The document provides an overview of library classification, defining key terms such as classification, class, and call number. It details various classification systems including the Dewey Decimal Classification and the Library of Congress Classification, explaining their features and principles. Additionally, it discusses the significance of proper classification for effective organization and access to library resources.

1. CLASSIFICATION

2. Classification
– meaningful grouping of persons,
things, animals, etc. in a systematic way
-- also means grouping things or
objects that have the property or
characteristics in common into a class.
-- involves establishing
relationships among classes and
making distinctions within classes to
arrive at subclasses and finer divisions.

3. Library Classification
– the systematic arrangement by
subject of books and other materials
on shelves or of catalog and index
entries in the manner which is most
useful to those who read or who
seek a definite piece of information

4.  Class – a group of objects exhibiting one
or more common characteristics,
identified by specific notation
 Class number – notation that
designates the class to which a given
item belongs
 Book number – part of call number that
distinguishes a specific item from
other items within the same class
number

5. Call Number
– a set of letters, numerals, or
other symbols (in combination or
alone) used by a library to identify a
specific copy of a book. It may
consists of a class number, book
number, date , volume number, copy
number, etc.

6.  Work mark
– that part of a book number that
consists of a letter appended to the
author designation to show the first
letter of the title (or first letter of the
surname of the biographer).
 Mnemonic devices – devices
intended to aid or assist the
memory

7. Purpose of a Classification
 Order the field of knowledge in a
systematic way.
 Bring related items together in a
helpful sequence
 Provide orderly access to the shelves
either by browsing or via the catalog
 Provide exact location of an item on
the shelves.

8. Types of Classification
 Enumerative classification
 Attempts to spell out (enumerate) all the single
and composite concepts required
 Synthetic classification
 a.k.a faceted classification
 Lists numbers for single concepts, and allows
the classifier to construct (synthesize) numbers
for composite subjects
 Hierarchical classification
 Based on the division of subjects from the most
general to the most specific

9. The Library Classification Systems
1.Dewey Decimal Classification System (devised by Melvil Dewey)
2.Library of Congress Classification System (devised by the U.S. Library
of Congress thru the direction of J.C. Hanson and Charles Martel)
3.Universal Decimal Classification System (developed by Paul Otlet and
Henry La Fonataine)
4.Colon Classification System (devised by S.R. Ranganathan)
5.Bibliographic Classification System (devised by Henry Evelyn Bliss)
6.Subject Classification System (designed by y James Duff Brown)
7.Expansive Classification System (designed by Charles Ammi Cutter)
8.National Library of Medicine Classification System (devised by the
U.S. National Library of Medicine)

10. Library of Congress
Classification System
(LCCS)

11. Historical Backgorund
 Developed by James Hanson for the
US Library of Congress in 1897
 Outline & notation of the main class
are similar to C.A. Cutter’s Expansive
Classification
 Based on LC’s initial book collection

12. Features of LC Schedule
 Preface
 Outline
 Body of the schedule
 Tables after the body
 Index

13. Principles of Classifying with LC
 Classify works according their subject
matter
 Use the most specific number available
 Give each work a unique number
 Classify a work where it will be most
useful to the user
 Classify a work which covers 2 or more
subjects:
 With the one that receives fuller treatment
 At a broader class – if class includes all subjects as
subclass

14. MAIN CLASS
A General works
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion
C Auxiliary sciences of history
D History: General and Old World
E-F General History and Local History of America and United States
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation
H Social Sciences
J Political Science
K Law
L Education
M Music
N Fine Arts
P Language and Literature
Q Science
R Medicine
S Agriculture. Landscape Architecture
T Technology
U Military Science
V Naval Science
Z Bibliography. Publishing. Library Science

15. 43 Individual Classification Schedules

16. Letters I, O, W, X, Y
- Unassigned
- Reserve for further expansion

17. SUBCLASS
H Social Sciences (General)
HA Statistics
HB Economic Theory. Demography
HC Economic History and Conditions
HD Industries. Land Use. Labor
HE Transportation and Communications
HF Commerce
HG Finance
HJ Public Finance
HM Sociology
HN Social History and Conditions. Social Problem. Social Reform
HQ The Family. Marriage. Woman.
HS Societies: Secret, Benevolent, etc.
HT Communities. Classes. Races.
HV Social Pathology. Social and Public Welfare. Criminology
HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism

18. Outline (provides a detailed summary of topics & subtopics)

22. Tables - represent recurring patterns of subdivision
Type 1 table
Type 2 table table within the schedules
Type 3 table
Type 4 table - table within the schedules + table at the back of
schedules
Biography Table
Translation table
Language & Literature Table - separate publication for P
schedules
special table used generally across all
schedules

23. Notes
 Scope notes - explain the type of works to be classified at that
subject
 Including notes – list topics which are included within a
subject
 See notes – refer the classifier to a number elsewhere in the
schedules, often as a result to reclassification decision.
 Confer notes – indicate that related topics are
classified elsewhere in the schedules.
 Apply table at notes - refer the classifier to a table with
subdivision instructions

24. Cutter number as book number – based on the main entry; used to distinguish
different works on the same subject that have been given the same class number.
1. After initial vowels
For the second letter b d l-m n p r s-t u-y
Use number 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
2. After the initial letter S
For the second letter a ch e h-i m-p t u w-z
Use number 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
3. After the initial letter
Qu
For the third letter a e i o r t y
Use number 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
For initial letters Qa-
Qt use: 2-29
4. After initial consonants
For the second letter a e i o r u y
Use number 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
5. For expansion
For the letter a-d e-h i-l m-o p-s t-v w-z
Use number 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

