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Library of Congress Classification System
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"Since 1850, libraries serving federal and state government in the United States, like other types of libraries, have undergone rapid and revolutionary growth. By far the most significant of government libraries is the Library of Congress, a library which in terms of size of collection and extent and nature of services may well be the most impressive such institution in the world. The Library of Congress began its remarkable development when Ainsworth Rand Spofford was appointed Librarian of Congress by President Lincoln in 1864, and under his leadership the library soon became one of the most important in the world. It was still housed in the Capitol building, but it was rapidly overflowing its quarters. "As early as 1871, Dr. Spofford suggested the library needed a building specifically designed for the collection, and in 1874, Congress appointed a committee to look into the possibilities of building a national library structure. But the wheels of government grind slowly and it was not until 1887 that construction finally began. The resulting building, not completed until 1897, forms the present main part of the library, capable of holding nearly three million volumes and covering nearly four acres. It had all the latest in library equipment for its day, with everything from well-lighted reading rooms and steel stacks to book conveyers and inter-office speaking tubes. Though Librarian Spofford's staff of 1864 had only five memebrs, the new building required one hundred eighty-five workers in 1900, with an additional crew of forty-five in the copyright office. The old system of classification, an adaptation of Jefferson's original private library scheme, was outmoded by the multitudes of new books of the late 19th century. To meet this need a number of classification schemes were considered, but in the end a system particularly adapted to the needs of the Library of Congress was developed, and the entire library was reclassified and cataloged" (Harris 250). |
The Library of Congress Classification (LCC) System, therefore, was created specifically for a large library collection. Most larger libraries, particularly academic libraries, now use the LCC system. A typical LCC book number looks like this:
Notice that letters and numbers alternate. Notice that the numbers can be further subdivided by decimals, just as in the Dewey system. Notice that letters can be further divided by the addition of a second letter. Notice that the third group is a mixed letter/number combination and begins with a decimal point. This group is called a "Cutter" number, named after one of the early library cataloging pioneers. It is indeed a decimal, so .A12 comes after .A1 but before .A2. Take a look at the summary of the LCC system below.
| A | General Works AE Encyclopedias--General AP Periodicals--General |
| B | Philosophy, Psychology, Religion B Philosophy--Collections, History, Systems BC Logic BF Psychology BL-BX Religions |
| C-D | History, Auxiliary Sciences, & Topography CT Biography |
| E-F | History of American, United States, Canada, South America |
| G-H | Social Sciences G Geography GN Anthropology GV Physical Education HA Statistics HB-HF Economics HF-HJ Finance HN-HV Sociology HV Criminology |
| J | Political Science |
| K | Law |
| L | Education LA History of Ed. LB Theory and Practice of Teaching & Curriculum LD-LG Colleges and Universities |
| M | Music |
| N | Fine Arts (includes architecture, sculpture, graphic arts, painting, prints, and art applied to industry) |
| P | Language and Literature |
| P | Linguistics, Philology PA Classical literatures PE English Language PN Literary history and collections PF-PQ Other literatures PR English Literature PS American Literature |
| Q | Science (physics, chemistry, geology, botany, physiology) QA Mathematics/Computers |
| R | Medicine RT Nursing |
| S | Agriculture, Plant & Animal Industry |
| T | Technology (engineering, mechanics, construction, electrical, photography, cooking) TJ Mechanical Engineering & machinery |
| U | Military Science |
| V | Naval Science |
| Z | Bibliography and Library Science |
Locate the books below. When you find them, look through them. A part of the purpose of each exercise is to familiarize you with the multitude of resources available to you. So go through each of these books, notice how they are organized, and note down how and when you would use them.
DS 805 .K633 1983 v.3 Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan
TH 455 .S7864 v.11 Sweet's Catalog file (look at mock stained glass windows)
Z 1039 .C65 B67 Books for College Libraries: A Core Collection of 50,000 Titles
PZ 5 .C54 1987 The Children's Treasury: Best-Loved Stories and Poems from Around the World (note location of book)
LeRe CLA Red Storm Rising Red Storm Rising (In Leisure Reading Area)
Put these in correct order:
1. Review vocabulary and notes for quiz next week.
2. Locate the following books on the shelf; List their titles and what they are about:
3. Do a title search in the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog -- in other words, the online library catalog) for the following books; locate them on the shelf; make a note of their call number and what they are about :
4. Searching only the Palo Alto records (how do you set the terminal to do that?), enter the following KEYWORD searches. Write down the call number(s) and title(s) of your "hits." Go look at the books and report what you could use these books for:
Please send comments to:
Colby Glass, MLIS