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. Books can provide a broad overview of a topic or in-depth information. You can search for books by author, title, subject, or keyword.
If you want to finda copy of your play, you can do a TITLE search on the name of the play. But plays are also often included in collections of plays, so try an ALL FIELDS search on the name of the play to find those.
To find a book of criticism about your play, try a SUBJECT search on the name of your play. To find a book of criticism about the playwright in general, do a SUBJECT on the name of the playwright.
Other helpful subject headings I found were
Theater -- Production and direction
Theaters -- Stage-setting and scenery
Stage management