Bibliographic Services — McMaster University Libraries

Generally, we follow Library of Congress classification practices and apply LC call numbers to our books. Sticking with LC makes the job of assigning a call number and getting the book on the shelf faster and easier.

In a few cases, though, we don’t follow LC. Most of the areas where we depart from LC are Canadian topics where Library of Congress Classification doesn’t give us enough detail. The areas where we follow different practices are:

Canadian History

• Library of Congress numbers between F1001 and F1170 are reclassed using Library and Archives Canada’s FC classification schedule.

Canadian Literature

• Library of Congress numbers between PR9180 and PR9199 (English Canadian literature) are reclassed using Library and Archives Canada’s PS8000 classification schedule.
• Library of Congress numbers between PQ3900 and PQ3919 (French Canadian literature) are reclassed into PS9000, based on the PS8000 schedule.

Fiction and Juvenile belles lettres

• Library of Congress numbers between PZ1 and PZ90 are classed with other literary works using the Class P schedule.