Re-edited by the Collection Management Group

 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.

 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.

 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.

 The SuDocs system classifies reports and legal documents created by the United States Government.

 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.

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 Let’s examine a SuDocs Call Number and discuss its individual components

Alex US C3.4/2 :994 Alex  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 C3.4/2 :994 US  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.

 DOCNJNew Jersey Government Documents  DOCNon-Depository Government Documents  STATEDocuments from outside New Jersey  DOCLUSUnited States Laws and Publications  DOCLNJNew Jersey State Laws 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.

Alex US C3.4/2 :994 Issuing Agency  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 C3.4/2 :994 C3  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 :994 Category/ Series Number  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 :994.4/2  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 ◦.2 General Publications ◦.3 Bulletins ◦.4 Circulars ◦.5 Laws

Alex US C3.4/2 :994.4/2  In this example the number “4” indicates that this document is a circular.  Examples of some categories are: ◦.1 Annual Reports ◦.2 General Publications ◦.3 Bulletins ◦.4 Circulars ◦.5 Laws

Alex US C3.4/2 :994.4/2  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 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 Examples of ID numbers  ID numbers could represent: ◦ Publication year-994 for 1994 ◦ Volume number-1,2,3 etc. ◦ Volume-item number1-2, 1-3, etc.

Alex US C3.4/2 :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.

 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.

 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 Alex US C3.4/2 :994

 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

 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.

 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.

 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.

 When shelving always compare documents in order of hierarchical importance.  Remember, different hierarchical levels are separated by punctuation marks.

 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 C59.11 US C59.11/2

 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 C59.11/a :In8 / US C59.11/4 :In2 /929-82

 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 C59.12 US C59.112

 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 C59.11 v.80 US C59.11/2 v.4

 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 Y4.AP.6/1 :D36/950 US Y4.AP.6/1 :D36/2

 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.

 Level 1 - Authoring Department “A” call numbers are shelved before “B” call numbers. Alex US A3.4/2 :994 Alex US B3.4/2 :994

 Within a Department lower numbers are shelved before higher numbers. 3 is less than 11 and is shelved first. Alex US C3.4/2 :994 Alex US C11.4/2 :994

 Level 2 - Document Category  This level starts with a period.  Shelve lower numbers before higher numbers. Alex US D3.4/2 :994 Alex US D3.14/2 :994 4 is less than 14 and is shelved first.

 Level 3 - Series Designation  This level starts with a slash.  Shelve letters before numbers.  Shelve lower numbers before higher numbers. Alex US E3.3/a-2 :994 Alex US E3.3/2 :994 /a is shelved before /2 which is shelved before /3. Alex US E3.3/3 :994

 Level 4 - Document Identifying Number  This level comes after a colon.  Shelve lower numbers before higher numbers. Alex US G3.3/2 :994 Alex US G3.3/2 :995 :994 is less than :995 and is shelved first.

 You have completed the Superintendent of Documents Classification System online training program.