CALL
NUMBERS
What
are call numbers?
LC
Classification
Reading Call Numbers
Government
Documents
Call Number Test - (Coming soon!)
How to Read a Government Documents Call Number*
Call numbers in Government Documents are based on the Superintendent of Documents Classification System, or "SuDocs" class system for short. The call numbers and letters are most often referred to as "SuDocs." The SuDocs system was developed over 100 years ago in the Government Printing Office.
| BIG TIP! - One important note to remember when reading SuDocs is that the period (.) does NOT serve as a decimal point. Only whole numbers are used in SuDocs. The period only serves as a separator. |
| Some examples of SuDocs: | D103.2:C 81/6 |
| LC33.10:01-5 | |
| Y1.1/8:107-435 | |
| I49.44/2:OA3 |
SuDocs in the FAU Libraries are sometimes preceded with the word "DOC." (See figure 6 below.)
 Figure 6 |
 Figure 7 |
SuDocs are comprised of three main parts: the issuing agency symbol, the series, and the book number.
Read SuDocs from left to right.
1. Begin with the letter or letters. Letters represent the government agency that issues the document. For example a document whose SuDoc begins with a "D" means that it was issued by the Defense department. Some other examples of issuing agencies are"LC" for the Library of Congress, "TD" for the Transportation department, and "SSA" for the Social Security Administration. These letters appear on the shelves alphabetically. Thus,
- D (Defense) comes before E (Energy)
- E comes before EP (Environmental Protection Administration/Agency)
- EP comes before HH (Housing and Urban Development)
2. Next is the series designation. Each agency series is assigned a number which appears before the colon (:). Some examples of agency series are:
- .1 (Annual reports)
- .4 (Circulars)
- .13 (Forms)
Any new series that relate closely with existing ones are added on with a slash or diagonal (/).
Example:
- .4 (Circulars)
- .4/a (Separates from Circulars (numbered))
- .4/2 (Administrative Circulars)
Remember to read the .4 (above) as the whole number "4" and not as a decimal!
3. Next is the colon (:) followed by the book number which may or may not include a letter or letters.
*Examples borrowed from Morehead, Joe. Introduction to United States Government Information Sources. Sixth Ed. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1999, pp35-38.
This ends the Call Numbers module. An exam will be added soon.
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