Cataloging

LC Call Numbers in Acorn

LC call numbers begin with a classification portion which consists of 1 to 3 letters plus a number.

Examples: R35 ; PA3553 ; DJK8
NOTE: There is no space between the letter and the number in the classification portion.

Acorn will print the letter(s) on a separate line from the number, although no space exists in the call number field.
Examples:

R PA DJK

35 3553 8

LENGTH: The number portion is usually between 1 and 4 digits long. If you see a 5 digit number in this portion, you probably have a mistake.

LC call numbers also usually contain one or two cutters. These consist of one letter plus a number.

Examples with ONE cutter: R35 .C766 ; PA3553 .A49 1987 ; DJK8 .E25 2005
NOTE: When you only have ONE cutter, there is a space between the classification and the cutter.
ALSO NOTE: There is always a decimal point before the first cutter.
LENGTH: There is no limit on the length of the number portion.

Examples with TWO cutters: R35 .R6 G383 1999 ; PT2621 .A26 Z53913 1982 ; PZ1 .A1 I63
NOTE: In the call number field in Acorn, there should be a space before each cutter. Elsewhere (in the bib record or holdings) the first of two cutters has no space between it and the classification. But in the call number field, this space is needed to print the label correctly. This is a common mistake in the call number field to leave out this first space. Correct it by adding the space.
ALSO NOTE: There is no decimal before the second cutter. The decimal point is always before a first or only cutter, but never before the second cutter.

Dates: Most, but not all, LC call numbers end in a date. See above examples. There are some LC call numbers which have a year embedded within the call number. This is not a mistake.

Example of embedded dates: HA1121 1961 .A532 ; BS185 1987 .N3 1987 ; KHH2914 1991 .A4 T34 1993 ; BS191 .A1 1977 .N43 [this is the only case where both cutters have a decimal, when a date comes between them]

Ordinal numbers within a call number. Some LC call numbers have ordinal numbers embedded within them.

Examples: E505.5 102nd .F57 1999 ; E505.5 25th .B63 2003

Captions: Many LC call numbers will have captions. Multi-volume sets, for exampe, will have one base call number and each volume will have a caption to differentiate it from the other volumes (v.1, v.2, v.3 etc.).

Examples of call numbers with captions:
PZ1 .A1 I63|zno.8 ; RA154 .B1|z1925 ; DD3 .M8 S73|zv.3 pt.5 no.2 ; AP2 .N658 1933 July-Dec. ; DT1 .A2293|zv.5-7 1962-1964

Things to NOTE:
Captions are usually preceeded by |z in the call number field. This does not print. It does create a line break in the label.
Captions can have multiple parts.
Captions can be dates as well as abbreviations with numbers. Some captions can be just single words with no numbers, such as Index or Suppl.
There should be a space between each part of a caption.
There should NOT be a space between the abbreviation and the following number: v.1 not v. 1
Spaces in the call number field will generate a line break. v.1 should print on one line so we do not want a space between the v. and the 1.
Multiple captions are arranged in descending order, with the largest unit first, i.e. 1993 July-Dec., not July-Dec. 1993. This formatting makes multiple item records sort correctly (all the 1993 issues are grouped together)
A list of the most common captions and their abbreviations can be found here.

Music has some unusual call numbers. Opus numbers are often embedded.

Examples: M231 .S559 op.40 1947 ; M557.2 .B65 op.15|zno.2 2005

Conversion from Notis caused some strange punctuation in Acorn call number fields.

Some call numbers have semicolons in them. This is a conversion related issue. In Notis (our previous ILS), call numbers were created with semicolons where the line breaks in the label needed to be. In Sirsi (our current ILS), these semicolons need to be removed to print the label correctly. The semicolons can be removed and replaced with spaces.