
820 English literature
830 Germanic language literatures
840 Romance language literatures
850 Italian, Romanian
860 Spanish & Portuguese literatures
870 Italic literatures (Latin)
880 Hellenic literatures (Classical Greek)
890 Literatures of other languages
900 Geography & History
910 Geography & travel
920 Biography, genealogy
930 History of the Ancient world
940 History of Europe
950 History of Asia (Far East)
960 History of Africa
970 History of North America
980 History of South America
990 General history of other areas
[version 2014.8.7.a]
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