The Library at Worcester State University uses the Library of Congress (LC) classification system to organize the books, journals, and media materials acquired by the library. The purpose of the classification system is to shelve items on the same topic together, thus allowing researchers to browse areas of the collection relevant to their topics. This system is used by the Library of Congress and many academic and research libraries in the United States.
The LC system categorizes materials into 21 broad subject categories indicated by a letter of the alphabet and then further divides each subject category into more specific subject areas by adding additional letter(s) and number(s). Each item acquired by the library is given a unique Call Number based on the LC classification system.
The chart below lists the general subject areas and major subdivisions of the Library of Congress Classification System. To see a more detailed breakdown of subject classes, view the Library of Congress Classification Outline [http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/] posted by the Cataloging and Acquisitions Office of the Library of Congress.
| A GENERAL WORKS | ||
| AE | Encyclopedias | |
| AY | Almanacs | |
| B PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY. RELIGION | ||
| B-BD | Philosophy | |
| BF | Psychology | |
| BH-BJ | Aesthetics & Ethics | |
| Bl-BX | Religion | |
| C AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY | ||
| CB | History of Civilization | |
| CC | Archaeology | |
| CT | General Biography | |
| D HISTORY: GENERAL AND OLD WORLD | ||
| D | World History | |
| DA-DR | European History | |
| DJK-DK | Eastern Europe, Russia & Poland | |
| DS | Asia | |
| DT | Africa | |
| DU | Australia, New Zealand | |
| E-F HISTORY: AMERICA | ||
| E 11-143 | America | |
| E 151- | United States History (includes African-American Studies at E 185) | |
| F 1-975 | United States Local History (includes St. Louis at F 474 & Missouri at F 466) | |
| F 1001- | Other Countries (includes Canada, & countries of Central & South America) | |
| G GEOGRAPHY. ANTHROPOLOGY. RECREATION | ||
| G-GB | Geography | |
| GE | Environmental Sciences | |
| GF | Human Ecology | |
| GN | Anthropology | |
| GT | Manners & Customs | |
| GV | Recreation & Leisure | |
| H SOCIAL SCIENCES | ||
| HA | Statistics | |
| HB-HD | Economics | |
| HE | Transportation & Communication (includes radio & television broadcasting) | |
| HF | Commerce (includes business administration, accounting, advertising & marketing) | |
| HG | Finance | |
| HJ | Public Finance | |
| HM-HS | Sociology | |
| HM | General Sociology (includes mass media communication, public opinion, & public relations) | |
| HQ | Family, Marriage, & Women | |
| HT | Communities, Classes, & Races | |
| HV | Social Pathology, Social & Public Welfare, & Criminology | |
| HX | Socialism, Communism, & Anarchism | |
| J POLITICAL SCIENCE | ||
| JF | Constitutional History & Government Administration | |
| JK | United States | |
| JS | Local Governments (municipal, etc.) | |
| JX | International Law & International Relations | |
| K LAW | ||
| KF | United States Law | |
| L EDUCATION | ||
| LA | History of Education | |
| LB | Theory and Practice of Education | |
| LC | Education of Exceptional Individuals | |
| M MUSIC |
| N FINE ARTS |
| P LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE | ||
| P | Philosophy & Linguistics (includes mass media communication, composition, & rhetoric) | |
| PA | Classical Languages and Literature | |
| PB | Celtic Languages and Literatures | |
| PC | Romance Languages (Italian, French, Catalan, Spanish & Portuguese) | |
| PD | Germanic Languages (Old Germanic, Norwegian, Icelandic, Danish & Swedish) | |
| PE | English Language | |
| PF | West Germanic Languages (Dutch, Flemish, Friesian & German) | |
| PG | Slavic (includes Russian), Baltic & Albanian Languages and Literature | |
| PJ-PM | Oriental Languages & Literatures (includes Egyptian, Coptic, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, & American Indian) | |
| PN | Literary History & Collections (includes prose, poetry, drama, speech, debate & journalism) | |
| PQ | Romance Literatures | |
| PR | English Literature | |
| PS | American Literature | |
| PT | Germanic Literatures (includes German, Dutch, Flemish, Afrikaans & Scandinavian) | |
| PZ | Children's Literature | |
| Q SCIENCE | ||
| Q | General Science | |
| QA | Mathematics (includes computer science) | |
| QB | Astronomy | |
| QC | Physics (includes light, spectroscopy, meteorology & climatology) | |
| QD | Chemistry | |
| QE | Geology | |
| QH | Natural History & General Biology | |
| QK | Botany | |
| QL | Zoology | |
| QM | Human Anatomy | |
| QP | Physiology | |
| QR | Microbiology | |
| R MEDICINE | ||
| R | General Medicine (includes Biomedical Engineering at R856-857) | |
| RA | Aspects of Medicine (includes public health & toxicology) | |
| RC | Practice of Medicine (includes speech & language disorders, psychiatry & geriatrics) | |
| RF | Ear (includes audiology), Nose & Throat | |
| RJ | Pediatrics (includes autistic, hyperactive & learning and behaviorally disordered children) | |
| S AGRICULTURE |
| T TECHNOLOGY | ||
| T | GeneralTechnology | |
| TA | General Engineering | |
| TD | Environmental Technology | |
| TJ | Mechanical Engineering & Machinery | |
| TK | Electrical Engineering, Electronics, & Nuclear Engineering | |
| TL | Motor Vehicles, Aeronautics & Astronautics | |
| TP | Chemical Technology (includes biotechnology) | |
| TR | Photography | |
| TS | Manufacturers (includes production, industries & products) | |
| U MILITARY SCIENCE |
| V NAVAL SCIENCE |
Z BIBLIOGRAPHY (All subjects). LIBRARY SCIENCE
May 9, 2011.
Original text and guide attributed to Georgia Baugh, Saint Louis University.
