The document provides an overview of the Library of Congress Classification Shelflisting Manual (LCCSM) and how to assign call numbers. It discusses the basics of the LCCSM and how it supplements the LC Classification Schedules. It then focuses on Cutter numbers, explaining that they are derived from author names using the Cutter Table, and how geographic cutters and translation codes are assigned based on tables in the LCCSM. Call numbers are broken down to show the classification, Cutter number, and translation code components.

1. LC CALL NUMBERS 101
“WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!”,
THE LC CLASSIFICATION AND SHELFLISTING MANUAL

2. THE BASICS
• The Library of Congress
Classification Shelflisting
Manual (LCCSM) supplements
the LC Classification
Schedules providing rules
and instructions for creating
proper call numbers.
• Carefully reading the titles of
each section of the manual
will provide the guidance
needed in using the LCCSM.

3. CUTTER NUMBERS
• The history behind Cutter Numbers and the cutter number
table starts with a man named Charles Ammi Cutter.
• He was a pioneering librarian in the 1800’s who began
practices that are recognizable today, like “…loan cards
placed in a pocket glued to the inside of rear book covers,
an inter-library loan program, and home deliveries to
housebound patrons.” (Forbes Library)
• He was a founding member of the American Library
Association.
• His claim to fame though, comes from the Cutter
Expansive Classification system, which he created.
• He “devised the Two-Figure Author Table in the closing
years of the 19th century as an easy-to-use method for
arranging books by author within a given class.” (LCCSM)

4. CUTTER NUMBERS CONT.
• Cutter numbers are the numbers
assigned based on the main entry of a
work.
• For example:
D781 .N54 1998
• The D781 here is the classification, or
subject of the work. ‘D 781’ is for
History (General) - World War II (1939-
1945) - Submarine operations –
Germany.
• The ‘.N54’ is created from the main
entry, 1xx, field. This call number is
attached to a book written by Axel
Niestle.
• So, the ‘N’ comes from the first letter of
the author’s last name, and the 5 and 4
are the ‘i’ and ‘e’ in the same name.
• The LC Cutter Table is used to
determine the author or work number
in a call number.

5. .A CUTTERS
• Some cutter numbers are pre-defined by the
classification as something specific, and
generally cannot be used as the main entry
cutter. Frequently these are .A cutters.
• .A cutters can be determined using tables and
schedules created by the Library of Congress for
specific areas, like literature.
• PR2831.A25 F68 1989 – This call number is for a
version of Romeo and Juliet, the ‘.A25’ is added
to show that it is a version of the play that was
adapted for a school performance.

6. CUTTERING BY
REGION/COUNTRY
• Creating a cutter number for a specific
geographic location requires the use of a table,
or schedule that has been created by the
Library of Congress.
• On the LCCSM, pages G300, Regions and
Countries Table, and G302, U.S. States and
Canadian Provinces, provide guidance on this
subject.
• If you use a classification that is divided A-Z by
state for an item dealing with the state of
Georgia, then you would add a ‘.G4’ cutter
number to the Classification part of the call
number. Likewise, ‘.U6’ is used for the United
States.

7. CUTTERING BY
REGION/COUNTRY CONT.
• A good example of the use of the
geographic cutter tables is the call
number, E185.93.G4 A45 1991
• When you create a call number and you
use a tool like Classification Web you
may find a class number that works and
then it says ‘.A-Z’ and ‘By region or
country’. This is your cue to look at the
tables to determine what cutter number
you need.

8. TRANSLATIONS
• “A translation is a rendering from one language into
another, or from an older form of a language into a
modern form…” (LCCSM)
• Cutter numbers for an item that is a translation will
use the cutter number appropriate for the original
language and end with a two character code
beginning with a number one. The number one is
your clue that a translation may be involved.
• PQ6601.L26 S613 1987 – Shadow of Paradise by
Vicente Aleixandre. The ‘13’ is the translation code
for an English translation.

9. THANK YOU!
References
• Stromgren, Pip. (2004). Charles Ammi Cutter: Library Systematizer Extraordinaire.
Retrieved from https://forbeslibrary.org/info/library-history/charles-ammi-cutter/
• Library of Congress. (2013). Cutter Numbers. Retrieved from
https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeCSM/freecsm.html
• Library of Congress. (2019). Translations/Texts in Parallel Languages. Retrieved
from https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeCSM/G150.pdf