Transcript Library of Congress Practice test Superintendent of Documents

Re-edited by the
Collection Management Group
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It is the job of the Librarian to make
information accessible to the public.
Librarians accomplish this goal by
determining similarities between items and
shelving them in the appropriate collection.
The tool that Librarians use in order to meet
this goal is called a Classification System.
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There are several different Classification
Systems currently in use in the Alexander
Library.
This presentation will help you to understand
how the Superintendent of Documents
system or SuDocs.
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The SuDocs system is one of many different
systems used in the classification of
Government Publications.
A clear understanding of how the SuDocs
system works is an important step in working
with Government Publications.
This tutorial will aid you in understanding the
SuDocs system.
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The SuDocs
system
classifies
reports and
legal documents
created by the
United States
Government.
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The SuDocs system accomplishes this by
using numbers and letters to identify the
issuing agency, type of publication and the
individual item number of a particular
document.
We call this combination of letters and
numbers a Call Number.
Let’s examine a SuDocs Call Number
and discuss its individual components
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
:994
Alex……..….Signifies Owning Library
US…….……..Collection within Government Publications
C3……………Issuing Agency within Federal Government
.4/2………….Category/ Series Number
:994………….Document Identifying Number
Alex
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
:994
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This line indicates the owning library.
If an item indicates that it belongs to
another library in the Rutgers system,
bring it to the Circulation Desk.
Alex
US
US
C3
.4/2
:994
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This line identifies which collection this item comes
from.
The symbol “US” or “DOCUS” indicate that this is part
of the DOCUS Collection.
Be aware that there are many different collections in
Government Publications that do not use the SuDocs
system.
Other Collections
These are some of the other collections located in
the Government Publications section. These areas
use other Classification Systems besides the
SuDocs system.
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DOCNJ
DOC
STATE
DOCLUS
DOCLNJ
New Jersey Government Documents
Non-Depository Government Documents
Documents from outside New Jersey
United States Laws and Publications
New Jersey State Laws
Alex
US
C3
Issuing Agency
.4/2
:994
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The issuing agency slot identifies the
authoring government department, as well
as the agency or subordinate office within
that department which is directly
responsible for the document.
Alex
US
C3
C3
.4/2
:994
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In this example the letter “C” stands for the
Department of Commerce.
The number “3” appended to the letter “C” stands for
the Bureau of the Census, the agency within the
Department of Commerce directly responsible for
the document.
This slot will always be followed by a period.
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
Category/ Series Number
:994
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After the period there will be a string of
numbers which represent the category of
the document as well as which series the
document belongs to.
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
.4/2
:994
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The category of a document is represented by the
number directly following the period and before the
slash.
Examples of some categories are:
◦ .1 Annual Reports
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◦
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◦
.2
.3
.4
.5
General Publications
Bulletins
Circulars
Laws
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
.4/2
:994
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In this example the number “4” indicates that this
document is a circular.
Examples of some categories are:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
.1
.2
.3
.4
.5
Annual Reports
General Publications
Bulletins
Circulars
Laws
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
.4/2
:994
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The slash followed by either a number or letter
indicates that a particular agency has created more
than one series within the given category of
documents.
The number “2” in this example indicates that the
document belongs in this agency’s second series of
circulars.
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
:994
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Document Item Number
This number will always be proceeded by a
colon “:”
This number represents a document’s
individual identification number.
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
:994
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Examples of ID numbers
ID numbers could represent:
◦ Publication year◦ Volume number◦ Volume-item number
994 for 1994
1,2,3 etc.
1-2, 1-3, etc.
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
:994
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:994
In this call number example, the item number
“994” indicates that this volume is the 1994
volume.
After the year 2000 all years in SuDoc are no
longer abbreviated. For example, 2014 would
be written in full as “2014” at the bottom of
the SuDoc number.
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Understandably, no one can memorize
what all of the various letters and numbers
stand for.
What we do ask is that you understand why
certain items are shelved in their
respective locations.
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
:994
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To review, this call number indicates that this is
an Alexander library government document
which belongs in the Superintendent of
Documents collection.
C represents the Department of Commerce. C3
further determines that this is from the Census
Bureau.
