The Library of Congress Classification System

The collection of The Master's Grace Library is arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification System. In this system all areas of knowledge are organized in categories beginning with single or double letters: A through Z (note that the letters W, X, and Y are not currently used, being reserved for future expansion of the system; I and O are not used for clarity sake). The majority of the library collection is filed under Religion which is BL through BX. The arrangement of works in the LC System are as follows:

• A   General Works (encyclopedias, reference, etc.)
• B   Philosophy and Religion
• B-BJ   Philosophy
• BL   Religions and Mythology
• BM   Judaism
• BP   Isalm
• BR   Christianity (Church History)
• BS   Bible (commentaries, handbooks, introductions)
• BT   Doctrinal Theology
• BV   Practical Theology
• BX   Denominations and Sects
• C   Auxilary Sciences of History
• D   History: General and Old World
• E-F   American History
• G   Geography
• H   Social Science
• J   Political Science
• K   Law
• L   Education
• M   Music
• N   Fine Arts
• P   Language and Literature
• Q   Science
• R   Medicine
• S   Agriculture
• T   Technology (Computer Science)
• U   Military Science
• V   Naval Science
• Z   Bibliography and Library Science

The Master's Seminary Library is divided into three main collections:

• The Main Circulating Collection
• The Reference Collection
• The Periodical Collection

The Circulating Collection and the Reference Collection are arranged according the Library of Congress Classification System (as detailed above). The Periodical Collection is arranged alphabetically by title. There are also some additional special collections within the library:

• The Rare Book Collection
• Biblical Texts and Manuscript Collection
• These collections are not available to the public at this time. These collections are typically arranged by date or other utilitarian means.

Within the Main Circulating Collection there are several smaller sub-collections:

• The Oversize Collection
• The Spanish Language Collection
• Video (VHS & DVD) Collection
• Fiction Collection

Except for the fiction collection, these are also arranged according to the Library of Congress System. The fiction collection is arranged on the shelves according to the author's last name.

In the Library of Congress Classification System each work is given an individual number known as the CALL NUMBER. This number allows for ready identification of each work and its sequential location within the collection.

Using Dr. John MacArthur's Commentary on Hebrews as an example, we can see how the CALL NUMBER identifies each work in the collection.

• BS = Bible
• 2775.3 = Commentaries on Hebrews
• .M27 = MacArthur (the last name of the author)
• 1983 = Copyright date or edition date

The Cutter Number (.M27) is actually a decimal number and sequentially would, for example, come before .M3 on the shelves. Ideally, the Library of Congress Classification System allows a patron to locate a particular item no matter which library they may be using. For a more thorough discussion on how to find Biblical commentaries in the LC System, Click Here.

With the advent of the computerized OPAC system, click here to access the TMS OPAC System, the old "card catalogue" no longer is used by the library. Within the OPAC entry there are several means to locate a given work. These are called "access points"; that is, a work can be searched for and located by several different means including: author, title, series title, ISBN Number, subject, and call number. Using advanced features within the OPAC search page a search can be enhanced or limited by type of material, date, language and several other features.

In using the OPAC system there are some basic rules concerning the order in which items will be filed on the shelves. These rules also apply specifically to an older "card catalogue" system and the order in which cards will be filed. Those basic rules are as follows:

• Nothing always comes before something. Specifically, this rule refers to the spaces between words; thus "New York" will come before "Newspaper."
• All punctuation marks, accents, or diacritical marks on letters are ignored.
• Depending on the language, last names beginning with prepositions (i.e.: Von, Van, De, Vander, etc.) may be filed under the preposition or under the main part of the last name. It is always best to try both ways.
• Last names with spaces are filed as two words, and those with capital letters in the middle, but no space in between, are filed as a single word. Thus "De Witt" would be filed ahead of "DeHann." But again, it is always best to try both ways.
• The articles "a," "an," and "the," and their non-English equivalents, are ignored in filing when--and only when--they occur at the beginning of a title.
• Numerals at the beginning of a title are filed as though the number was spelled out. For example "40 Ways to ..." would be filed before "12 Ways to ..." even though numerically 40 would come after 12.
• Dates or Events in the subject headings are arranged in chronological order. For example the heading "U.S. HISTORY--Revolutionary War" would be filed before "U.S. HISTORY--Civil War."
• Cards for Bible Commentaries are arranged from the larger portions to the smaller portions. For example, commentaries on the entire Book of Psalms would come before a commentary on an individual Psalm, such as Psalm 119.
• Bible texts and versions are filed under the title heading of: "Bible" followed by the appropriate portion, language, version and data (e.g. Bible. English, New American Standard Version, 1978).