Using Call Numbers
What is a call number?
- A call number is a group of letters and numbers found on the spine or front cover of a book.
- Think of the call number as the book's address.
How do I find the call number for a book?
Find the book in Onesearch (library catalog). Onesearch will list the book's location and call number.
How do I locate a book using a call number?
- Find the first letter of the call number. For example, with [QA 76.76 .H94 M88 1997], you'd want to find the Q section.
- Once you find the Q section, search for the QA's.
- Next, look for the number 76.76. Think of this number as a whole number with the point (.) acting as a decimal point.
- Books are then shelved by the third line, which begins with another letter. In the case of this example, you would look for H and then for 94. The point (.) before the H acts as a decimal point, so .H94 would come after .H342.
- The next set of letters and numbers are found in the same way, except notice, there is no decimal point, so the numbers after the M are considered whole numbers. For example, M88 would come before M342.
