CIRCULATING BOOKS

"Circulating books" are books that can be checked out. They are shelved in the main shelving area of the library, often called the "stacks". Circulating books cover all subject areas and can range from broad overviews of a general topic to very detailed studies of a very limited, specific topic. Books usually provide more depth and details on a topic than do encyclopedia articles and they include a much broader range of information than can be covered in a magazine, journal or newspaper article. After getting an introduction to a topic from encyclopedia articles, it makes sense to use books to get more substantial information on a topic.

It's important to remember that while there may not be an entire book available on your specific topic, there may be information on the topic in books on broader subjects. It makes sense to start by looking for books on as specific a topic as possible to see if there are whole books on that topic. If nothing is available on the most specific topic, try to think of broader subjects that might deal with the topic. Once you find books on a broader subject, look in the table of contents (in the front of the book) and the index (in the back of the book) to see if your subject is covered in the book and, if so, on what pages.

One important limitation of books is that, because of the time it takes to write and publish a book, the information in books is virtually never as current as that in recent magazine, journal or newspaper articles. In some cases, magazine, journal or newspaper articles may provide more details about a very specific topic than may be found in books.

Finding Books by Subject: Catalogs

The most common way to find books on a particular subject in a library is to look up the subject in the library catalog. The catalog provides basic details on all books in the library and refers you to the shelf location of the books. Traditionally, card catalogs were the most typical type of catalog used by libraries, but today computerized catalogs, called "online catalogs", "OPACs" (Online Public Access Catalogs), "OPCs" (Online Public Catalogs) or "PACs" (Public Access Catalogs), have taken the place of card catalogs in a majority of libraries.

Whether using an online catalog or a card catalog, books can be accessed by the title, author or subject. In addition to identifying the books held by a particular library and the shelf locations of those books, some online catalogs also indicate circulation information for each book-- that is, whether the book is checked out or not. Online catalogs also often include the holdings of a group of libraries rather just a single library. (For more information on selected online catalogs and how to use them, see the section on "Online Catalogs".) When using a catalog to find books on a particular subject, the process may not always be as simple as it seems that it should be. The key is finding the correct subject heading. For a full description of subject headings and how to find the best headings for a particular topic, see the chapter "Vocabulary Control."

Browsing the Shelves

Using the catalog to find books on your topic is in some ways like using the yellow pages to look for certain types of stores. Using the yellow pages is usually a more precise method for finding what you want than window shopping. But sometimes, especially if you're not sure exactly what you want, window shopping in an area that has a number of stores of the type in which you are interested can be a more helpful way to go. In a library, a way to "windowshop" for books in a general subject area is to find out the section in which books on that subject are shelved and then browse through that section to try to find books that look interesting to you. To figure out where books on a particular subject are shelved, you need to know how books are "classified".

To allow library users to be able to find books quickly and easily, books must be arranged on the shelves in some logical order. Each book is given a call number that distinguishes that book from all other books. The call number is marked on the spine of the book. (The spine is the back edge of the book that is visible when the book is set on the shelf between other books.) The call number that is given to a book is based on the subject of the book so that all books on the same subject are shelved together and books on related subjects are shelved close by. The call number also arranges books alphabetically by author within in the same subject. Reference books are organized according to the same classification system as are the circulating books, but their call numbers usually begin with "REF".

Library of Congress System vs. Dewey Decimal System

The call number classification system that is used by most libraries tends to be one of two standard systems. Most public libraries and school libraries use a system called the Dewey Decimal system. Most college and university libraries use a system called the Library of Congress (LC) system. The tables below show the general breakdown of the broad subject categories organized by each system, followed by an example of how one general subject category is divided into more specific subjects by each classification system.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SYSTEM

DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM

A	General Works		000	General Works
B	Philosophy, Psychology, Religion		100	Philosophy
C	History: Auxiliary Science		200	Religion
D	History: General & Old World		300	Social Sciences
E-F	History: Americas		400	Language
G	Geography		500	Pure Science
H	Social Sciences		600	Technology
J	Political Sciences		700	The Arts
K	Law		800	Literature
L	Education		900	History
M	Music
N	Fine Arts
P	Language and Literature
Q	Science
R	Medicine
S	Agriculture
T	Technology
U	Military Science
V	Naval Science
Z	Bibliography & Library Science

Examples of how the above main classes are subdivided:

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SYSTEM

DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM

N	Fine Arts		700	The Arts
N	Visual Arts (General)		710	Civic & Landscape Art
NA	Architecture		720	Architecture
NB	Sculpture		730	Sculpture & the Plastic Arts
NC	Drawing; Design; Illustration		740	Drawing & Decorative Arts
ND	Painting		750	Painting & Paintings
NE	Print Media		760	Graphic Arts
NK	Decorative Arts; Applied Arts		770	Photography & Photographs
NX	Arts in general		780	Music
			790	Recreation
NB	Sculpture
1 - 50	General		730	Sculpture & the Plastic Arts
60-1115	History		731	Processes of Sculpture
1160-95	Design & techniques		732	Ancient nonclassical sculpture
1208-70	Special materials		733	Ancient classical sculpture
1271-91	Motion, color, etc.		734	Medieval sculpture
1293-1310	Portrait sculpture		735	Modern Sculpture
1330-1684	Sculptural monuments		736	Carving & carvings
1910-50	Special subjects		738	Ceramic arts
			739	Art metalwork

Understanding the correct order of LC call numbers can be a bit confusing at first, so to fully understand LC call number arrangement, pay close attention as you read the section on Library of Congress Call Numbers.

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These materials may be used for educational purposes if you inform and credit the author and cite the source as: LSCI 105 Online Research. All commercial rights are reserved. To contact the author, send comments or suggestions to: Eric Brenner at brenner@smcccd.cc.ca.us