The Library collection contains several million printed books, located across library sites, which are shelved in subject order according to the Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal classification schemes. Help is provided on how to find printed books on the Library shelves. About printed books The Lending Collection includes books printed since 1850. Older or rare books are held within the Centre for Research Collections (CRC). The High Use Books Collection (HUB) is located on the Ground Floor of the Main Library, and the Current General Lending Collection is located on the Second and Third Floors. The Older Lending Collection is available on the Fourth Floor, alongside current print journals. Centre for Research Collections (CRC) High Use Book Collection (HUB) Locating printed books Use DiscoverEd to find details of printed books. The bibliographic record will include the name of the holding library (location) and the relevant shelfmark which will help you locate the volume on the shelf. Books are arranged by either Library of Congress classification, or Dewey Decimal classification. Use DiscoverEd Library of Congress classification Library of Congress classification is an alphabetical arrangement. Shelfmarks consist of one or more capital letters, followed by numbers and end with three letters. The capital letters denote the main subject of the book, the numbers refer to a sub category of the main subject, and the three letters refer to the first three letters of the main author’s surname. For example: the book, 'An introduction to probability and inductive logic' by Ian Hacking, is assigned the shelfmark BC141 Hac. Subclass Stands for BC Logic 141 Logic of chance. Probability. Hac. Hacking, Ian. A list showing how subjects are classified using the Library of Congress scheme, is available to help you locate books in the University libraries. Download an outline of the Library of Congress scheme (pdf) Dewey Decimal classification Dewey Decimal classification shelfmarks are numeric. They begin with a decimal point and usually end with three letters. The numbers in a Dewey shelfmark denote the main subject of the book and the letters refer to the main author’s surname. For example: the book, 'Collected Poems 1909-1962' by T.S. Eliot, is assigned the Dewey number .821 Eli. Subclass Stands for 821 English poetry Eli Eliot, T.S. Some shelfmarks may include a prefix which indicates a specific format (i.e. Outsize or Pamphlet), or that a volume is held in a special sequence. A Guide to Dewey is available to help you locate books in the University’s libraries: Download an outline of the Dewey Decimal scheme (pdf) Borrowing printed books Printed books which are not designated as reference volumes may be borrowed by Edinburgh University staff and students, and external borrowers. The length of the loan period can vary according to type of book and borrower. Borrowing a book Photocopying Most libraries have self-service photocopying facilities and portions of books can be copied within existing copyright guidelines. Copyright Interlibrary Loans Printed books which are unavailable in Edinburgh University Library may be obtained through the interlibrary loans service. Inter Library Loans Recommending a new book University staff and students may make recommendations for the addition of new printed books to library collections. Book recommendation forms Further help For further help and information contact EdHelp. EdHelp This article was published on 2024-08-21
