The purpose of a library classification system is to bring related material together in way that will help users locate items of interest to them. Library classification systems organize material by broad subject area. Each item is assigned a call number, which is like an address on a street.
LC is used by most academic libraries. It was developed in 1901 as a response to the fact that the Library of Congress collection had grown from several thousand volumes to over a million. They formulated the system based on an actual collection of books rather than a theoretical construct.
| LC Outline | ||
| A General Works | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion | C Auxiliary Sciences of History |
| D History (includes Travel) | E America | F United States. Canada. Latin America |
| G Geography | H Social Sciences | J Political Science |
| K Law | L Education | M Music |
| N Fine Art | P Language & Literature | Q Science |
| R Medicine | S Agriculture | T Technology |
| U Military Science | V Naval Science | Z Books and Bibliographies |
For a more detailed description of the LC call numbers most heavily used in the Millard Sheets Library, see Call Number Subject Guide.
Example of an LC Call Number for the following book: Techno.Seduction: An Exhibition of Multimedia Installation Work by Forty Artists by Robert Rindler
| N | Books about art |
| 6512.5 | Specific topic, usually country, time period, or type of art |
| I56 | Further breakdown of topic; in this case, installation art. Often this line is used for the artist or author number. |
| R56 | In this case, this is the author number (Rindler) |
The Dewey Classification is used by most public libraries. Melvil Dewey tried to create a system in which all knowledge was theoretically ordered in a logical way. That is, closely related subjects would be near each other. Unfortunately, many new subjects have come into existence since Dewey invented the DDC, causing some problems with this approach. For instance, there were no computers in his time. The only way to expand a Dewey number is through the addition of numbers after the decimal point. The result can be very long and complicated numbers for some subjects.
| Dewey Outline | |
| 000 General Works | 100 Philosophy |
| 200 Religion | 300 Social Sciences |
| 400 Languages | 500 Pure Science |
| 600 Technology | 700 The Arts |
| 800 Literature | 900 Geography and History |
Example of a Dewey Call Number for the same book listed above:
| 709.73 | Subject is art history. The .73 is the sub-category American art and artists. |
| RIN | The first 3 letters of the author's last name (Rindler). |
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