PAID 111 Section 13: Reed (Fall 2024)

Call numbers? What are they?

Call numbers are assigned to each book in the library. They...

• Help us find materials
• Group books by subject or topic

Here in Preus (and in most academic libraries) we use the Library of Congress Classification system.

Who came up with this??

• Some old, white men who worked for the government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

A - L are on the Lower Floor of Preus Library.

M - Z are on the Upper Floor of Preus Library.

An Example:

The call number for your text, The Thing Around your Neck, is:

PR
9387.9
.A34354
T55
2010

The call number is printed vertically on the book itself (as seen above), but you may see it listed in the catalog as one line: PR9387.9 .A34354 T55 2010

Infographic created by McMaster University Library.