Catalog Numbers Log For Free

Most physical items you can access in the library have a call number, which is a combination of letters and numbers that provide details about the item, such as its year of publication, topics, and other standardized information. Knowing an item's call number can help you find where it's located in the library.

The LCC system uses the beginning letters and first line of numbers to indicate the subject of the book (in this example, LA 212: Education > History of Education > United States). As you might expect, the letters are ordered alphabetically. For example, the letter D comes before K, and so forth.

Library of Congress Control Numbers (LCCNs) are record identifiers assigned by the Library of Congress to bibliographic and authority records. First established when the Library began printing catalog cards in 1898, these unique identifiers are assigned to records created when materials arrive at the Library.

The call number represents what the book is about and acts like the book's address on the library's shelves or stacks. Because books on the shelves are arranged in call number order, you will find books on similar subjects shelved near each other. Read the call number from left to right.

Call numbers are on (or near) the spine of the book. The call number is made up of a combination of numbers and letters that are read left-to-right, top-to-bottom. First letters: one, two or three letters that are arranged alphabetically. So K comes before KF which comes before KFD.

A call number is like an address: it tells us where the book is located in the library. Call numbers appear on the spines of books and journals and in the library's catalog.

As we have seen, cutter numbers consist of a letter of the alphabet, followed by one or more Arabic numerals. Cutters usually represent names, titles, subjects, and geographic places, but can represent other aspects of resources, too. Call numbers may contain either one or two cutters.

The Library of Congress arranges materials by subject, or 'class'. The first section of the call number represents the subject of the book. The second section often represents the author's name, and the last section is the date of publication.

As a general rule for vinyl record albums, the catalogue number will either be found on the spine of the album or on the back cover. The catalogue number is often found in more than one place, both on the outside of the album and on the disc itself.

The Catalog Number is the number that is associated to the class that you want to search for. For example, if you search for Accounting, the Catalog Number will begin with 10101.