Finding Books and Other Materials in the Cofrin Library
The Cofrin Library uses a variety
of classification systems to organize material. The purpose of this guide is
to familiarize you with these systems and provide information about library
locations.
Library Locations
In the Online Catalog, each item will have information concerning library location. Connect to the Library Locations guide for a detailed display of all library locations.
Locating Books on the Shelves (Reading the Call Numbers)
The Cofrin library uses the Library
of Congress Classification system to organize many items in the collection.
These items are shelved first alphabetically by the letters of the classification
number, then by the numbers.
The first line can be either a single or a double letter. If a book's call
number begins with a single letter which
is the same as the first letter of a call number which begins with a double
letter, then the book with the single
letter is shelved first, or to the left, on the shelf.
P --> PA --> PB -->PC --> PD --> . . . PZ, then Q --> QA --> QB --> QC, etc.
Once you have located the shelf area
for the classification number, use the part of the call number after
the decimal point that precedes another letter (the Cutter number) to identify
a particular book. The second
line of an LC call number is always a whole number from 1 to 9999. If the
letters on the first line of the call
number are the same, the book with the smaller number on the second line
is shelved to the left of the book
with the larger number.
C2 --> C35 --> C47 --> C5
The third line of an LC call number
is always a decimal point, followed by a letter and a number. Books are
shelved alphabetically according to the letter to the right of the decimal point.
For example, a book with .G
on the third line of its call number would be shelved to the left of a book
with .H. If two books have the same
letter on the third line, then the book with the smaller decimal number
is shelved to the left of the book
with the larger number.
.G232 comes before .G53 (NOTE: Read digit by digit, not the whole number)
The fourth line of an LC call number
is always a year of publication or a volume number. An earlier edition of
the same work is always shelved to the left of a later edition. A lower
volume number is shelved to the left of a
higher volume number.
Work from the top of the call number to the bottom and remember that each line
of the call number has
meaning.
| ML |
Identifies broad subject area |
| 160 |
Further identifies the subject area |
|
.S82 |
Identifies the author |
|
1996 |
Date of Publication |
For example, suppose you were looking
for Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker:
|
PS |
American Literature |
|
3573 |
Written in the Twentieth Century |
|
.A425 |
Written by Alice Walker |
|
P67 |
Title of the book begins with P |
|
1992 |
Publication date |
Library of Congress Classification
Outline -- Below is a brief description of the
subject
division of the Library of Congress Classification System. For a more detailed
breakdown, visit
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html
| Library of Congress Classification System | |
|---|---|
|
A General Works
B Philosophy, Psychology,
Religion C History (Civilization)
D History - Old World
E American History, General F American History, Local
+ Latin America G Geography, Recreation
H Social Sciences
J Political Science
K Law L Education |
M Music N Fine Arts
P Language & Literature
Q Science
R Medicine (General)
S Agriculture, Plant & Animal Industry T Technology
U Military Science V Naval Science Z Bibliography and Library Science |
Finding Journals in the Cofrin Library
Unlike books, journals do not have call numbers. Instead, the Cofrin Library arranges print journals alphabetically on the fourth floor. It is important to remember that you must omit initial articles at the beginning of the title (a, an, and, the, der, las, los, etc.) For example, if you wanted to view The Journal of Ecology you would need to go to the J's because that is the first letter of the first word after "The." Articles within the title should be included when doing a search.
Aside from owning journals in print, the library also owns journals in both electronic and microfilm format. When viewing a journal record in the Cofrin Library Catalog, information concerning electronic holdings and a link to the database containing the journal will be displayed first if that journal appears anywhere in electronic format. Not all journals are in electronic format. This will be followed by an indication of what years we own in paper. If the journal has been microfilmed, an indication of this will be given near the bottom. Refer to the Cofrin Library Locations Guide for more information.
Finding Government Documents in the Cofrin Library
The Cofrin Library is a selective
depository for U.S. government publications, which means we get many, but not all of the government documents published each year. Although
the amount of government information in electronic format continues to increase, the library owns many items on
paper, microfiche, or on CD-ROM. For a more detailed look at government information here at the Cofrin
Library connect to the Finding Government Publications guide.
It is important to remember that
the majority of government documents owned by the Cofrin Library have not been entered into the catalog. As a result, we own many government
document even though the Cofrin Library Catalog indicates that we do not.
In order to be sure, you need to go to the fifth floor and search the shelves for the document. Many government documents are on microfiche in cabinets on the fifth floor. Make sure you check there also before assuming that the government document you need is not available here at the library.
