Understanding systems

 

Books and other items in the library have call numbers, which are like addresses for their location on the shelf. Let's say you were looking for the book The Successful Distance Learning Student. By searching for the title "distance learning" in the library catalog, you would find the call number.

Since the Mundt uses the Library of Congress (LC) system, the call number would be LC5803.L43 W34 2003. What does this number represent?

LC	The first part of a Library of Congress call number starts with one to three letters. These are shelves alphabetically. LC represents Special Aspects of Education
5803	Once you have locate the items that start with the letters LC, look at the number that follows. LC 5803 represents Adult education, Continuing education & Distance learning. This book would be shelved after LC 5802.
L43	This is Special Topics A-Z. For this book L represents learning
W34	This usually represents the author's name. W is the first letter of the author's last name.
2003	This book was published in 2003.

This link, LC Classification outline, will provide a basic summary of the Library of Congress Classification system.

 

The Mundt Library does use the Dewey Decimal System, but only for its Juvenile collection. You discovere the call number for the book The American Speller: an adaptation of Noah Webster's blue-backed speller is 372.42 Coo.
What does this represent?

300	This number respresents the broad category. 300 is Social Sciences
372	This is a subcategory of the broad category. 372 represents Education, Elementary education
.42	The numbers after the decimal represent the subject. 42 represents reading motivation
Coo	This represents the first three letters of the author's last name.

This link, Dewey Classification summary, will provide a basic summary of the Dewey system.

 

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