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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The main philosophy sections in the Central Library are on Level 11, at B–BD, BH and BJ.

• Philosophy is related to many other subjects, so philosophy books are also located with those subjects. For example, political philosophy is mainly classified with political science at JC, on Level 8.
• The Library of Congress classification system is used to organise the books. Each Library book has a call number showing where it is located, which can be found by on its Library catalogue record.
• Textbooks and recommended readings for particular courses are placed on High Demand by lecturers and located in the Self-Loan Area on Level 2. To see the list for a particular course:
  • Enter the course code into the course code search box in the library catalogue
    Course code Find
  • Or refer to the course page in AKO | LEARN.

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• Since 2024 the library catalogue only includes books and ebooks purchased by UC Library. It omits hundreds of thousands of ebook titles ‘leased’ through library subscriptions, which are listed on MultiSearch. The library catalogue has more functional search and sorting capabilities than MultiSearch, all the same.

Browse Print Books on the Library Catalogue

To browse Philosophy books by subject in the catalogue

• Click a classification link below or
• Use the Browse Alphabetically: By Call Number search option in the Library catalogue to enter your own call numbers.

Good starting points for beginners to philosophy are introductory works

• Philosophy in general – BD 21
• Ethics – BJ 1025 (also elsewhere, notably BJ 1012)
• Logic – BC 108

Subject Categories for Philosophy

Click a main heading or scroll down

• Philosophy (general): B
• History and systems of philosophy: B 108-
• Modern philosophy and philosophers by nationality: B 850-
• Logic: BC
• Speculative philosophy: BD
• Aesthetics: BH
• Ethics: BJ
• Other philosophy and ethics-related classifications

Philosophy (general): B (Level 11)

• Philosophy reference works: B 40–
• General works: B 72– (NB: see BD 21 for general introductions to philosophy)
   

History and systems of philosophy

• Ancient period (general): B 108–
• Ancient Greek/Hellenistic philosophy: B 165–
• Medieval philosophy: B 720–
• Renaissance: B 770–
• Modern philosophy (general): B 790–
• 17th century: B 801
• 18th century. Philosophy of the Enlightenment: B 802
• 19th century (including early 20th century): B 803
• 20th century: B 804
• 21st century: B 805
• Special topics and schools of philosophy: B 808–
   

Modern philosophy and philosophers by nationality: B 850–

• American: B 850–
• British: B 1111–
• French: B 1801–
• German/Austrian: B 2521–
• Other modern European philosophy: B 3500–
• Modern philosophy of other regions/countries: B 5000–
   

Logic: BC (Level 11)

• Journals on logic: BC 1
• Collected works on logic: BC 6–
• History of logic: BC 11–
• Philosophy of logic: BC 50–
• General works on logic: BC 60–
• Introductions to logic: BC 108
• Symbolic and mathematical logic, and other topics: BC 135–
   

Speculative philosophy: BD (Level 11)

• General introductions to philosophy: BD 21
• Metaphysics: BD 95–
• Epistemology. Theory of knowledge: BD 143–
• Methodology: BD 241–
• Ontology: BD 300–
• Philosophical anthropology: BD 450
• Cosmology: BD 495–
   

Aesthetics: BH (Level 11)

• Journals on aesthetics: BH 1–
• Collected works on aesthetics: BH 21–
• Philosophy and methodology of aesthetics: BH 39–
• History of aesthetics: BH 81–
• 18th–19th centuries: BH 181–
• 20th century: BH 201–
• Aesthetics by region or country: BH 221
• Special topics in aesthetics: BH 301
   

Ethics: BJ (Level 11)

• Journals on ethics: BJ 1
• Collected works on ethics: BJ 21
• Philosophy and methodology of ethics: BJ 37–
• Reference works on ethics: BJ 63
• History of ethics: BJ 71–
• Ancient period (general): BJ 101–
• Ancient Greek period: BJ 161–
• Modern period: BJ 301–
• 20th century: BJ 319–
• Ethics by region or country: BJ 352–
• British ethics: BJ 601–
• Works on ethics (English), by period: BJ 1005–
• 1961–present: BJ 1012
• Introductions to ethics: BJ 1025
• Special aspects of ethics: BJ 1031
• Religious ethics: BJ 1188–
• Evolutionary ethics: BJ 1298–
• Humanist ethics: BJ 1360
• Marxist ethics: BJ 1388–
• Feminist ethics: BJ 1395
• Special topics in ethics (e.g. good and evil): BJ 1401–
• Individual ethics. Character. Virtue: BJ 1518–
• Professional ethics: BJ 1725–
   

  Other philosophy and ethics-related classifications

• BF 41: Philosophy of mind/psychology (Level 11, Central Library)
• BF 311: Cognitive science/psychology (including philosophy) (Level 11, Central Library)
• BL 51–52: Philosophy of religion (Level 11, Central Library)
• GE 40–42: Environmental philosophy and ethics (Level 1, EPS Library)
• H 61.15: Social philosophy (Level 9, Central Library)
• HB 72: Economics and ethics (Level 9, Central Library)
• HQ 1190: Feminist theory and philosophy (Level 8, Central Library)
• HV 4708–4959: Animal rights and ethics (Level 8, Central Library)
• JA 79–84: Political thought and ethics (Level 8, Central Library)
• JC: Political theory (Level 8, Central Library)
• P 39: Language and logic (Level 6, Central Library)
• P 106–107: Philosophy of language (Level 6, Central Library)
• Q 174–175: Philosophy of science (Level 2, EPS Library)
• Q 310: Philosophy of cybernetics and AI (Level 2, EPS Library)
• QA 76.167–76.17: Philosophy and history of computing (Level 2, EPS Library)
• QH 331–332: Philosophy of biology. Bioethics (Level 2, EPS Library)
• R 724–726: (Bio)medical ethics. Euthanasia (Level 4, Central Library)
• T 14: Philosophy of technology (Level 3, EPS Library)

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