Biographical Research: Find Books

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!

Finding Books on Your Topic 

Once you have chosen a person to write about and learned a little bit about that person, you will be ready to conduct more comprehensive research. Books are a good source for more detailed inforamation about a person.

Use the Library Catalog to find books. Books can provide a broad overview of a topic or in-depth information. 

How To Find Books
In the catalog, you will find books ABOUT a person and books BY a person. When searching the catalog, always enter the person's last name first.  For example:

• Shakespeare, William      
• King, Martin Luther, Jr.     
• Winfrey, Oprah       
• Ramirez, Manny

IMPORTANT!

• Do a SUBJECT search in the catalog to find books ABOUT the person and his or her life, works, and contributions.
• Do an AUTHOR search to find books BY the person. These books can include fiction, non-fiction, poems, plays, and autobiographies.
• Do a SUBJECT search for BIOGRAPHY and you can browse through all the biographies in the library.

The library has many electronic books that are about interesting people. Here are some examples:

The library has many biographies and autobiographies in print format.  Here are just a few: