Finding books on the shelves is easy once you know how the books are organised.
Most of the University of Exeter library collections are organised using the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme, although there are some exceptions.
For example, the Lasok Law Library uses the Moys Classification Scheme - This groups materials by jurisdiction and subject and it uses a combination of letters and numbers: e.g. KN 10 and Exeter Health Library uses the Wessex Classification Scheme: e.g. WZ 40 for the history of medicine.
Use Library Search to identify the classmark of the book you want to find.
This example of a Library record shows a book which is available both in print and as an e-book.
The classmark shows you exactly where to look in the library to find the print item.
Use the floor plans and shelf end signage to help you find this on the library shelf.
Books are arranged in numeric order from 000-999.
It can be confusing when the classification numbers after the decimal points are very long, e.g. 595.789094235 BRI
It can help to think of the numbers like decimal money, so £595.78 is more than £595.07, so on the shelves, 595.78 appears after 595.07
It can also help if you mentally add extra zeros to numbers to help you compare numbers so:
595.7800
595.7834
Mentally adding the two 00’s would help you visualise that .7834 comes after .78.
As books are organised according to subject, you can use classmark to see where to start browsing the shelves.
Books on the same subject will have the same classmark.
Books on similar or related subjects will be located nearby so you can browse the shelves.
It is also possible to do a Virtual Browse in Library Search. Hover over the images at the bottom of the catalogue record for similar books to see the classmark:
Pamphlets are booklets or short printed works, typically less than 50 pages. They tend to get lost or misfiled if kept in the main book sequence, and so they are they are located in pamphlet boxes at the end of each Dewey class.
For example:
The classmark/call number for archaeology books is within the 900s. Archaeology pamphlets can be found in boxes at the end of the 900-999 sequence on Level +1 at the Forum end of the library floor.
Oversize books are books which are too large to fit on the normal shelves.
As with pamphlets, you'll find them at the end of each Dewey class. So oversize archaeology books can be found at the end of the 900-999 sequence.
You can tell from the classmark/call number on Library Search whether an item is a standard book or whether an item is in the oversized or pamphlet section. The table below illustrates how these items are identified in Library Search.
| Location | Call No. | Loan Type | Status | |
| Standard Book | Forum Library |
930.1 EGA |
Standard | Available |
| Oversize Book | Forum Library |
Oversize Section 913.4272 ARC/X |
Standard | Available |
| Pamphlet | Forum Library |
Pamphlet Section 913.4231 VAT |
Standard | Available |
Dewey organises books according to subject. Each subject is given a number. The complete number is called the classmark.
For example: 595.789 WHI is the classmark of a book about butterflies whose author's surname begins with WHI.
The Dewey Decimal Classification system has 10 broad classes:
Each of these topics may be further divided into more specific subject areas, e.g. 590—Zoological Sciences, 595 Other Invertebrates
Each of the 10 main Dewey classes can be divided into more specific subject areas:
e.g. 590 = Zoological Sciences, 595 = Other Invertebrates
The numbers can be sub-divided further using a decimal point and additional numbers after the point.
e.g. 595.7 = Insects, 595.789 = Butterflies.
It can help to remember that the more numbers = the more specific the subject of the book
In this example, a book about butterflies is more specialised than a book on zoology and therefore has a longer Dewey class number.
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