University of London Research Library Services

Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU

www.shl.lon.ac.uk

Main tel. 020 7862 8500

A guide to the

classification scheme

Senate House Library Information Guides

However, items where the second row of the classmark is entirely in capital letters will file at

the end of a particular sequence. This is commonly found in history and the social sciences

(including Area Studies), art and, to a lesser extent, film and media. For example 63 MVT

CHU will file after 63 MVT Tee and VLeT CON Rey will file after VLeT Her.

63 MVT - British history 1900-1950

63 MVT Tee - British history 1900-1950 – General Works

Britain, 1906-1951 : a welfare state by Peter Teed

63 MVT CHU - British history 1900-1950 – Churchill - Autobiography

My early life by Winston S. Churchill

63 MVT CHU Gar - British history 1900-1950 – Churchill – Biography

Churchill in his time by Brian Gardner

or

VL - Art - Painting

VLe - Art – Painting - Britain

VLeT - Art – Painting – Britain – 19th Century

VLeT Her - 19th Century British Painting – General studies

Nineteenth century British painting by Luke Herrmann

VLeT CON - 19th Century British Painting – Artists works - Constable

Sketches by John Constable

VLeT CON Rey - 19th Century British Painting – Constable – Critical Works

Constable, the natural painter by Graham Reynolds

Other information

• In some collections, most notably Art, large books are shelved in a separate sequence -

indicated by the prefix ‘f’ or ‘folio’ before the location code

• Some subject collections have a Rapid Reference section, where general reference works

such as dictionaries and encyclopaedias may be found

• There are designated re-shelving areas for recently-used material – these can be shelving

bays or labelled trolleys, and are indicated on the library floor plans

• Please remember that some items are held in the closed access stacks – Please ask at Issue

Desk, 4th floor or see our website for further details

• All books related to Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States are held in their respective area collections

63

MVT Tee

63

MVT CHU

63

MVT

CHU Gar

VLeT Her

VLeT CON

VLeT

CON Rey

precedes which precedes

which precedes precedes

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FINDING BOOKS

To locate individual titles, use the online catalogue. To find an item you will need to know

both the collection location and the classmark. The location gives details of what collection

the item is part of and what floor that collection is on eg PSYCHOLOGY 6th Floor (67) or

ENGLISH 5th Floor (3). The classmark then gives more precise information about the item and

where it may be found within a particular collection eg (67) ICA Bra or (3) YUR Boo.

UNDERSTANDING CLASSMARKS

Whilst the Library uses a number of different classification schemes for its stock, the most

common amongst these, and perhaps the least familiar to readers, is the Bliss classification.

Bliss is essentially an alphabetical classification, and uses a combination of letters and

numbers to order books by subject. So ‘I’ appears before ‘IA’, which in turn precedes ‘IB’,

and so on. In this way IC is shelved before ICA, ICB etc. For example:

63 M = European history

63 MV = European history – Britain

63 MVO = European history – Britain – 1640-1660

or

67 I = Psychology

67 IC = Psychology - Perception

67 ICT = Psychology – Perception - Time

In subjects such as literature and philosophy it is often the author or philosopher that is the

subject of the classmark. For example:

3 YN = English literature – 1830-1880

3 YN D = English literature – 1830-1880 – Author beginning with ‘D’

3 YN D53 = English literature - Dickens

3 YN D53a = English literature – Dickens – Critical works

or

66 AE = Modern philosophy

66 AE H = Modern philosophy – Philosopher beginning with ‘H’

66 AE H423 = Modern philosophy - Heidegger

66 AE H423ML = Modern philosophy – Heidegger – Being and Time

Once you have both the location and the classmark, use the signs on the ends of each bay of

shelves to help you find the item that you require. It should be noted that the signs do not

always provide an exhaustive list of subjects, but are a guide to the more significant areas of

the collections.

Although Bliss is broadly speaking an alphabetical classification system, there are a number of

additional rules that may alter where an item would be found:-

1. Numbers file in decimal order

For example, 57 precedes 6, or 352 precedes 75

2. Numbers file before letters

For example, XTR6 precedes XTR followed by a letter or QXP1 precedes QXP

3. Filing order of upper and lowercase letters

When looking at letters forming part of a row of a classmark, capital letters will precede lower

case letters. This is commonly found in literature (including Area Studies) and philosophy.

3 YN D35 - English literature 1830-1880 - Dickens

3 YN D53E 994 - Capital ‘E’ - original work – The Uncommercial Traveller and other stories

3 YN D53PD 993 - Capital ‘PD’ - original work – Oliver Twist (1993 edition)

3 YN D53PDa Par - Capital ‘PD’ - original work but lower case ‘a’ signifies critical work

- The companion to Oliver Twist by David Paroissien

3 YN D53a Col - Lower case ‘a’ - general critical work – Dickens and Crime by Philip Collins

…continued overleaf

The English Revolution, 1640 by Christopher Hill

63

MVO Hil

The Social Psychology of Time edited by Joseph McGrath

67

ICT Soc

3

YN

D53a But

Dickens at work by John Butt

66

AE

H423ML 962

Being and Time by Martin Heidegger (1962 edition)

3

XTR5 Sco

3

XTR57 Fre

3

XTR6 Hen

precedes which precedes

3

YN

T75a Cla

3

YN

T42HH 999

3

YN

T352E 974

precedes which precedes

3

XTR6 Hen

3

XTR

B32L 982

precedes

3

QXP1 Dic

3

QXP Bre

precedes

3

YN

D53PD 993

3

YN

D53PDa Par

3

YN

D53a Col

3

YN

D53E 964

which precedes precedes

which precedes