Library of Congress (LC) Classification

The SEARK College Library uses the Library of Congress (LC) Classification Scheme to group library material by subject treatment and to provide each item in the library with a unique address so it can be easily located on the shelves.

The LC system creates a unique "call number" using an alpha-numeric code based on the subject, author and year of publication.

The first letter or letters of an LC call number indicates the general subject. The numbers following the letter code divides the subject area by topic and sub-topic. This letter number code is usually followed by another letter number combination representing the author. The next element of the call number is generally the year of publication. If the item is a part of a series or one of several copies owned by the library, the final element of the call number may be a volume or copy indication. A call number "prefix" may also be used to identify the item format (Audio or Video Cassette) or to indicate that the item is part of a special collection or is housed in a special location (Reference or ECDT for Early Childhood Development).

 For example in call number Ref. RJ125.K23 2005 v. 1 c. 2:

•  Ref means Reference collection
• RJ indicates Medicine (R) and Pediatrics (J)
• 125 stands for Physiology of children and adolescents
• K is the first letter of the author's last name
• 23 is a code based on the second and third letters of the author's name
• 2005 is the year of publication
• v.1 indicates the book is the first volume of a series
• c.2 indicates that it is a duplicate copy of the book