Music Library East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858 Shelving Music Scores Music Library East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858

LC Call Number System The Music Library uses the Library of Congress (LC) call number system to shelve print items such as music scores and books. For this particular tutorial we will only concentrate on shelving scores, which file into class “M” of the LC system.

M “M” tells you that this item is printed music or a score.

The number found after the general subject heading of “M”, breaks down the subject area even more. So far the call number tells us that we have a piece of printed music that is a piano sonata. M 23

M 23 B414 The third line of the call number is called the Cutter. The Cutter number is named after its creator: Charles Ammi Cutter. The Cutter represents a name or title. In this case: B414 = Beethoven. This score is a piano sonata by Beethoven.

More on the “Cutter”… Cutter numbers will always have the same format: A single capital letter followed by a number: C4, B13, G42, etc. The number is always read decimally. C49 comes before C5 (.49 is less than .5) B414 comes before B42 (.414 is less than .42) It may help you to imagine a zero at the end of the shorter numbers: B414 comes before B420

Ordering Cutter numbers decimally… M M M M M 100 100 100 100 100 B134 B2 B39 B4 B5 Remember, you can add zeros if it helps… .134 then .200 then .390 then .400 then .500

More decimals… M M M M 23 23 23 23 C13 C13 C13 C13 F5 F51 F597 F6 23 23 23 23 C13 C13 C13 C13 F5 F51 F597 F6 Adding zeros… .500 then .510 then .597 then .600

The fourth line of the call number can be another Cutter, or it can be any number of other things that we call “additional elements.” M 23 B414 C7

Additional Elements… op. 17 BWV 109 no. 3 W. 23 K. 325 1987 v. 1 v. 2 c. 2 Additional elements give you even more information about an item. Shelve the additional elements in alphabetical order. Shelve dates in numerical order after the alphabetical sequence Any numbers associated with additional elements are read as WHOLE numbers.

An example of additional elements in whole number order. M M M M 2023 2023 2023 2023 B16 B16 B16 B16 BWV 11 BWV 102 BWV 124 S. 12 C3 1941 1996 W4 1997 1997z

of putting additional elements in whole number order. Another example… M M M M M 3 3 3 3 3 B1133 B1133 B1133 B1133 B1133 ser. 1 ser. 1 ser. 2 ser. 2 ser. 2 v. 3 v. 4 v. 5 v. 5 v. 5 c. 2 c. 3 of putting additional elements in whole number order.

of putting additional elements in whole number order. Yet another example… M M M M M 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 B16 B16 B16 B16 B16 BWV 106 BWV 106 BWV 106 BWV 106 BWV 106 no. 1 no. 2 1982 1985 1990 of putting additional elements in whole number order.

A few definitions… op. = Opus number no. = Serial number A number assigned to a musical composition no. = Serial number Indicates the order of composition and/or publication 1923 = Date of publication Often the last element in the call number

So what is a thematic index? Thematic Index Number A unique number assigned by the compiler of a thematic index to each composition in the index. Examples: BWV 100; W. 23; D. 759; K. 36 So what is a thematic index? A list of all the compositions by a particular composer. The person compiling the list will usually assign a unique number to each piece. Sometimes it is easier to identify a piece by its thematic index number when searching the library catalog.

Just a few more… v. = volume c. = copy A large work may be broken down into separate, smaller books or scores. Each one of these items would be a volume. c. = copy If the library has multiple copies of the same item, the call number will indicate which copy it is.

Nothing comes before Something Take Note! Nothing comes before Something M M 1621.4 1621.4 B47 B47 N8 N8 1955

Nothing comes before Something: another example… M M 352 352 C12 C12 op. 1

And one more… M M 1001 1001 B414 B414 op. 2 op. 2 no. 1 no. 1 c. 2

When shelving items with additional elements, the “Nothing before Something” rule becomes very important in a different way. All additional elements are considered “Nothing”. You would then consider Cutter numbers “Something”. M M 23 23 B414 B414 op. 27 C7 no. 2 1923

Why are additional elements considered “nothing”? Additional elements are seen as extensions of the Cutter number immediately preceding them. You can look at it this way: M comes before M 23 23 B414, op. 27, no. 2, 1983 B414 C23

Nothing comes before Something M M M M M 23 23 23 23 23 B414 B414 B414 B414 B414 op. 7 op. 10 op. 57 C7 H38 Notice how the additional elements come before the Cutter numbers. Also notice how the additional elements are filed in whole number order.

Another way to look at it… M M M M M 23 23 23 23 23 B414, op. 7 B414, op. 10 B414, op. 57 B414 B414 C7 H38 Nothing comes before Something

One more example… M M M M 1630.1 1630.1 1630.1 1630.1 R63 R63 R63 R63 1630.1 1630.1 1630.1 1630.1 R63 R63 R63 R63 v. 1 v. 2 A13 A2 Nothing (additional elements) Something (Cutter no.’s) Whole number order Numbers read decimally

a misshelved item, is a LOST item. Remember… a misshelved item, is a LOST item. Always ask a staff member if you need help shelving items in the library. Thank you.