Finding Books

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Books in the EPSc Library are arranged on the shelves according to their Library of Congress classification number.

What is a Library of Congress classification number?

Here is an example of a Library of Congress call number:
QE	Subject area for the book
515	Number for a more specific subdivision of the subject area
N 67	Number for the main entry (individual book)
1994	Publication date

How do I use this number to find a book? In the stacks, books are arranged first by the letters of the subject area designation in alphabetical order:
GB 1092 W 19 1965	QC 481 B 53 1985	QE 515 N 67 1994	TN 269 G 732 1991
Books with the same subject area designation are then arranged by the designation for the subject subdivision in numerical order:
QE 294 T 38 1991	QE 501 L 34 1977	QE 515 N 67 1994	QE 728 C 2 1988
Books with subdivision designations containing decimals are arranged by the numbers following the decimal point in decimal order:
QE 515 N 67 1994	QE 515.2 W 18 1958	QE 515.24 F 59 1993	QE 515.3 I 23 1987
Books with the same subject area and subdivision designations are then arranged by the main entry designation, with the numbers arranged in decimal order:
QE 515 B 25 1995	QE 515 N 555 1989	QE 515 N67 1994	QE 515 N 7 1981

Finding special types of books

The following types of books may be shelved separately from those in the main stacks:

Oversized books (designated by the symbol 4o at the end of the call number). Example:

QE 525
T 48
1985
4o

Reference books, which may only be used in the library, are identified by the designation REF at the beginning of the call number. Example:

REF
Z 675
U 5
R 76
1991

Reserve books are arranged by EPSc Department course number. These books are identified by the round sticker on the spine which indicates the course number.
Reserves policies   Renewal procedures