Understanding Call Numbers
What is a call number?
Call numbers are like an address for a house or a URL for a web site. They provide a path to locating a book or other resource. At York Libraries we use the Library of Congress classification system to make our call numbers.
Watch this video (56 seconds) for a quick and entertaining overview what call numbers are:
Call numbers are on spines of books AND displayed in the online catalogue
| Spines of books | In the catalogue |
|---|---|
 |
 |
How do I read call numbers?
The key is to read each piece of the call number individually. For example: HF 5386 S33 2007
| HF | Read the first line in alphabetic order:A, B, BF, C, D….H, HB, HF, J, L, LA, LB, M…. |
| 5836 | Read the second line as a whole number:1, 2, 3, 45, 100, 101, 1000, 5001, 5380, 5386… |
| S33 | The third line is a combination of a letter and a number. The letter often refers to the author.Read the letter alphabetically.Read the number as a decimal, e.g. .S33=.33, .S338=.338 |
| 2007 | This is the year the book was published. |
An example of call numbers in order on a shelf
| HF 5386 K536 2000 |
HF 5386 K77 |
HF 5386 K776 1993 |
HF 5386 R155 |
HF 5386 S33 2007 |
HF 5386 S4127 1989 |
HF 5386 S54 1996 |
