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Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream: Find Books

A research guide for William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Where is That Book?


Ever wonder how books are shelved?

In this library we use The Library of Congress Classification System to organize books on the shelves. The LC SYSTEM organizes material in libraries according to twenty-one branches of knowledge called classes. The system uses letters to represent the twenty-one broad branches of knowledge. The letters I, O, W, X AND Y are not used.

 The twenty-one classes are:

A – GENERAL WORKS

B – PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION

C – AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY

D – HISTORY: GENERAL & OUTSIDE THE AMERICAS

E – HISTORY: UNITED STATES

F – HISTORY: UNITED STATES LOCAL & AMERICAS

G – GEOGRAPHY, ANTHROPOLOGY, RECREATION

H – SOCIAL SCIENCE

J – POLITICAL SCIENCE

K – LAW

L – EDUCATION

M – MUSIC & BOOKS ON MUSIC

N – FINE ARTS

P – LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Q – SCIENCE

R – MEDICINE

S – AGRICULTURE

T – TECHNOLOGY

U – MILITARY SCIENCE

V – NAVAL SCIENCE

Z – BIBLIOGRAPHY, LIBRARY SCIENCE & INFORMATION RESOURCES

These twenty-one broad subject areas are further divided into more specific subject areas by adding one or two additional letters as well as some numbers. For a more detailed breakdown of any subject, go to the Library of Congress web page

So, How Do I Find a Book on the Shelf?

Try this exercise, which was put together by the librarians at Kent State University, to see if you have figured out the Library of Congress system!

Books

Finding Books on Your Topic  walking book

Once you have chosen a topic and done your background research you will be ready to conduct more comprehensive research using books.

Use the Library Catalog to find books. Books can provide a broad overview of a topic or in-depth information. You can search for books by author, title, subject, or keyword. 

Use the following terms to search for books on William Shakespeare and his plays:

  • Shakespeare, William
  • midsummer night's dream 

 

If you want to see if we have a copy of the play itself, search by TITLE.

Literary Criticisms - ELECTRONIC BOOKS

 Here are some of the library's online resources which can help you get biographical and critical information. Most online resources require login for off-campus use.  Enter your Cerritos College login when prompted.  For more login information see the Database Login page.

Literary Criticism - BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY

Below are some books that are in the library. In these books you will find plot overviews, character studies, and critical information on the author's WORK.

Books with the call# REFERENCE cannot be checked out, students are able to photocopy pages.

Cerritos College Library | 11110 Alondra Blvd., Norwalk, CA 90650 | 562-860-2451 | Reference ext 2425 | Circulation ext 2424