History 103 - Political and Social History of the US: 1877-Present: 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 topic and done your background research you will be ready to conduct more comprehensive research using books.

Use the Library Catalog to find books available in the Cerritos College Library. 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 by SUBJECT for books on your topic:
 

African Americans Civil rights	Civil rights movements United States
African Americans Civil rights History	Civil rights Southern States African America
African Americans Civil rights Southern States History 20th century	Civil rights movements United States History
African Americans History 1863-1877	Constitutional Amendments United States 14th
African Americans History 1877-1964	Constitutional Amendments United States 15th
African Americans History 1964-	Reconstruction (U. S. history, 1865-1877)
African Americans Legal status, laws, etc.	Segregation Law and legislation United States History
African Americans Suffrage History	Segregation Southern States
African Americans Segregation History	Social movements United States History
Black Panther Party	United States -- History -- 1865-1877
Black power United States	Voting Rights Act of 1965 United States

 

• Try some of the following names to search by SUBJECT and/or by AUTHOR: 
  
  Carmichael, Stokely
  Davis, Angela    
  DuBois, W.E.B. 
  Newton, Huey P. 
  Wells, Ida B.
  X, Malcolm
   
• Use the ALL FIELDS search to find information by KEYWORD: 
  
  Desegregation 
  Jim Crow
  NAACP
  Plessy v. Ferguson
  SNCC

Here are a few E-books which may help with your research:

These are just a few of the books available in the library to check out and use for your research: