Most of the books and some of the other materials
in IHE Library are organized with the
Library of Congress (LC) classification system. This system keeps books on similar topics
close together, which makes finding different books on the same subject easier
for you. The first letter of the call numbers, the group of letters and
numbers on stickers on the books’ spines, tells you the book’s general subject,
as follows:
A General
works
B
Philosophy, psychology, religion
C
Auxiliary sciences of history (such as archeology, civilization, and genealogy)
D World
history and history of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
E History
of the Americas
F History
of the Americas (by location)
G
Geography, anthropology, recreation
H Social
sciences (including economics and sociology)
J
Political science
K Law
L
Education
M Music
and books on music
N Fine
arts
P Language
and literature
Q Science
(including math and computers)
R Medicine
S
Agriculture
T Technology
U Military
science
V Naval science
Z Bibliography, library science, and
information resources (general)
??????????????????????????????????????
Question for you to consider: In which of these categories do you think
someone in your field of study would find useful books?
Some books’
call numbers also have a second letter after the first (and occasionally even a
third letter). This is for the book’s subject’s
subclass. For example, the book 3-2-1 Code It! (ISBN 9781111540586) by
Michelle A. Green has the call number RB115
.G74 2012. A book like this with a
call number beginning with an R is
about medicine; the second letter, B,
shows that this book is about pathology—a specific type of medical science. Here are some common subclasses of subjects
that you can find at the IHE Library:
Starting
with B (Philosophy, psychology, religion)
BF Psychology
Starting
with G (Geography, anthropology, recreation)
GV Recreation,
leisure (including sports and fitness)
Starting
with H (Social sciences)
HB Economic
theory, demography
HD Industries,
land use, labor
HF
Commerce (including business, accounting, and bookkeeping)
HG Finance
(including insurance)
HV Social
pathology, social and public welfare, criminology (including forensic
investigation)
Starting
with K (Law)
KF United States law
Starting
with L (Education)
LB Theory
and practice of education
Starting
with P (Language and literature)
PE English
language (including writing and grammar)
PN
Literature (general)
PR English
literature
PS
American literature
Starting
with Q (Science)
QA
Mathematics (including computers)
QD
Chemistry
QM Human
anatomy
QP
Physiology
QR
Microbiology
Starting
with R (Medicine)
RA Public
aspects of medicine
RB
Pathology
RC
Internal medicine
RD Surgery
RG
Gynecology and obstetrics
RK
Dentistry
RM Therapeutics, pharmacology
RS Pharmacy and materia medica
RT Nursing
Starting
with T (Technology)
TX Home
economics (including cooking and nutrition)
??????????????????????????????????????
Question for you to consider: In which of these subcategories do you think
someone in your field of study would find useful books?
After the first letter or letters (which number
between one and three), the call number includes numerals. This it to identify a book’s subject even
more specifically. In our example of 3-2-1 Code It!’s call number, RB115 .G74 2012, we know that RB means pathology. RB115
refers to a specific type of pathology: nosology, the study of coding medical
diagnoses.
What does the next group of letters and numbers in
the 3-2-1 Code It!’s call number
mean? This part of the number, G74, is called the cutter number. In this
case, G74 refers to the author’s
last name, Green. G is obviously that name’s first letter; 74 shows roughly where in the alphabet the next letters are. If you’d like to know more about how the cutter
numbers represent different letters, you can visit the MIT Library Oasis at http://libstaff.mit.edu/colserv/cat/lc/lc-cut.htm. The cutter number does not always refer to
the author’s last name; if a book does not have a single main author, the
number can refer to the book’s title.
What about the last four digits in the call number
RB115 .G74 2012? You probably can guess what 2012 means: the year when the book was published and/or
received a copyright.
??????????????????????????????????????
Question for me to answer: But how
does this help you?
All our books that are mostly about coding have
call numbers beginning with RB115. Most of our books are placed in call number
order. Therefore, the books with call
numbers that begin the same way are together on the bookshelves. Once you find one book, you can look around
that book in the shelves to find more books on the same topic. If you can’t find all the information you
need in one book, look in its neighbors.
To learn more about the specifics of LC call
numbers, visit The Library of Congress Classification Outline at http://www.loc.gov/aba/cataloging/classification/lcco/.
??????????????????????????????????????
Question for me to answer: Why
do some spine stickers have letters besides the LC numbers on them?
In these cases, the letters refer to books and
other materials that belong in a specific section of the library bookshelves.
·
FACULTY--for the faculty only
·
CARDS--for sets of flashcards
·
DVDs and CDs
·
HCI –For books formerly used at the Harrison Career Institute
·
LARGE BOOKS--for books too large to fit vertically on a shelf
·
PERIODICALS--magazines, journals
·
BOUND PERIODICALS--issues of periodicals place in a hard-bound cover
·
GOV DOCS--government documents
·
REF—reference materials, not to be removed from the library
·
KITS--boxes with books and other materials
??????????????????????????????????????
Question for me to answer: Why
do some of the call numbers start with W if none of the LC numbers begin with W?
Many of the books in our library were generously
donated to us by the George F. Smith Library at the University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey. Smith Library uses a different system, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classification
schedule, to organize its books. In this
system, books on medicine and related subjects have call numbers beginning with
W.
So why didn’t
the librarian give the books LC numbers in order to keep books on similar
subjects together?
In some cases, I did, but Smith Library’s books
are mostly geared toward current and future doctors and dentists. Most of our other medical books are more
appropriate for our students, who are learning to become medical and dental
assistants and coders, healthcare managers, fitness and physical trainers,
phlebotomists, EKG technicians, and massage therapists. Our students may find some of the W books useful, but most of the time,
our R books will be the best ones
for them to use. To learn more about the
NLM classification schedule, visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/class//OutlineofNLMClassificationSchedule.html.