25. DDC vs LC
DDC DISCIPLINE LC
000 General Works A, QA 76, Z
100 Philosophy, Psychology B-BJ
200 Religion BL-BX
300 Social Sciences H (x HF)J, K, L, U, V
400 Language & languages P-PM
500 Pure sciences Q (x QA 76)
600 Applied sciences HF, R, S. T
700 Arts GV, M, N
800 Literature PN-PZ
900 History, Geography, C, D, E-F, G-GT

26. Class or Subclass letters (one or
three letters)
N
Whole number which subdivides that
class or subclass
6530
Decimal extension according to
schedule
.5
Cutter number (according to
schedules)
.L8
Cutter number for the main entry G47
Year of publication 1996
Location code (optional) Cir
Parts of LC Call Number
Class Number
Book number

27. Book: Introduction to computer languages by Sawyer,
published in 2017
QA Mathematics
76 Electronic computers
.7 Programming languages (decimal extension
breaks down subjects to a mor
specific patterns)
.S29 Cutter for the author (Sawyer)
2017 Year of publication
Call Number with Single Cutter Number

28. …A work by Walters (2015) on
dance poster would be classified
at :
NC Drawing. Design.
Illustration
1849 special topics
.D35 topical cutter for dance
.W35 main entry cutter for
author
2015 Date of publication
NC DRAWING. DESIGN.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Double Cutter

29. Call Number with Title Cutter
Novel: The prime of Miss Jean Brodie by the English
novelist Muriel Spark , c 1961
PR
6037
.P29
.P7
1961
English Literature
Individual authors 1900-1960
- surname beginning with the letter “S”
Author cutter number based on the second letter of the
author’s surname: Spark
Title cutter (usually only one digit is used)
- use the LC Cutter Table
Date of publication

30. Type 1 table
HE Transportation and Communications
Urban transportation
By region or country
311 Other regions or countries, A-Z
Under each country:
.x General works
.x2A-Z Local A-Z
Book :
Canada’s urban
transportation
development strategy
the cutter for Canada is .C2
the .x is now replaced by .C2
HE
311
.C2
main entry cutter
date of publication

31. Biography table
.x Cutter for the bigraphee
.xA2 Collected works. By date
.xA25 Selected works. Selections. By date
Including quotations
.xA3 Autobiography, diaries, etc. By date
.xA4 Letters. By date
.xA5 Speeches, essays, lectures. By date
Including interviews
.xA6-Z Individual biography, interviews, and criticism
By main entry
Including criticism of selected works, autobiography, quotations
letters, speeches, interviews, etc.
Collective Biography:
The lives of ten well-known
Germans of the 19th century
(Kessler, 1995)
DD Germany
205 Biography & memiors-19th cent.
.A2 Collective
.K47 main entry cutter
1995 Date of publication
DD Germany
205 Biography & memiors-19th cent.
.H67 Individual cutter w/in range .A6-Z
.F74 main entry cutter
1998 Date of publication
Individual Biography:
A biography of Hecker (Freitag,
1998)

32. Translation table
.x Original works
.x12 Polyglot
.x13 English translation
.x14 French translation
.x15 German translation
.x16 Italian translation
.x17 Russian translation
.x18 Spanish translation
Original work:
A brief history of time by Stephen
Hawking (1988)
QB Astronomy
981 Gen. works, treatises, etc.
.H39 cutter for author, Hawking
1988 Date of publication
QB Astronomy
981 Gen. works, treatises, etc.
.H3914 cutter for Hawking + French translation
1995 Date of publication
French translation of his work
by Leroux, (1995)

33. Language & Literature tables
American Literature
Individual authors
1961- (XXXIX or XL, unless otherwise specified
Fiction:
The Tommyknockers (King, 1988)
PS American literature, Individual authors, 1961-
3561 Authors starting with K
.I483 cutter based on second letter of surname, King
.T66 cutter from Table XL for separate works
1988 Date of publication

34. SHELVING
To shelve a book by its Library of Congress call number,
begin with the first letter(s)
A AC AG AP B
After finding the proper alphabetical section, read the
numbers that follow the letters in numerical order
AP AP AP AP AP
1 2 5 10 50
 If there is a decimal point in the first row, a number to
the right of decimal point is treated as a decimal
number
DS comes before DS
668.29 668.3

35.  Books on similar subject have call numbers that begin with the
same set of letters and numbers. Each book is then identified by
the remaining letter/number set in the call number. Read the letter
that begins the next line of the call number in alphabetical order.
AP AP AP AP AP
2 2 2 2 2
.A .B .D .G .S
 Now read the final number group in the call number as a decimal
number
AP AP AP AP AP
2 2 2 2 2
.N2 .N31 .N3545 .N4 .N43

36.  When a date appears as the last line of the call number,
the call numbers with the additional line follow those
without the date.
DS DS
668 comes before 668
.B39 .B39
1954
 Dates are shelved in chronological order.
JV JV
9185 comes before 9185
.I8 .I8
.C72 .C72
1990 1996

37.  Example of sequence
B BA BA BA BA BA
1649 164 1631 1631 1631 1631
.R94 .D63 .A48 .A5 .A5 .A5
.M3 .N71 .S55 .P3 .P36 .P36
1964 1991 1985 1979 1976 1980

38. Credits
 Dittman, Helena. Learn Library of Congress classification.
Canberra : DocMatrix Pty Ltd., c2000
 https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/Archived-
LCC02/freelcc.html

39. Thank you…
Bernardita F. Federico, RL
PRC No. 1767
Technical Services
Fr. James J. O’Brien, S.J. Library
Ateneo de Naga University