What Are Call Numbers?

Call numbers explained

High Demand

Textbooks and recommended readings are often put on short-term loan in the High Demand collection.

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New books

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• at University of Canterbury
  • eBooks
• in more NZ libraries
• in libraries overseas

Google Books

A good way to find out whether the details you seek are located in a book. Search previews of books and some full text of out-of-copyright titles; search terms are highlighted in results.

Finding eBooks

• Most eBooks can be found by a normal search in the Library Catalogue, or via MultiSearch, and are identified with an electronic book icon.

• 
  Use the search box to find eBooks by subject (refine your search – ”Items with full text online“, and Content Type – ”Book / eBook“)

Shelf Arrangement of Mathematics Books

• UC Library uses the Library of Congress Classification System for classification and shelving
• Books for Mathematics at school level are mostly found in Te Puna Ako on Level 4 of the Central Library, which also uses the Dewey Decimal Classification system for some items
• Most Mathematics books in the UC Library are shelved in the QA section of the EPS Library
  • the full QA schedule
  • ?below is a summary of the QA schedule, with links to the Library catalogue

Call Numbers Explained

Find a Book on the Shelf

To find a book on the Library shelves you will need to know its call number. Call numbers are printed on the spine of the book and are also listed in the Library Catalogue. They tell you where the book is located in the library.

The University of Canterbury library, like most academic libraries, uses the Library of Congress Classification system. In this system, the call numbers start with letters of the alphabet.

• The first letter refers to the subject area, e.g. Q – Science
• Sometimes another letter is added to refer to a more specific aspect of the subject, e.g. QD – Chemistry

Reading Call Numbers: Library of Congress Classification System

Read the call number line by line:

• Read the first line in alphabetical order.
• The first set of numbers that follow are read as whole numbers and are arranged numerically on the shelves.

This diagram explains how Library of Congress call numbers work on the library shelves:

(This image was produced by librarians at the University of Maryland Libraries (User Education Services), College Park, MD.)

Test Yourself!

• Test yourself with this interactive quiz from Kent State University Libraries