Call Number: the unique combination of letters and numbers, or just numbers, that indicates the position of the book on the shelf. At Yale, books cataloged before about 1970 have call numbers based on various iterations of the local Yale classification ("Old Yale"). Most books cataloged from 1970 on have call numbers based on the Library of Congress (LC) classification scheme. In most Yale locations, call numbers using LC classification generally are identified by "(LC)" in the last line of the call number.
Call numbers based on LC include both a classification number (class number) and a cutter number. The classification number refers to the subject of the book. If a single cutter number is used, the cutter number refers to the main entry of the work (the author or, if title main entry is used, the title). If there are two cutters, the first cutter is used to bring out a more precise aspect of the subject and the second cutter usually refers to the main entry of the work. (For common exceptions, see Examples 5-7)
LC call numbers generally use a mixed notation of one, two, or three CAPITAL letters, integral or whole numbers from 1 to 9999 with possible decimal extensions, one or two cutter numbers, and, if appropriate, a year of publication.
A single letter, always combined with numbers, represents a main class, corresponding roughly to a broad academic discipline, e.g. N33=general dictionaries of the visual arts.
Double or triple capital letters combined with numbers represent subclasses of the main class, e.g. NB50=dictionaries & encyclopedias of sculpture, i.e., a subclass of the broader visual arts. (In contrast, Old Yale notation may include lower case letters)
On MARC records the LC call number is recorded in the 050 field:
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a Z668 ‡b .R365 2000 |
| 100 | 1 | ‡a Rehman, Sajjad ur, ‡d 1951- | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Preparing the information professional : ‡b an agenda for the future / ‡c Sajjad ur Rehman. |
| 260 | ‡a Westport, Conn. : ‡b Greenwood Press, ‡c 2000. | ||
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Library education ‡z United States. |
Class number: Z668
Cutter number: .R365
Publication date: 2000
For this call number, Z is the main class letter for bibliography and library science. The numbers 668 refer to the subdivision for library education in the United States. Note the correspondence between the class number and the subjects assigned by LC. The second part of the call number, after ‡b, is "cuttered" to Rehman. Note that in the 050 field, the first (or only) cutter is preceded by a period. The third part of the call number is the date of publication.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a DC611.B848 ‡b H84 1997 |
| 100 | 1 | ‡a Hunt, Lindsay. | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Essential Brittany / ‡c by Lindsay Hunt. |
| 260 | ‡a Lincolnwood, Ill. : ‡b Passport Books, ‡c c1997. | ||
| 651 | 0 | ‡a Brittany (France) ‡v Guidebooks. |
Analysis of example 2:
| DC | The double letters for the subclass, French history | |
| 611 | The integral number meaning local history and description of an individual region, etc. of France | |
| .B848 | The first cutter number for a general work on Brittany. Note that in the 050 field, when double cuttering occurs, the first cutter is separated from the class number by a period; the second cutter is not preceded by a period. | |
| H84 | The second cutter number used for the main entry, Hunt | |
| 1997 | Publication date |
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a BL65.H36 ‡b F47 1991 |
| 100 | 1 | ‡a Ferguson, Harvie. | |
| 245 | 1 |
0 |
‡a Religious transformation in Western society : ‡b the end of happiness / ‡c Harvie Ferguson. |
| 260 |   | ‡a London ; ‡a New York, NY : ‡b Routledge, ‡c 1991. | |
| 651 | 0 | ‡a Happiness ‡x Religious aspects. |
Analysis of example 3:
| BL | The double letters for the subclass, Religion, mythology, rationalism. | |
| 65 | The integral number for Religion in relation to other subjects, A-Z | |
| .H36 | The first cutter number for the topic Happiness | |
| F47 | The second cutter number used for the main entry, Ferguson | |
| 1991 | Publication date |
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a PN3433.2 ‡b .S34 1993 |
| 110 | 2 | ‡a Science Fiction Research Association. ‡b National Conference ‡d (1993 : ‡c Reno, Nevada) | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Imaginative futures : ‡b proceedings of the 1993 Science Fiction Research Association Conference, June 17-19, 1993, Reno, Nevada / ‡c edited by Milton T. Wolf and Daryl F. Mallett. |
| 260 | ‡a San Bernardino, CA : ‡b Angel Enterprises : ‡b Distributed by the Borgo Press, ‡c c1994. | ||
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Science fiction ‡v Congresses. |
Analysis of example 4:
| PN | The double letters for the subclass, Literature | |
| 3433 | The integral number for science fiction | |
| .2 | The decimal expansion for congresses | |
| .S34 | The cutter for the main entry, Science Fiction Research Association. National Conference ... | |
| 1993 | The date of the conference <note that the date of the conference differs from the date of publication> |
CAUTION. The last cutter's alphabetical letter will not always map to the main entry. Three common types follow.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a NA4415.I732 ‡b D835 2000 |
| 100 | 1 | ‡a Griffin, David J. | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Leinster House, 1744-2000 : ‡b an architectural history / ‡c David J. Griffin & Caroline Pegum ; [edited by Elizabeth Mayes]. |
| 260 | ‡a Dublin : ‡b Irish Architectural Archive in association with the Office of Public Works, ‡c 2000. | ||
| 610 | 2 | 0 | ‡a Leinster House (Dublin, Ireland) ‡x History. |
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Architecture, Georgian ‡z Ireland ‡z Dublin. | |
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Mansions ‡x Remodeling for other use ‡z Ireland ‡z Dublin. | |
| 610 | 2 | 0 | ‡a Ireland. ‡b Oireachtas. ‡b Dâail ‡x Buildings. |
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Dublin (Ireland) ‡x Buildings, structures, etc. |
Analysis of example 5. Note that the "base number" cutters are both expanded without using a period.
