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Finding materials on the shelves: Locating the books on shelves

Find a book

With a Call number ,you can locate a book on the shelves by scanning from left to right, from the top shelf down, section by section, and range by range

Shelving method

 

 

 

The typical pattern of shelving is from left to right, from the top shelf down, section by section, and range by range.

  

 

 

Tips for Finding Books on the Shelf

Call number 'LB 2395 .C65 1991' on the spine of a book and in the online catalog

Read call numbers line by line.

LB
Read the first line in alphabetical order:
A, B, BF, C, D... L, LA, LB, LC, M, ML...

2395
Read the second line as a whole number:
1, 2, 3, 45, 100, 101, 1000, 2000, 2430...

.C65
The third line is a combination of a letter and numbers. Read the letter alphabetically. Read the number as a decimal, eg:
.C65 = .65 .C724 = .724

Some call numbers have more than one combination letter-number line.

1991
The last line is the year the book was published. Read in chronological order:
1985, 1991, 1992...

Here is a shelf of books with the call number order explained.

Ten Library of Congress call numbers in order on a shelf. On the first line, 'LA' before 'LB'. On the second line, '2327' before '2328'. On the combination letter number line 'B' before 'C'. For the numbers after the letter on the combination line, '.55' before '.554' and '.554' before '.63'. For the last line, '1987' before '1991'.

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