Early Childhood Education 2310: Safe, Healthy, Learning Environments (Public)

Find picture books that are located in the Cleveland State CC Library

1. Go to Primo and click the "Library Catalog" tab

2. Click "Advanced Search"

3. In the top search box, type in keywords related to your chosen topic, such as bedtime or childbirth. 

4. In the second search box, change "Any" to "Shelving Location" and type in "picture books" 

5. Hit the search button

6. Write down the title, author, and call number for any books that you find promising

How Are LC Call Numbers Shelved?

Library of Congress call numbers usually have four or five lines or elements:

P 2051 .A252 1990

PA 2050 .A25 1977

PA 2050 .E25 1967

PA 2050 .E252 1988

PA 2050 .E252 2001

PH 205 .D255 1992 v.1

PH 205 .D255 1992 v.2

First line:

The first line can be either a single or a double letter. When a call number begins with a single letter (P) that is the same as the first letter of a second call number beginning with a double letter (PA), then the item bearing the call number with the single letter is shelved first (to the left) because in the United States, library materials are arranged in the way the English language is read: from left to right and top to bottom. For example, in the section for the Ps (language and literature), the correct sequence is P, PA, PB, PC, PD up to PZ, followed by Q, QA, QB, QC up to QZ (the section for the sciences) and so on.

Second line:

The second line of an LC call number is always a number from 1 to 9999, which may have a decimal extension (example: 9999.5) but extensions are less common in the LCC system than in Dewey Decimal Classification. If the letters on the first line of the call number are the same for two items, then the item with the smaller number on the second line is shelved to the left of the item with a larger number on the same line (example: PR 22 before PR 220 before PR 2201). Please note that in Dewey Decimal Classification, the largest number is 999.99...

Third line:

The third line of an LC call number begins with a decimal point, followed by a letter and then a number. Items with call numbers that are the same up to the third line are shelved alphabetically according to the letter to the right of the decimal point. For example, a book with .G at the beginning of the third line is shelved to the left of a book with .H in the same position. When two books have the same letter to the right of the decimal point, the book with the smaller decimal number following the letter is shelved to the left of a book with a larger decimal number following the letter. For example, .G43 is shelved to the left of .G432 because .43 (or .430) is a smaller decimal number than .432. Following this example, all .G4 numbers (.G4, .G42, .G4224, .G43, etc.) are shelved to the left of all .G5 numbers.

Fourth and fifth lines:

The fourth line of an LC call number usually gives the year of publication (example: 2003). An earlier edition is shelved to the left of a later edition of the same work. For works published in more than one physical volume (for example, a multi-volume encyclopedia), the volume number appears on the fifth line of the call number, following year of publication, with the lower volume number (v.1) shelved to the left of the higher volume number (v.2, then v.3, and so on). In call numbers without a year of publication, the volume number appears on the fourth line.

You can quiz yourself on Library of Congress call number order at: people.wcsu.edu/reitzj/lcquiz/lcquiz.html.

Tutorial and Quiz taken from Joan Reitz, Haas Instruction Librarian, Western Connecticut State University (http://people.wcsu.edu/reitzj/res/callnumbers.html).