Reading an LC Call Number
The Music Library uses Library of Congress call numbers (also referred to as LC call numbers) for books and scores. These are made up of a number of components. Understanding each component can help you to read call numbers more easily. Let’s start with a sample call number and work through the individual parts.
ML 410 .A638 A3 1940
Author: George Antheil
Title: Bad Boy of Music
An autobiography by George Antheil
Sample Call Number
| ML |
Initial Letters
- The first letter(s) of a call number represents its subject area and, in music a bit about format as well:
- ML – books of literature on music
- MT – books of music instruction and study
- In this case, the first two letters are ML, which means this is a book that contains literature on music.
|
| 410 |
Subject Numbers
- The numbers that immediately follow the first letters represent the specific subject within the larger subject area. See the Library of Congress's description of the M class (link opens in a new window) for a break down of what these numbers represent in the music call numbers.
- In this example, 410 indicates a commonly used subject designation, composer biography.
- Sometimes, you will see this number written or typed on the same line as the initial letters; sometimes it will be on the next line down. Such placement does not affect the sorting order of the call number or the item's placement on the shelf.
|
| .A638 A3 |
Cutter Number
- The next number, referred to as the Cutter number, reflects a letter/number combination that the library has developed to indicate the author (or sometimes the topic) of a work and to ensure that similar works will be placed together on the shelf. It begins with a letter and is followed by numbers.
- In this example, the Cutter number is A638, which is the Cutter number that will be used for all books by George Antheil located in this section, the ML 410s.
- Occasionally, you will see a book with a second Cutter number to define subject matter more clearly. In this example, A3 is a second Cutter number that refers to the subject matter (also George Antheil, since this is an autobiography).
- Often, the Cutter number will be written with a decimal point preceding the letter (as in the example above), but sometimes there will be no decimal point. The presence or absence of a decimal point has no effect on shelving order.
|
| 1940 |
Additional Information
- Sometimes, Cutter numbers will be followed by other information to help distinguish one item from another.
- In this case, 1940 follows the second Cutter number, and it differentiates this book from another edition of the same book published in 1945 (ML410.A638A3).
- Other examples of additional information that might appear after the Cutter number include volume number, copy number, part name (such as trumpet or piano), or opus number.
|
Sorting Rules for LC Call Numbers
All of our music holdings are currently on the fifth floor, unless noted otherwise in OneSearch. To locate a piece of physical material on the shelf follow these steps.
- Start with looking for the first letters. Each shelf is marked with a call number range, look for the call number range of the item you are looking for (the initial letters and subject numbers). Once you find the range then look at the items on the shelf they will be in alphabetical order on the shelf: M, ML, MT.
- Within each letter, items will be in order according to the subject number, from lowest to highest. For example, a call number that begins ML 134 will precede a call number that begins ML 134.5, which will precede one that begins ML 135.
- Within each subject number, items will be alphabetical by the Cutter number. The numbers within the Cutter number should be sorted as if a decimal point precedes them. For example, to understand why ML 134 B1 precedes ML 134 B175 which, in turn, precedes ML 134 B2, imagine the numbers as:
- ML 134 B.1
- ML 134 B.175
- ML 134 B.2.
- For additional information that comes after the Cutter number, sort alphabetically or numerically depending on the content, and keep in mind that numbers listed on their own (i.e. not combined into a Cutter number) will precede letters.
Find by Subject
Find by Type
