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Books & eBooks: Catalogs and Search Tools

Catalogs

Reading Call Numbers

Two major call number systems are used in the libraries: the Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress classification schemes. As it appears on a physical item, the first line of a call number is a broad subject classification. The subsequent lines combine letters and numbers to organize items into narrower, related categories.

Library of Congress  Dewey Decimal
HB   Alphabetically 
615  Whole number
573.3  Whole number, followed by decimal
 
.C518  Alphabetically, then decimals
(may be followed by another letter)
.W932A  Alphabetically, then decimals 
2018  Publication Date, shelves chronologically e.g., 573.3 W932A shelves before 573.3 W94A  

See How to Read Call Numbers from the University of Berkeley Library for more details about LC call numbers.
 

Search Tools

Interlibrary Loan

Can't find what you need at Oberlin? For books, try OhioLINK. For books not available through OhioLINK and for other types of materials, use Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

ILL lets you borrow materials from non-OhioLINK libraries, including print books, scanned journal articles, musical scores, videos, theses/dissertations, and more.