Federal Government Documents
Collections of US government publications are usually shelved according to a classification system developed by the US Superintendent of Documents. Like Library of Congress call numbers, SuDocs numbers also begin with letters of the English alphabet. The letters stand for the name of the issuing agency. For example:
C 61.34:987
C represents the issuing agency (Commerce Department) -- 61. indicates the subordinate bureau within the issuing agency (International Trade Administration) -- 34: is the number of the specific publication (US Industrial Outlook) 987 indicates the year of publication (1987).
| Commonly used SuDocs prefixes | ||
|---|---|---|
| A - Agriculture Department C 3. - Census Bureau D - Defense Department E - Energy Department ED - Education Department GA - General Accounting Office GS - General Services Administration HE - Health and Human Services Department |
I - Interior Department I 19. - US Geological Survey J - Justice Department Ju - Judiciary L - Labor Department LC - Library of Congress NAS - National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
S - State Department SI - Smithsonian Institution T 22. - Internal Revenue Service (Treasury Department) W, Y - Congress Y 4. - Congressional Committees |
SuDoc numbers are easily distinguished from Library of Congress call numbers because document callnumbers always contain a period (.) and colon (:). To locate a Federal document in the library, look at the part of the call number up to the period. It is important to remember the rule "nothing before something." After you have found the section in the stacks up to the periods, then find the section up to the colon. The numbers between the period and the colon are whole numbers. The period does not serve as a decimal. Below is an example of federal document shelf order:
D 101.22:27-25
D 101.122/4:
D 101.122/4-7:
D 101.123:
The colon will be followed by sections divided by letters and numbers. These numbers are filed as whole numbers.Sh 354 would come before Sh 2578. If the section immediately after the colon starts with a number, it will appear before letters of the alphabet. Numbers come before letters. In many cases when a document is revised it may include a 3-digit date at the end of the number. These documents come after the original document.
A 13.28: C 42
A 13:28: C42/981
The numbers for Congressional commissions, hearings, and committee publications (beginning with Y3 or Y4) are labeled using a different format. The number between the period and the colon will often start with a letter. These would appear on the shelf after anything starting with only numbers.
Y4. J 89/1:104/23
Y4. J 89/1: AD 65
Y4. J 89/2:S.HRG.104-374
**exception to the rule**
Senate hearings (S.HRG) and senate prints (S.PRT) are shelved at the end of their call number section.
For more information concerning SuDocs numbers connect to
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/explain.html
Wisconsin Documents
When looking for a particular Wisconsin document, look for the part of the call number up to the period. Locate that section of the shelving first. Remember the rule nothing before something. Leg. is shelved before Leg 2. Once you have located the section up to the period, look at the call number between the periodand colon. You will find 3: and 3/2: etc. Since nothing comes before something 3: comes before 3/2: on the shelves.
The third line will usually be a letter followed by a number. This number is a decimal. B35 comes before B5. In some cases the third line may be a number. In this case, the rule numbers before letters should be observed.
International (Int'l) Documents
International Documents are filed the same as Library of Congress Books. Below is an example of call numbers in shelf order.
|
GVP |
GVP |
GVP |
Rand Reports
Rand reports are shelved by report number in order, alphabetically and then numerically. Below is an example of call numbers in shelf order.
|
N |
P |
R |
United Nations (UN)
Shelved line by line, alphabetically and the numerically. Below is an example of call numbers in shelf order.
|
ECE |
ST |
TD |
Canada
Read section by section, alphabetically and then numerically. Sections are divided by slashes (/) and dashes (-). Below is an example of call numbers in shelf order.
|
M97 |
T26 |
T 48-19/ |
Research Materials in Special Collections Department
Manuscripts
Manuscripts are collections of papers or records of individuals, organizations, or businesses. The manuscript collections vary a great deal in type such as: diaries, correspondence, reminiscences, financial records, scrapbooks, minutes, and publications. The collections range in date from 1634 to the present. These collections are located in the Area Research Center of the Special Collections Department.
Manuscript call numbers begin with the identifier Green Bay followed by an abbreviation Mss (Manuscript), SC (Small Collection), or Micro (Microform) and number. For example:
-
Green Bay Mss 76 and Green Bay Micro 19 are call numbers for the Eleazer Williams Papers.
Unprocessed manuscript collections will appear with an accession number rather than a call number. For example:
-
The accession number for the Menominee Tribal News is M87-395.
Public Records
Public records are also housed in the Area Research Center of the Special Collections Department. These records are created by government officials and agencies as they perform their duties. They may be generated at the state, county, and municipal levels. Generally, the library holdings include records from the county clerk, county treasurer, register of deeds, circuit court, probate court, and the county superintendent of schools. Municipal or town records mirror county records in format with town board, town assessor, municipal court, justice of the peace, and school district records.
These records have call numbers denoted by a County name followed by either Series, Small Series (SS) or Mirco (microform) numbers. For example:
-
Brown Series 27 is the call number for the Brown County Circuit Court Naturalization Records.
-
Oconto Micro Series 1 is the call number for the Oconto County Board Proceedings
Unprocessed public records have accession numbers rather than call numbers. For example:
-
Door County Tax and Assessment Rolls, 1882-1980, are found using the accession number C1993/072.
For more information consult the Special Collections Department.
If you have any questions, contact a Reference Librarian in person, by telephone (920-465-2303), or via e-mail at refdesk@uwgb.edu.