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MH211/MH314 - Survey of Western Music I & II: Call Numbers

A guide for students in MH211 and MH314 researching music history topics from medieval times through the Classical era and from the Romantic era through the present.

Library of Congress Call Numbers

At Millikin’s Library, we use a system called “Library of Congress” to organize our resources.

When you search in Millikin’s Online Catalog, to find if a book that is available for you to take home, look at the “Status,” the “Call Number,”and the "Location."

  • Status lets you know if it is available, checked out, renewed, missing, etc. (If not available, make use of I-Share to request the item from another I-Share library.)
  • The Call Number is where the book is located on the shelf.
  • The Location is area of the library where it will be shelved (book stacks, reference stacks, etc.).  Most music books will be located in the "Book Stacks" on the 2nd floor, separate from the music scores and music recordings (which are on the 4th floor).  The "Reference Stacks" are on the 2nd floor, near the central stairway.

Here’s an example of a Call Number for The Globalization of Music in History by Richard D. Wetzel. In the online catalog, the call number is listed as ML3916 .W48 2012, with a location of "book stacks."

How the call number will look on the book's label:

ML         (Find these letters using alphabetical order. ML comes after M, but before MT)

3916       (Treat this 3916 just like any number. It comes after 3915, & before 3917. Some numbers also include decimals)

.W48      (After finding the ML section and the number 3916 area, use the alphabet again to find the Ws on the third line

             of the call number. Treat the numbers paired with the letters as decimals... 0.48)

2012     (The date the book was published, in this case, 2012)