Locating a Book in the Library:
What a Call Number Means
All books and media materials in the Library are arranged on the shelves according to the Library of Congress Classification system.
A classification system is a method of arranging materials by different subject categories and assigning unique codes to each one so that they can be located on a library's shelves. The call number is the combination of numbers and letters located on the spine of each book. These numbers correspond to those in the results lists and labeled displays found in the Library Catalog.
Search the Library Catalog for a Book
If you need to find a book on Windows 7, you would type the search term "Windows 7" in the search box in the Library Catalog. Your search results will display in order of Relevance, and can be displayed in a list or a flow format.
Below is the results display for the book "Windows 7 inside out":
Clicking on the title in the results list will open the title's details display. The detailed display displays more information about the book, including: Title, Author, Published, Description, Notes, Summary, Subjects, Series, ISBN, Alternate Titles, Additional Authors, and links to Electronic Resources.
Author, Subjects, and Series provide links to other titles.
See the images below for the Detailed Display for the book "Windows 7 inside out":
Find the Book on the Shelf
To find the book on the shelf, you need the call number.
In the Results Display, books are either Available, Not Available, or Downloadable (for electronic resources and ebooks). If the book is Available the call number will be listed after: Find on shelf: Low Stacks - QA76.76.O63 B68 2010.
The Details Display will always display the call number of the book. This is listed near the top of the screen: Find on shelf at NE Tech, Collection: Low Stacks, Shelf Location: QA76.76.O63 B68 2010, Status: Checked In.
You need to copy the entire call number, and note the collection, in order to find the book on the shelf in the LIbrary. The collection will guide you to the specific location in the Library and the call number to the specific shelf.
The call number below appears as it would on the spine label of the book. Each line of the call number has a meaning. In the case of Windows 7 inside out, this is what each set of numbers and letters mean:
QA ----------- Mathematics: Computer Science
76.76 -------- Special Topics
.O63 --------- Operating Systems
B68 ---------- First Author
(for books with no author or more than 3 named authors, it would be a code based on the first word of the title.)
2010 --------- Year Published
Special Collections
Special collections within the Library include a designation located above the call number. These are: REF. (reference books) and MEDIA (DVDs, DVD-ROMs, CDs, CD-ROMs, and videocassettes). Reference books (shelved in the Reference Collection) and all media programs (shelved in the Media Area) can only be used in the Library. The Reserve Collection are shelved behind the Circulation Desk. They can be checked out, but must be used in the Library.