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History 135: The Coffeehouse from Arabia to the Enlightenment: Locating Materials in the Library

The Coffeehouse from Arabia to the Enlightenment
Professor: Alexander Bevilacqua
Fall 2022

Step 1: Determine Library Location

Call Number Floor
A-D Level 4
E-H Level 3
J-PF Level 2
PG-Z Level 1
DVDs, CDs Level 3

Note: This table is for the location of items in Sawyer stacks. There are other library locations (such as  Sawyer DVD, Sawyer Reserve, and Sawyer Reference) that also use this call number system. See library maps for further information.

Step 2: Locate on Shelf

Unlike public and school libraries, most academic libraries use the Library of Congress Classification scheme to arrange books on the shelves.

Sawyer call numbers


Read call numbers line by line:

  • First line: arranged alphabetically
  • Second line: read as a whole number
  • Third and fourth lines: arranged alphabetically, then numerically, with the number treated as a decimal (e.g., .A627 comes before .A65)
  • Last line: shelved chronologically.