Research & Information Literacy

Library of Congress Classes, or Subject Headings

This is a guide to the call number ranges and their corresponding subjects that appear often in our collection. You can use this guide to discover where you might browse in the stacks.

Note: Not all subjects are featured in this guide. For more information about the Library of Congress system classes, see here.

A - M

B	Philosophy
BD	Logic
BF	Psychology
BL	Religion and Theology
BX	Mythology
D	General World History
E	History of the Americas 51 to 99 -- Native Americans 169.02 -- American Popular Culture 184 -- Racial & Ethnic Groups in the US
F	Regional History of the United States (History of the Americas continued) 856 to 870 -- California & Los Angeles (Travel, History, Pictorial Works) 1201 to 1577 -- Mexico, Central & South America (includes Aztec, Mayan & other early civilizations)
G	Geography, Maps
GN	Anthropology
GT	GT - Costume (History of Dress) & Customs 2345 -- Tattoos 3912 to 3913 -- Graffiti see also: NK 600 to 3640 -- Decorative Lettering; Z 250 -- Typography
GV	GV - Dance & Sports 1200 to 1469 -- Games & Game Design 1469 Games Concept Art see also: NC 975 to 995 -- Illustration, NC 1766 -- Animation; PN 1997.2 -- Film
H	H - Social Sciences
HF	HF - Business 5415.153 -- Inventions and new product marketing 5801 to 6191 -- Advertising (includes Signs & Billboards)
HQ	HQ - Sexuality, the Family & Women's Studies 9 to 472 -- Sexuality 784 T68 -- Toys & Child Development
LB	Education 2369 -- Research Handbooks & Style Manuals

N

N	Visual Arts 72 -- Art in Relation to other Subjects (Feminism, Politics, Society, etc.) 400 -- Art Museums, Galleries, etc. 4390 -- Exhibitions 5300 - 6494 -- History of Art (by period) 5315 to 6320 -- Ancient & Medieval 6370 to 6375 -- 15th & 16th centuries 6407 to 6415 -- 17th & 18th centuries 6450 to 6465 -- 19th century 6480 to 6494 -- 20th century 6494 I56 -- Installation 6494 V53 -- Video Art see also: PN 1992.8 V5 6501 to 7414 -- Special Countries 6505 to 6538 -- Art & Artists in the United States 7429.7 -- Technique, Composition, Style 7432.5 -- Outsider Art 7433.3 -- Artists' Books 7475 -- Art Criticism 7560 to 8266 -- Special Subjects of Art 7575 to 7649 -- Portraits 7790 -- Religious Art 8217 E6 -- Erotic Art 8554 -- Examination & Conservation of Works of Art 8600 -- Economics of Art 8700 -- Art and the State. Public Art
NA	Architecture 190 - 682 -- History (by period) 710 to 738 -- Architecture & Architects in the US 4100 -- Special Types of Buildings 9000 -- Aesthetics of Cities. City Planning and Beautification
NB	Sculpture
NC	Drawing, Design & Illustration 50 to 263 -- History of Drawing 730 to 817 -- Technique 760 to 776 -- Human Figure - Anatomy 961 S34 -- Science Fiction & Fantasy Illustration 965 -- Children's Book Illustration 975 to 995 -- Illustrators (includes Concept Art) see also: GV 1469 -- Games; NC 1766 -- Animation; PN 1997.2 -- Film 997 -- Commercial Art & Advertising Art 1300 -- Caricature. Pictorial Humor and Satire 1429 -- Comic Book & Cartoon Artists see also: PN 6710 to 6728 1766-- Animation (includes Concept Art) see also: GV 1469 -- Games; NC 975 to 995 -- Illustrators;, PN 1997.2 -- Film 1800 -- Posters 1882 -- Album Covers
ND	Painting 49 to 199 -- History (by period) 195 to 196 -- 20th century 230 to 238 -- Painting & Painters in the United States 1290 to 1337 -- Human Figure, Nudes, etc. 1340 to 1375 -- Landscape/Marine 1390 to 1393 -- Still Life 1470 to 1495 -- Technique (includes Composition & Color) 1700 -- Watercolor Painting 2550 to 2876 -- Mural Painting (includes Contemporary Street Art) 2890 -- Illuminating of Manuscripts and Books
NE	Print Media 2250 -- Lithography 2800 -- Printing of Engravings
NK	Decorative Arts, Applied Arts, Decoration & Ornament (includes Antiques in general) 600 to 789 -- History (by period) 802 to 839 -- Decorative Arts in the US - Folk Art, Antiques 1390 -- General design (material that includes both decorative & industrial) 1505 to 1590 -- Ornament, Pattern & Design 1700 to 2195 -- Interior Decoration & House Decoration 2200 to 2750 -- Furniture 3600 to 3640 -- Calligraphy, Alphabets & Decorative Lettering see also: GT 3912 -- Graffiti; Z 250 -- Typography 4700 -- Costume and its Accessories 4892 to 4894.4 -- Dolls & Dollhouses see also: HQ 784 T68 -- Toys & Child Development; TT 174 -- Toy Making 8800 -- Textile Arts and Art Needlework 9509 -- Toys
NX	Arts in General (includes works dealing with two or more of the fine arts, i.e. Art & Film, Art & Music, etc.) 440 to 458 -- History 502 to 512.3 -- Arts in the United States 600 -- Special Movements 600 P47 -- Performance Art 600 S9 -- Surrealism see also: N 6494 -- Surrealist Art; ND 195 S8 -- Surrealist Painting 654 -- Religious Arts 700 -- Patronage of the Arts

