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LCC: Collection classification Open Stacks: How to find books in the stacks

Video

This video (2 min.) of Yavapai College Library explains how to read an LCC call number, and how to find a book with an LCC call number in the stacks.

Find a book in RUQuest

Are you looking for a specific book, or a book about a specific subject? Use RUQuest, the search engine of the Nijmegen University Library collections. 
Want to learn more about RUQuest? Check the reference manual.

Found the book? Write down the call number.
On the homepage of this guide is a floor plan of the Open Stacks.
In this example: Find the letter Z on the floor plan.

 

Note: Other collections in the Central Library

Not all books in the Central Library are in the Open Stacks (in the basement).
Books can also be in the Reading Room and in the Closed Stacks.
These books can be found in RUQuest as well. So pay attention which location is mentioned in RUQuest.

  • Books in the Reading Room are in Open Stacks (for reference in the library only).
  • Books from the Closed Stacks can be requested via RUQuest.

What does the call number look like?

The LCC call number is the ‘address’ of the book in the library. The call number consists of multiple lines:
 

1st line: Letter(s); the subject

2nd line: Numbers, sometimes it contains a ‘.’

3rd line: Letters and a decimal (sometimes 2x)

4th line: Year

 

What does the call number mean?

In the case of the example book Making the list - A cultural history of the American bestseller, 1900-1999 van Michael Korda:

Z1033.B3 - K67 2001

Z = Library Science and Bibliography
What follows immediately after Z creates further specification by subject (can be letters and/or numbers)
In this example: 1033.B3 = General bibliography - Special classes of books – Bestsellers
K67 refers to author or to title, in case of editorial work (K for author Korda)
2001 is the year of publication

Found a book in the stacks?

     

Books are placed by subject. Found a useful book? Check the titles on the same shelf to find more relevant publications on the same subject.