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.
Call numbers are on spines of books AND displayed in the online catalogue
| Spines of books | In Omni |
|---|---|
 |  |
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 |