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How to Locate Material in a Library

In order to locate material in the library, you will need to use some basic skills:
  • ABC order
  • Number order
  • Geography  
 
* FIRST WE'LL START WITH GEOGRAPHY SKILLS *
 
THE WORLD IS DIVIDED into seven continents.  Most continents are further divided into countries, states or provinces, counties, cities, neighborhoods, streets, and street addresses. A neighborhood can be divided into places we live, work, and 'play.'  The places where we work fall into different 'industries,' of which there are many divisions: education, government, finance, health care, manufacturing, construction, etc.  A school can be divided into several areas: classrooms, bathrooms, offices, hallways, cafeteria, gym, multi-purpose room, art room, workshop, and--last but not least--library.
 
    A library is divided into several areas, too. Some common sections of a library include
    • Fiction
    • Non-Fiction
    • Biography
    • Reference
    • Periodicals
 
ABBREVIATIONS are shortened forms of words or phrases and are often used on maps.
    • IA --> Iowa
    • NY --> New York
    • USA --> United States of America
    • Eng. --> England

     A library uses abbreviations to label its sections, too:

    • F/FIC --> Fiction (stories that come from an author's imagination; made-up)
    • B/BIO --> Biographies (true story of an actual person's life)
    • R/REF --> Reference (books which are referred to for certain information, not usually read cover to cover, ready for use on demand, and therefore not usually checked out of the library; these include books such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and almanacs)
    • P/PER --> Periodicals (works that are published on a regular schedule, or periodically; these include newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, newsletters, and even the school yearbook!)
 
BUILDINGS HAVE ADDRESSES to help people find their locations.
 
    Library books have addresses, too.  A book's address is called a call number (even though they don't all contain a number--confusing, huh?). 
    The call number can be found on the spine of the book on a little white label, called a spine label, and might look something like these: 

 FIC

 

Des

 FIC

PB

Des

 BIO

 

LIN

 590

 

And

 599

 

Bla

REF

590

AND

 
    The top line of the call number is an abbreviation of the section of the library in which the book is located. So when you see
    • F/FIC  --> Go to the Fiction section
    • R/Ref --> Go to the Reference section        
    • B/BIO --> Go to the Biography section        
    • ###.#s -->Go to the Non-Fiction section

    The bottom line is an abbreviation of the author's last name.  (Or sometimes when there is no author listed, it's an abbreviation of the first word in the title)

    • FIC Des --> fiction book by Sarah Dessen
    • FIC PB Des --> fiction book by Sarah Dessen, in paperback
    • BIO Lin --> biography about Abraham Lincoln
    • 590 And--> non-fiction book by William Anderson
    • 599 Bla --> non-fiction books by Sarah Black
    • REF 590 And --> non-fiction reference book by William Anderson
* NOW FOR MATH SKILLS *
    Books with call numbers that actually have numbers in them are placed in the non-fiction (information and facts of the real world; stories that actually happened) section of the library.
    Books are first arranged in numerical order, smallest to largest.
    • 590 And comes before 599 And because 590 is less than 599
* NOW FOR YOUR ABC SKILLS *
When more than one book has the same number, they are then arranged in alphabetical order by the author's last name.
- FIC and BIO books do not have an actual number. 
- Fiction books are arranged in alphabetical order by the author's last name. 
- Biographies are arranged in alphabetical order by the last name of the biographee, or the person whose life story is being told.
- When there is more than one book by the same author, they are next arranged in alphabetical order by the first word in the title (don't count the word the or a)
    • 599 And comes before 599 Ber because A comes before B in the alphabet
    • FIC Des comes before FIC Pau because D comes before P in the alphabet
    • BIO Lin comes before BIO Was because L comes before W in the alphabet
    • Sarah Dessen's books would be in alphabetical order like this: Along for the Ride, Dreamland, Just Listen, Keeping the Moon, Lock and Key, Someone Like You, That Summer, This Lullaby, The Truth About Forever, Someone Like You.