Locate Items in the Library

Introduction LC Call Number Shelf Order Location of Items

All the physical library materials regardless of their languages and format are arranged according to the Library of Congress (LC) Classification Scheme to co-locate all materials on similar subjects.

Lingnan University Library has started using this scheme since 2010 after the completion of the re-classification project of all library materials. LC Under this system, all the library materials are classified according to the main subject divisions and their sub-divisions of LC Classification.

This ensure all materials on similar subjects are shelved with each order in the book shelves. The LC Class Number forms part of a unique Call Number that is assigned to each item to help users identify the location of an item on the book shelves.

The LC Call Number starts with letters and include numbers to indicate the subject (LC Class Number), author and publication year, and / or volume and copy number of a book if applicable. It is found both on the spine of an item and on the Library’s 1-Search.

The LC Call Number looks like this in 1-Search:

The LC Class Number represents the subject part in the Call Number.

The LC Cutter Number is a unique identifier provided to the author of book. This is the Author Number in the Call Number.

The publication year, volume and Copy Number, if any, are provided by the item itself.

On the spine of an item, a call number is written from top-to-bottom as follows. All items are shelved according to this Call Number.

First and second line - the main subject division and sub-division of LC Class Number

3rd Line - Cutter Number or Author Number starting with a dot

4th Line - Year of publication

Steps to read the Call Number on the Shelf:

All items are shelved by the Main Division (the first line) DE, DF in alphabetical order.
Then read the second line, sub-division, as a whole number 2698, 1255, etc. 1255 will go first before 1259 to be followed by 3145.
Then, for the third line, the digits of "Cutter Number" are read separately. Read the letter .A, .G, alphabetically. Read the number as a decimal, i.e. .657 goes before .81. In the example above, DF1259 .K657 will be shelved before DF1259 .K81.
Finally, the last line is the year that the item was published. In the example, the item published in 2006 goes before the item published in 2013.

The exact location of the item can be found from the 1-Search result, or please refer to the LC Classification Table for reference.

Location Prefix: Some items in the Library has location prefix that precede the Call Number to indicate the collection they belong to. It will not affect the shelf order.

The following is the commonly used location prefix:

[AVM] = Multimedia
[LANG] = Language Examinations and Learning Resources
[LBK] = Large Books
[LUH] = Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (Hong Kong)
[LUG] = Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (Guangzhou)
[REF] = References
[RES2D] = Course Reserves (Available borrowing for 2 days)
[RES7D] = Course Reserves (Available borrowing for 7 days)
[SER] = Bound Journals, Journals and Popular Magazines