| NA | The double letters for the subclass, Architecture | |
| 4415 | The integral number for capitol & parliament buildings for "Other countries A-Z" | |
| .I732 | The cutter for Ireland ("I73") subdivided locally ("2") | |
| D835 | The second cutter for the local subdivision, Dublin, with an additional digit ("5") to account for the main entry (Griffin) | |
| 2000 | Publication date |
LC uses special tables to deal with common subarrangement patterns.The subarrangements are often form-driven. The LC biography table is a very common application.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a BX4705.N5 ‡b A4 1961 |
| 100 | 1 | ‡a Newman, John Henry, ‡d 1801-1890. | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Letters and diaries /‡c edited, with notes and an introduction by Charles Stephen Dessain. |
| 260 | ‡a London ; ‡a New York : ‡b T. Nelson, ‡c [1961-<1999> | ||
| 600 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Newman, John Henry, ‡d 1801-1890 ‡v Correspondence. |
| 600 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Newman, John Henry, ‡d 1801-1890 ‡v Diaries. |
| 610 | 2 | 0 | ‡a Catholic Church ‡z England ‡x Clergy ‡v Correspondence. |
| 610 | 2 | 0 | ‡a Catholic Church ‡z England ‡x Clergy ‡v Diaries. |
Analysis of example 6:
| BX | The double letters for the subclass, Religion: Christian Denominations | |
| 4705 | The integral number for Catholic Church--Individual biography | |
| .N5 | The cutter for Newman, John Henry | |
| A4 | LC biography table is applied for biography numbers for individuals in all classes unless otherwise instructed in the schedules; the table assigns A4 for collections of letters | |
| 1961 | Publication date |
Book number is assigned within a number range. Used in literature classification.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a PS3573.I45677 ‡b Z56 2002 |
| 245 | 0 | 0 | ‡a August Wilson : ‡b a casebook / ‡c edited by Marilyn Elkins. |
| 260 | ‡a New York : ‡b Garland, ‡c 2002. | ||
| 600 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Wilson, August ‡x Criticism and interpretation. |
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Historical drama, American ‡x History and criticism. | |
| 650 | 0 | ‡a African Americans in literature. |
Analysis of example 7.
