Tip: Looking for book chapters? Search with Summon.
Tip: To request an item in OhioLINK, click "Request" and select Oberlin as your school. See our step-by-step guide for help.
Tip: If you want to request something you only see in WorldCat, see our interlibrary loan guide for next steps.
At Oberlin, you have access to several libraries. Depending on your topic, you may find materials in Terrell (the main library), science, art, or the conservatory libraries. If you're not sure where you'd find something in each library, we have maps to help.
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.