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A Guide to the SuDoc (Superintendent of documents)Classification Scheme April 1999
The Documents Collection in at the WSU Ablah Library is shelved according
to the
Superintendent of Documents classification system. In this system,
documents are
classified by the issuing agency rather than having a subject oriented call
number. In
this classification scheme, the call numbers reflect government
organization or
hierarchy. The SuDoc classification number is made up of different elements
and
parts. Each element such as letter, number, or punctuation, is an important
part of the
classification number.
The basic "rules" for shelving or filing SuDoc numbers are:
• The dot or period in the SuDoe number is not a decimal. The numbers
following the dot or period are whole numbers.
• Letters are filed before numbers.
• Single letters precede double letters (A before AE, E before ED, etc.).
SuDocs further explained:
The initial letter or letters signify the department or agency that issued
the document.
Under the "nothing before something" rule, a one letter agency is filed
before a two (or
more) letter agency.
e.g. all E's (Energy) file before ED (Education) or EP
(Environmental Protection Agency).
The first number designates the sub agency (except "1 " which is used for
the whole agency). Next is a period. This most often divides the agency/sub
agency and the series the document is a part of. However, on occasion, the
number after the period designates a further sub agency breakdown.
For C 55:, the C = Department of Commerce and C 55. = National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration
For C 3., the C = Department of Commerce and 3. = Bureau of Census
For C 3.3, the C = Department of Commerce, the 3 = Bureau of Census, and
the .3 = Bulletin series
For D103.20, the D = Department of Defense, the 103 = Corps of Engineers,
and the .20 = Army Map Service
The next major element is the colon. This separates the call number into
two parts. The second part contains either:
1.a series volume number; or 2.a "Cutter" letter/number combination (based
on a keyword in a monograph's title) which puts titles in alphabetical
order.
e.g.,C3.3:13 or C3.2:1 23
Letters are filed before numbers (say this three times to yourself now!),
so
C 3.3:1 23 would be filed before C 3.3:13.
A further symbol is the slash "/" followed by a number. This is used if a
number or Cutter number is being used again for a different title.
Sometimes a 3 digit year is followed by a slash (ED 1.2:H 54/994). In this
case file the "/994" piece just after theEd 1.2:H 54 as it is a newer
edition or revision of that title. Usually the newer one supersedes or
replaces the older one, but not always.
EP 1.23: = U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ecological research
series. EP1.23/2: = U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental
protection technology series.
S 1.2:C 18/2 = U.S. Department of State. Foreign Service Careers. S 1.2:C
18/6 = U.S. Department of State. Civil Service Careers.
NOTE: Sometimes instead of using the slash (such as "/2"), the number has
been
written as an exponent (superscript). The information is the same either
way.
EP 1.23/1: is the same as EP 1.23:
Different editions are often distinguished by the year of publication. In
U.S. federal publications traditionally only the last 3 digits of a year
are used. (What the GPO will do when we hit the year 2000 is still a
guess!)
1989 = 989
TD 1.2: SY 6/974 (published in 1974)
TD 1.2: SY 6/979 (published in 1979)
A VERY IMPORTANT note about the filing of SuDoc call numbers: Any number
found after a period is read and filed as a whole number, NOT a decimal.
The following are in correct SuDoc order:
C 3.2,
C 3.3,
C 3.4,
C 3.4/4,
C 3.8,
C 3.14,
C 3.21,
C 3.35, etc
The Y 4.'s are the hearings and committee prints of Congressional
Committees. The "Y 4." denotes that the document is a Congressional hearing
or print. The letters and numbers after the "Y 4." and before the colon
designates the Congressional Committee:
Y 4.AG 8/3: designates the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry.
Y 4.B 85/3: designates the House Committee on the Budget.
After the colon the next part of the classification number is either a
Cutter, or the Congressional Session.
Y 4. B 85/3: D 36/7
Y 4. B 85/3:103 25
Within each Committee section (i.e. Y 4.13 85/3:), Cuttered documents are
shelved first because letters come before numbers in the SuDoc
Classification scheme.
After the Cuttered documents, Y 4.'s are shelved by Congressional session.
For example: the 99th Session's hearings are all shelved together, 100th
Session, 101st
Session, etc
Y 4. B 85/3:103 25
One confusing factor about the filing of the Congressional session
documents is the placement of the Senate Hearings and Committee Prints.
The Senate Hearings are classed and filed differently than the House
Hearings.
Y 43 85/3:103 25 is an example of the classification of House Hearings.
Y
4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.103 381 is an example of the classification of Senate
Hearings.
Also, the Senate Committee Prints are filed by session, directly after the
Senate Hearings.
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG 102 (no.)
then Y 4.AG 8/3:S.PRT.102 (no.)
then Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.103 (no.)