| PS | The double letters for the subclass, American literature | |
| 3573 | The integral number for Individual authors, 1961-2000, surnames beginning with "W" | |
| .I45677 | The cutter for Wilson, August <cutters to 2nd letter of the surname> | |
| Z56 | Second cutter to main entry is assigned within the number range Z4581-Z999 <biography and criticism; table P-PZ40> | |
| 2002 | Publication date |
Less commonly, a number other than a cutter number is used for subarrangement. Here "14th" refers to the number of the regiment. Note that the non-cutter number is separated by a space rather than a period from the classification number, and that the period precedes the first (and only) cutter number.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a E499.5 14th ‡b .H57 1998 |
| 100 | 1 | Dagger;a Hirst, Benjamin, ‡d 1828-1909. | |
| 245 | 1 | 4 | ‡a The boys from Rockville : ‡b Civil War narratives of Sgt. Benjamin Hirst, Company D, 14th Connecticut Volunteers / ‡c edited, with commentary, by Robert L. Bee. |
| 260 | ‡a Knoxville [Tenn.] : ‡b University of Tennessee Press, ‡c c1998. | ||
| 600 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Hirst, Benjamin, ‡d 1828-1909 ‡v Correspondence. |
| 610 | 1 | 0 | ‡a United States. ‡b Army. ‡b Connecticut Infantry Regiment, 14th (1862-1865) |
The other common substitute for a cutter number in LC call numbers is the date. Here "1545" refers to the initial date of the Council of Trent and is preceded by a space rather than a period.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a BX830 1545 ‡b .T45 1997 |
| 245 | 0 | 2 | ‡a I tempi del Concilio : ‡b religione, cultura e societáa nell'Europa tridentina / ‡c a cura di Cesare Mozzarelli e Danilo Zardin. |
| 260 | ‡a Roma : ‡b Bulzoni editore, ‡c 1997. | ||
| 611 | 2 | 0 | ‡a Council of Trent ‡d (1545-1563) ‡v Congresses. |
Some law class numbers for legislative acts include the date of the act in the class number, in this case 1996. Note that there is no space before the date because the date is considered to be part of the class number. A7 is a form cutter for monographs. The date of publication (2001) is in the standard position.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a KHC3834.51996 ‡b .A7 2001 |
| 110 | 1 | ‡a Bolivia. | |
| 240 | 1 | 0 | ‡a Ley del Servicio Nacional de Reforma Agraria |
| 245 | 1 | 2 | ‡a Ley no. 1715 : ‡b Ley del Servicio Nacional de Reforma Agraria : Reglamento D.S. no. 25763 de 5 de mayo del 2000 ... normas tâecnicas catastrales para el saneamiento de la propiedad agraria. |
| 260 | ‡a La Paz : ‡b Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria, ‡c 2001. | ||
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Land reform ‡x Law and legislation ‡z Bolivia. |
A few class numbers do not use cutters; subarrangement is only by date. This pattern is often used with censuses:
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a HA851.5 ‡b 2000b |
| 245 | 0 | 2 | ‡a Censos nacionales : ‡b X de poblaciâon, VI de vivienda, 2000. |
| 260 | ‡a [Panama] : ‡b Repâublica de Panamâa, Contralorâia General de la Repâublica, Direcciâon de Estadâistica y Censo, ‡c [2001]. | ||
| 651 | 0 | ‡a Panama ‡v Census, 2000. |
CAUTION: some Old Yale class numbers resemble LC class numbers in form but differ from LC in scope, e.g.
| Class number | LC scope | Old Yale scope |
| B50-B96 | Philosophy | History of civilization |
| CE | Technical chronology | United States history |
| E | United States history | Geography |
| P | Languages and literatures | Law |
As a rule of thumb, even when Old Yale call numbers only use capital letters, they may be identified by their use of lower case letters in some of their cutters and the use of numeric book numbers; also, in most cases Yale adds "(LC)" below the call number for classes that might be mistaken for Old Yale. The number of potentially overlapping situations appears to be quite small. However, since the Voyager call number index in the Orbis OPAC interfiles all classifications, catalogers need to be reasonably alert to the differences when shelflisting. (The interfiling is currently under review.)
| LC | Old Yale | |
| P71 R6 (LC) |
P71 939L |
See a general table for Old Yale numbers
There is also some letter overlap in the SuDoc (U.S. Superintendant of Documents) and LC classes, e.g. TD. SuDoc numbers can usually be identified by the presence of colons and slashes. When viewed in the Voyager Cataloging Module, the 852 first indicator should be 3.
| 852 | 3 | 0 | ‡b muddgdcm ‡h TD 4.2:Ai 7/35 |
The classification scheme selected for the call number must have the correct first indicator in the Voyager MFHD record, or the call number will not index properly. LC classification must have first indicator 0 as in the following example:
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡b ksl ‡h QC793.5.N42 ‡i N47X 2000 (LC) |
Formatting: 050 vs. MFHD
Note that the subfield indicators used to delimit the different parts of the LC call number differ between the 050 on the bibliographic record and the 852 in the MFHD record. Catalogers need to be aware of this when copying and pasting from one field to the other, or when editing a 090 field to 050 _4. (The Voyager ctrl-n command automatically converts the subfield indicators when it copies the call number from 050 or 090 into the MFHD.)
In the bibliographic record's 050 field, the class number is entered in ‡a; the rest of the call number is entered in ‡b when there is a single cutter. If there are 2 cutters, both the class number and the first cutter number are entered in ‡a; the second cutter and the rest of the call number are entered in ‡b.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a NK4165 ‡b .L5 1996 |
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a NK4156.6.A1 ‡b T53 1993 |
In the MFHD record's 852 field, the class number is entered in ‡h; the rest of the call number is entered in ‡i when there is a single cutter. If there are 2 cutters, both the class number and the first cutter number are entered in ‡h; the second cutter and the rest of the call number are entered in ‡i. Note that the location code is entered in ‡b.
