Finding books & 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 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