Examples of how Committee sections are shelved:
Senate Committee:
Y 4.AG 8/3:,173/3
Y 4.AG 8/3: '53
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG 98 1093
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.98 1169
Y 4.AG 8/3:PRT.98 215
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.103 381
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.103 669
House Committee:
Y 4. B 85/3: C 76/6/986
Y 4. B 85/3: D 36/7
Y 4.B 85/3:99 8
Y 4. B 85/3:99 12
Y 4. B 85/3:101 1
Y 4. B 85/3:101 25
Y 4.B 85/3:103 19
Y 4. B 85/3:103 25
Some special notes:
The United States Serial Set contains House and Senate reports and
documents and is America's longest running series dating back to 1789. The
United States Serial Set is classed in the Y 1.1/2:s with the exception of
the earliest Serial Set volumes which are house downstairs in our Special
Collections Department (Serial Set numbers 137 4699). Each volume of the
Serial Set is individually numbered and filed according to that number.
NACA microfiche reports are filed separately as are the microfiche
DOE E
1.99's. These sets follow the SuDoc range in the microfiche area. The
D
101.22's (Country Studies) and the PrEx 7.10 and 7.10/3 series (FBIS
Reports) are filed alphabetically by country.
A more detailed description of the Sudoc's Classification System appears in
the Guide to U.S. Government Publications, edited by Donna Andriot, located
at the Reference Desk at 1223.27 A574.
This guide was created largely by the University of Denver Penrose Library.
SIDOC 5/99 gg
Betty Monterroso, 01:04 PM 8/24/98 , Re: Cheat sheet for shelving b
From: Betty Monterroso <BMonterr@library.unt.edu> To: "Documents Technical
Processing List" <DocTech L@library.lib.usu.edu> Subject: Re: Cheat sheet
for shelving by SuDoc#? Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 13:04:42 0500 Errors To: <camwil@ngw.lib.usu.edu>
Reply To: DocTech L@library.lib.usu.edu Sender: Maiser@library.lib.usu.edu
X Listname: <DocTech L@library.lib.usu.edu>
The person who trains our shelvers uses a manual with instructions she
wrote herself (I've provided excerpts below). She also has the new shelvers
practice with flashcards.
It has been my experience, in teaching our shelvers and our patrons about
Sudoc shelving, that the explanation of the Sudoc classification system
published by GPO is somewhat interesting, but does not really help when it
comes to the practical aspects of f inding or shelving books.
Instead of focusing on how the books got their numbers (which can be
overwhelming for a new employee or frantic patron), I prefer to just remind
them of a few hints, some of which have already been mentioned:
1) Use the punctuation marks in document call numbers to break them up into
small sections. Compare the numbers section by section until you come to
something that differs between them, then decide which number comes first.
Example:
Y 4. J 89/ 1: AN 8/ 10
Y 4. J 89/ 2: AN 8/ 10
"1" comes before "2" so "..J 89/1.." would file first.
2) The period or "dot" is NOT a decimal point. It is just a space holder.
Numbers following the period are whole numbers. Example:
101.22:27 25 Read twenty two, NOT twenty two hundredth.
3) Nothing comes before something. Example:
Y4.AG8/1:C68 files before
Y4.AG 8/1:C68/2
4) Letters come before numbers. Example:
Y 4. SCI 2: F 76
Y 4. SCI 2: 95 A
Y 4. SCI 2: 95 31
5) When multiple alphabets are given, file all the single alphabet, then
all the double alphabet, etc.:
Y 4. SCI 2:95 A
Y 4. SCI 2:95 W
Y 4. SCI 2:95 AA
Y 4. SCI 2:95 CC
Y 4. SCI 2:95 AAA
6) [Give simple, brief description of cutter] When a cuttered document is
revised or updated, the call number of the revised document may include a 3
digit date at the end of the number. File the revised cuttered document
after the original document, but before the next cutter. Example:
A 13.28: C 42
A 13.28: C 42/981
A 13.28: C 42/986
A 13.28:C 42/3
A 13.28: C 42/3/986
Notice that C 42/3 and its revisions are filed after C42 and all its
revisions.
Hint #6 is where most mistakes are made. They have a really hard time
remembering to think separately of cutter numbers vs. the date
numbers.
7) Don't panic and stay alert! :)
It also helps to remind new employees that learning Sudocs is a gradual
process (there's always some new weird number you've never seen before),
and that it's important to ask questions rather than to guess and risk
"losing" a document by misfiling it. I still have to
ask for filing help sometimes and I've been working in Documents for
several years.
I hope this helps. Ill be happy to answer any specific questions you might
have about filing. I
Betty Monterroso
Library Specialist Gov Docs University of North Texas Libraries
bmonterr@library.unt.edu
>>> "Mary C. Wilson" <mwilson@law.howard.edu> 08/19 5:35 PM »>
Hi
We're a relatively new selective depository library, and have lots of
questions. Here's just one, to start off with: does anyone have a cheat
sheet for how to shelve by SuDoc#? All we've been able to dig up is that
any number before the colon is a whole number, not a decimal. I'd hate to
reinvent the wheel if someone else has already developed some good
guidelines. (Or, is there somewhere on the Web that we could find this?)
Thanks!
---
Mary C. Wilson
Asst. Director/Technical Services
Allen Mercer Daniel Law Library
Howard University School of Law
Manuals are updated as needed. Please, e-mail
susan.matveyeva@wichita.edu
with suggestions and questions.
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