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡b art ‡h NK4165 ‡i .L5 1996 (LC) |
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡b art ‡h NK4156.6.A1 ‡i T53 1993 (LC) ‡m Oversize |
The period used to expand the classification number is REQUIRED in both 050 and 852, e.g.
NK4156.6
The period used to separate the cutter number from the classification number is REQUIRED in 050. Note that a period is not entered before the 2nd cutter.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a PN1993.5.I88 ‡b A2 1995 |
In 852 the period preceding the cutter number may be replaced by a space [a legacy of the previous NOTIS ILS; period is preferred in current Voyager cataloging]. There must be either a space or a period separating the first cutter from the class number to ensure proper indexing.
Either
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡a sml ‡h PN1993.5.I88 ‡i A2 1995+ ‡m Oversize |
or
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡a sml ‡h PN1993.5 I88 ‡i A2 1995+ ‡m Oversize |
NOT
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡a sml ‡h PN1993.5I88 ‡i A2 1995+ ‡m Oversize |
For additional call number formatting examples (852 only), refer to:
Note that the subfield indicators used to delimit the different parts of the LC call number differ between the 050 on the bibliographic record and the 852 in the MFHD record. Catalogers need to be aware of this when copying and pasting from one field to the other, or when editing a 090 field to 050 _4. (The Voyager ctrl-n command automatically converts the subfield indicators when it copies the call number from 050 or 090 into the MFHD.)
In the bibliographic record's 050 field, the class number is entered in ‡a; the rest of the call number is entered in ‡b when there is a single cutter. If there are 2 cutters, both the class number and the first cutter number are entered in ‡a; the second cutter and the rest of the call number are entered in ‡b.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a NK4165 ‡b .L5 1996 |
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a NK4156.6.A1 ‡b T53 1993 |
In the MFHD record's 852 field, the class number is entered in ‡h; the rest of the call number is entered in ‡i when there is a single cutter. If there are 2 cutters, both the class number and the first cutter number are entered in ‡h; the second cutter and the rest of the call number are entered in ‡i. Note that the location code is entered in ‡b.
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡b art ‡h NK4165 ‡i .L5 1996 (LC) |
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡b art ‡h NK4156.6.A1 ‡i T53 1993 (LC) ‡m Oversize |
The period used to expand the classification number is REQUIRED in both 050 and 852, e.g.
NK4156.6
The period used to separate the cutter number from the classification number is REQUIRED in 050. Note that a period is not entered before the 2nd cutter.
| 050 | 0 | 0 | ‡a PN1993.5.I88 ‡b A2 1995 |
In 852 the period preceding the cutter number may be replaced by a space [a legacy of the previous NOTIS ILS; period is preferred in current Voyager cataloging]. There must be either a space or a period separating the first cutter from the class number to ensure proper indexing.
Either
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡a sml ‡h PN1993.5.I88 ‡i A2 1995+ ‡m Oversize |
or
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡a sml ‡h PN1993.5 I88 ‡i A2 1995+ ‡m Oversize |
NOT
| 852 | 0 | 0 | ‡a sml ‡h PN1993.5I88 ‡i A2 1995+ ‡m Oversize |
For additional call number formatting examples (852 only), refer to:
At Yale, LC call numbers on labels are arranged vertically to place the class number, each cutter, and the date, on separate lines. Line breaks are not generally made for the integral number following the class letter(s) or the decimal expansion unless the line is unusually long. If the call number is also pencilled on the item, the call number should be transcribed in the same way. Note that the period for decimal expansion is retained but the period before the cutter is optional. The current label printing program prints the period.
|
DC611 |
PN3433.2 |
Some local modification is performed on LC classification call numbers and there is some local deviation from standard LC cuttering practice (currently under review). The modifications and variations are documented in the Modification, Oversize, and Belletristic documents listed below.
The detailed enumeration of the LC classification scheme is published in separate volumes called schedules, e.g. B-BJ. Philosophy-Psychology. The schedules are still not complete (they currently number 40+ volumes and comprise 10,000+ pages; some of the religious law schedules are still only in draft format and unpublished). However, with the publication of the scheme on the web in 2003, catalogers who utilize ClassWeb may find the organization by schedule to be of historical interest only. ClassWeb allows web-based searching of the complete LC scheme, but there is no entry access on ClassWeb via a menu of the schedule organization, the closest being the Subsets limiting page, which is not a web menu, and which only roughly corresponds to the published schedules.
Because the classification scheme is continuously updated, catalogers who assign or check call numbers should always consult ClassWeb rather than the printed schedules or the commercially published cumulations such as Super LCCS to ensure that the most current classification is being assigned to titles new to Orbis.