P - Z

PN	TV, Theater, Plays, Motion Pictures 1990-1999 -- Film & Television 1992.8 V5 -- Video Art see also: N 6494 V53 1997.2 -- Film. Concept Art see also: GV 1469 -- Games; NC 965 to 975 -- Illustrators; NC 1766 -- Animation
PR	English Literature
PS	American Literature
QA	Mathematics & Computer Science 76.75 -- Computer Software see also: T 385 -- Computer Graphics; TK 5105.882 -- Internet; TR 897.5 -- Computer Animation
QB	Astronomy
QH	Natural History 90 to 95 -- Water & Marine Biology (includes Pictorial Works) 101 to 198 -- Topographical Regions (includes Landscape Pictorial Works) see also: TR 660 -- Landscape Photography and F 1 to F 975 -- Travel - Descriptive Works 540 to 549 -- Ecology
QK	Botany (Plants)
QL	Zoology (Animals)
QM	Anatomy
QP	Physiology
SB	Agriculture/Plant Culture 469 to 479 -- Landscape Gardening & Design
T	Technology 180 -- Exhibitions that highlight the developments & history of industrial design 201 to 339 -- Patents & Trademarks see also NC 1002 - 1003 385 -- Computer Graphics see also: QA 76.75 -- Computer Software; TK 5105.882 -- Internet; TR 897.5 -- Computer Animation
TA	Technology (Engineering) 166 -- Ergonomics and human factors research
TK	Electronics 5105 -- Specific Aspects of the Internet
TR	Photography 15 to 195 -- History 660 -- Landscape Photography 676 -- Erotic Photography 679 -- Fashion Photography 680 -- Portrait Photography 690.6 -- Stock Photography 721 to 739 -- Nature Photography 820 -- Photojournalism 845 to 899 -- Cinematography 858 -- Special Effects 897.5 -- Computer Animation
TS	Manufactured Products 23 -- History of industrial design in the US 57 -- History of industrial design in the UK 79 -- History of industrial design in Italy (and so forth) 140 -- Biographies of individual designers 144-149 -- General works covering industrial design 155 -- Production and operations management 171 -- Product design 1090 to 1130 -- Paper Making
TT	Handicrafts 174 to 175 -- Toy & Doll Making see also: HQ 784 T68 -- Toys & Child Development; NK 4892 & NK 9509 -- Toy History & Price Guides 490 to 695 -- Fashion & Clothing Design 505 -- Individual Designers (includes biographies)
Z	Books (Library Science & Bibliography) 40 to 115 -- Writing see also: NK 3600 -- Calligraphy & Lettering 116 to 265 -- Printing 250 -- Type Founding & Typography 266 to 276 -- Bookbinding

Classification Systems and Call Numbers

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.

Library of Congress (LC) Classification System

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)

Dewey Decimal System

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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