In particular, this volume is about 1994.
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Before shelving a document in the SuDocs
collection, make sure it is a SuDocs
document.
If it is a SuDocs document it will have the
letters “US” or “DOCUS” preceding the call
number.
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
:994
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The authoring agency of the document is
usually written on the front cover.
The call number displayed should match
the authoring agency of the document.
Alex
US
C3
.4/2
:994
•C for Commerce Department
•ED for Education Department, etc.
If the call number does not match the
authoring agency, bring the document to a
Collection Management staff member.
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A certain document is authored by the
Department of Labor. This means its call number
should start with the letter “L”.
This document has the wrong call number.
Bring it to a staff member.
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When shelving in SuDocs remember the
following:
◦ Nothing comes before Something
◦ Letters get shelved before numbers
◦ Numbers are always treated as whole numbers
◦ Punctuation marks such as periods, slashes,
and colons indicate a new series designation
◦ Dates after a slash are filed before numbers
after a slash.
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When shelving always compare documents in
order of hierarchical importance.
Remember, different hierarchical levels are
separated by punctuation marks.
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Nothing comes before Something
◦ If there are two items that are almost identical,
look for the first difference between the two.
◦ In the example below you can see that one of the
items has additional information in a section, and
in the corresponding section of the other there is
nothing. Therefore the item with nothing in the
section comes before the item with something in
the same section.
US
US
C59
C59
.11
.11/2
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Letters get shelved before numbers.
◦ If there are two items that are almost identical, look
for the first difference between the two.
◦ In the example below, the first difference is the
character after the slash mark. Letters are always
shelved before numbers, so the Call Number with
“.11/a” comes before the Call Number with “.11/4”.
US
US
C59
C59
.11/a
.11/4
:In8
:In2
/950-79
/929-82
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Numbers are always treated as whole numbers
◦ In this example, the first difference is “.12” and
“.112”.
◦ Because all numbers are treated as whole numbers in
the SuDocs classification system, “.12” and “.112” are
NOT decimals. Treat them as “12” and “112”. “12”
comes before “112”, and that determines the order in
this pair.
US
US
C59
C59
.12
.112
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Punctuation marks such as periods, slashes,
and colons indicate a new series designation.
◦ In this example we see that the slash mark in the third
section of the call number indicates that there is a
second series to this set. The second series begins
after the last book of the first series.
US
US
C59
C59
.11
.11/2
v.80
v.4
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Dates after a slash are filed before numbers after
a slash.
◦ In this example we see that one of these call numbers
apparently ends in a date, while the other ends in a
volume number. Use careful judgment when
determining if a number is a date or a volume number.
US
US
Y4
Y4
.AP
.AP
.6/1
.6/1
:D36/950
:D36/2
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When shelving in any collection, look for
the first difference in call numbers to
determine which SuDoc number should
come first. The following are examples of
two sets of call numbers and demonstrate
how to work through a call number from
top to bottom.
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Level 1 - Authoring Department
“A” call numbers are shelved before “B” call
numbers.
Alex
Alex
US
US
A3
B3
.4/2
.4/2
:994
:994
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Within a Department lower numbers are
shelved before higher numbers.
3 is less than 11 and is shelved first.
Alex
Alex
US
US
C3
C11
.4/2
.4/2
:994
:994
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Level 2 - Document Category
This level starts with a period.
Shelve lower numbers before higher numbers.
4 is less than 14 and is shelved first.
Alex
Alex
US
US
D3
D3
.4/2
.14/2
:994
:994
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Level 3 - Series Designation
This level starts with a slash.
Shelve letters before numbers.
Shelve lower numbers before higher numbers.
/a is shelved before /2 which is shelved before /3.
Alex
Alex
Alex
US
US
US
E3
E3
E3
.3/a-2
.3/2
.3/3
:994
:994
:994
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Level 4 - Document Identifying Number
This level comes after a colon.
Shelve lower numbers before higher numbers.
:994 is less than :995 and is shelved
first.
Alex
Alex
US
US
G3
G3
.3/2
.3/2
:994
:995
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You have completed the Superintendent of
Documents Classification System online
training program.