Advanced Catalog Searching at Hunter Library: Call numbers

Most of the library's materials are classified using Library of Congress Classification, which is designed to organize books about similar topics together. Understanding the anatomy of an LCC call number will help you see how materials are organized by subject.

The first two lines of a vertically-oriented call number are alphanumeric code that is called the classification number. To learn more about classification numbers, visit the Library of Congress Classification Outline.

• The first line represents the broad subject of the resource and consists of one or more letters that are associated with a main class or a more specific subclass. For example, the letter P by itself is Class P, which represents Language and Literature, and the more specific subclass PS represents American literature.
• The second line in a call number consists of numbers that drill down to even more specific topics within a subclass. For example, PS366 represents special topics addressed in prose in the history of American literature.

The third and sometimes fourth lines in a call number are item numbers commonly referred to as cutter numbers.

• The first cutter number in a call number is always preceded by a decimal, and cutter numbers are composed of one letter followed by numbers.
• Cutter numbers are codes that usually represent an author's name or specific topics in a classification number. They are designed to keep works shelved in alphabetical number by author name, topic, title, year, or some other element.

The final line of a call number is always the year of publication, although this is sometimes also followed by a suffix for a volume number or copy number.

Hunter Library's Leisure Reading Collection uses a locally-developed call number system. This local call number system is arranged to shelve leisure books first by genre, then by author, then by title. The exception is the nonfiction leisure collection, which still uses the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) system.

• The first line in a local call number is a one-letter prefix for the genre. These genre prefixes include F (Fiction), G (Graphic novels), R (Romance), S (SciFi/Fantasy), and T (Thrillers/Mystery).
• The second line is a five-letter code for the author's name, which consists of the first three letters of the author's last name and the first two letters of their first name. For example, the five-letter code for the author Stephen King is Kinst.
• The third line is a three-letter code for the book's title, excluding articles like "the" and "a." If a book is part of a series, then the series title is used instead of the book's title so that series are shelved together.
• Like LCC call numbers, the final line in local call numbers is always the year of publication, which might also be followed by a suffix for volume number.

Putting it all together, the local call number for Stephen King's 2022 fantasy novel Fairy Tale is S Kinst Fai 2022. 

Hunter Library's Curriculum Materials Center uses a locally-developed call number system. This local call number system is arranged to shelve leisure books first by CMC location, then by author, then by title.

For example, the picture book At the Mountain's Base by Traci Sorell, which is located in the CMC PIC collection, has the call number CMC PIC Sortr Att 2019.

Some collections are classified differently, including CMC Pro, CMC Textbooks, and the CMC closet. All the CMC collections include:

• CMC PRO -- Professional Teaching Books (Reading, Mathematics, Classroom Management, Art Projects, etc.)
• CMC -- North Carolina State-Adopted Textbooks by Grade and Subject and Sample Curricula
• CMC BIG - Big Books
• CMC ER -- Leveled Easy Readers
• CMC PIC -- Fiction Picture Books
• CMC FIC -- Fiction Chapter Books
• CMC Children's -- Nonfiction, Poetry, Fairy and Folktales, Counting, and Alphabet Books
• CMC Closet -- Puppets, Kits, Math Manipulatives, Storytelling Props, Puzzles, and Games