Home > Help > Tutorials

Library of Congress Classification Guide

Books at the CCSU Library are arranged by Library of Congress (LC) classification number. This is the system most in use at academic libraries. Book collections are more easily accessed by those who need them if books on similar subjects are shelved together. This is the principle on which library class systems have been developed. There is another classification system called the Dewey Decimal System, and this is commonly used by school and public libraries.

The LC system has been planned with expansion in mind because today knowledge is proliferating exponentially and more books are published than ever before. New subjects and new disciplines can be inserted into the existing structure. LC is divided into 21 main subjects or classes, denoted by 21 letters of the alphabet. The letters, I,O,W,X, and Y are currently omitted, but may be used later as new subjects emerge. The following is a listing of the main classes and some selected subdivisions:

Library of Congress Classification

A GENERAL WORKS
AE Encyclopedias (General)
AG Dictionaries and other general reference works
AI Indexes (General)
AN Newspapers
AP Periodicals (General)

B PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION
BC Logic
BF Psychology
BH Aesthetics
BJ Ethics
BL Religions
BM Judaism
BR Christianity
BS The Bible and exegesis
BX Denominations and sects

C AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY
CB History of civilization and culture (General)
CC Archaeology (General)
CT Biography
For biography associated with a particular subject, see that subject 93-206 Collections of biographies (General. Universal) 210-3150 National biography 3200-3830 Biography of women

D HISTORY: GENERAL AND OLD WORLD
DA Great Britain
DC France
DD Germany
DE The Mediterranean region. Greco Roman world
DK Russia
DS Asia
DT Africa

E HISTORY: AMERICA
E Ranges: 101-135, 301-453, 456-655
F 1-975 United States History: States and Local
1201-2239 South America (General)

G GEOGRAPHY. ANTHROPOLOGY. RECREATION.
GA Mathematical geography. Cartography
GB Physical geography
GN Anthropology
GR Folklore
GV Recreation
GV Ranges: 201-547 Physical training, 561-1198 Sports, 1200-1570 Games and amusements

H SOCIAL SCIENCES
HA Statistics
HB Economics
HF Commerce
HG Finance
HJ Public finance
HM Sociology
HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism.

J POLITICAL SCIENCE
JK United States
JS Local government
JX International law. International relations.

K LAW
KD Law of the United Kingdom and Ireland
KF Law of the United States
KFA-KFW Law of individual states

L EDUCATION
LA History of education
LC Special aspects of education
LJ Student fraternities and societies, United States LT Textbooks

M MUSIC AND BOOKS ON MUSIC
ML Literature of music
MT Music instruction and study

N FINE ARTS
NA Architecture
NB Sculpture
ND Painting
NX Arts in general
NX Ranges: 654-694 Religious arts, 700-750 Patronage of the arts, 798-820 Special arts centers

P LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
PA Classical languages and literature
PC Romance languages
PD Germanic languages
PE English
PF West Germanic
PN Literature
PN Ranges: 80-99 Criticism, 1010-1551 Poetry, 1560-1590 The performing arts and show business, 1600-3299 Drama, 3311-3503 Prose and prose fiction, 6011-6790 Collections of general literature, 6080-6094 Quotations, 6099-6110 Poetry, 6110.5-6120 Drama, 6141-6145 Essays.
PQ Romance literature
PR English literature
PS American literature
PT Germanic literatures

Q SCIENCE
QA Mathematics
QB Astronomy
QC Physics
QD Chemistry
QE Geology
QH Natural history
QM Human anatomy
QR Microbiology

R MEDICINE
RB Pathology
RC Internal medicine. Practice of medicine
RD Surgery
RK Dentistry
RT Nursing

S AGRICULTURE
SD Forestry
SH Aquaculture. Fisheries

T TECHNOLOGY
TA Engineering(General). Civil engineering (General)
TH Building construction
TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
TK Electrical engineering. Electronics
TP Chemical technology
TP ranges: 155-156 Chemical engineering, 200-248 Manufacture and use of chemicals
TR Photography
TS Manufactures 155-293 Production management

U MILITARY SCIENCE
UA Armies: Organization, description, facilities, etc.
UB Military administration
UD Infantry
UF Artillery

V NAVAL SCIENCE (GENERAL)
VE Marines
VM Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering 975-989 Diving

Z BIBLIOGRAPHY. LIBRARY SCIENCE
Z ranges: 40-115 Writing, 662-1000 Libraries and library science, 1001-8999 Bibliography
ZA Information resources, Internet and WWW

Library of Congress subdivisions are created by adding a second, and occasionally a third letter, to the main class letter, for instance KFC for Connecticut law.Further subdivisions are created by using Arabic numbers in ordinary numerical order be ginning with 1 in each of the main divisions, and, in theory, going as high as 9999 in some classes. Occasionally decimal points are used for precision.

A general understanding of classification and its role in organizing the library's materials into many separate subject-related units is necessary for you to effectively locate the materials on the shelves. It is a good idea to become familiar with the subject areas in which you will be doing most of your research. For instance, a psychology major could benefit from an acquaintance with the BF area of the library stacks and the reference room. It is possible to discover relationships that exist among various topics in your field of study by browsing among the book related to your discipline.

Each book in the library has a unique code that identifies it and distinguishes it from all other books. This code, known as a call number, consists of various combinations of numbers, letters and symbols and is printed on the spine of each book. Call numbers have the following components:

1. A location symbol to direct library users to a specific collection or area of the library. Books in the stacks generally do not have a location symbol because their location is indicated in CONSULS (i.e. stack level 4 or stack level 8), but others such as reference books in the Reference Department will have the location symbol Ref at the beginning of the call number.
2. The classification number, whether Dewey Decimal or LC, is the subject part of the call number. LC numbers are usually written on two separate lines, letter(s) above, and number(s) below.
3. The Cutter number, also known as the author number is derived from the initial letter (or letters) of the author's last name in combination with assigned numbers.
4. An edition date may be added to the call number to distinguish a later edition from an earlier one.
5. A volume number, e.g. vol. 1, vol. 2, etc. may be used to identify individual volumes in a set, such as an encyclopedia.
6. If the library owns more than one copy of the same edition, duplicate books maybe identified by copy number: c.2, c.3, etc.

The following are examples of call numbers:
G<------------------ Classification Number (LC)
2135
C16<--------------- Cutter number
1976<--------------- Edition Date
Ref<--------------- Location

TR<--------------- Classification Number (LC)
231
M12<-------------- Cutter Number

Arrangement on the Shelves