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Government Publications: Call Numbers

 Library Guide
No. 6.1

Please note, that as of 2004, many government publications will now have Library of Congress call numbers (LC) and can be found in the regular book stacks.  Exceptions to this include Statistics Canada materials, legislative materials, and older serials.

The purpose of this guide is to aid in the conversion of government publication call numbers as they appear in TRELLIS, the online catalog, to their format on an item.

When copying call numbers from TRELLIS, take care to record the spaces between letters and numbers as these are essential to the conversion and to locating material on the shelf.

TRELLIS SPINE
CA1 MC M 13 CA1 MC
M 13
CA1 MC 15 C71 CA1 MC15
C71
CA1 MC 1573C11 CA1 MC15
73C11
CA1 SC 57-201 CA1 SC
57-201

Statistics Canada Publications always begin CA1 SC followed by the Statistics Canada catalogue number.

TRELLIS SPINE
CA1 SC 8699-101 CA1 SC 86
99-101

Canadian census publications have an embedded year in addition to the Statistics Canada catalogue number, e.g., CA1 SC 81 for the 1981 census.

TRELLIS SPINE
CA1 TO V34 CA1 TO
V34
CA1 Z 123G2 CA1 Z 1
23G2
CA1ZZAA 9486A 401 CA1 ZZ
AA 94
86A 401
CA2ONAC 88M52 CA2ON
AC
88M52
CA2ONAD 2082G77 CA2ON
AD 20
82G77
CA4ON TO 1988S76 CA4ON
TO 19
88S76
CA8 GL T 11 CA8 GL
T 11
UK1 A 66S87 UK1 A
66S87
US1 YAG 80A35 US1 YAG
80A35
US1 YFR21A85F51 US1 YFR21A
85F51
US1 Y 75M5W37 US1 Y 75
M5W37

Explanatory Notes

An example of a government publication call number broken down into 9 sections.

  1. country or organization, e.g., (CA) Canada; (UN) United Nations
  2. level of government, e.g., (1) federal; (2) provincial; (3) regional; (4) municipal
  3. province or state, e.g., (ON) Ontario, (NY) New York State
  4. government administrative department, e.g., (E) Ministry of Education
  5. branch or division within a department, e.g., (35) Research Branch
  6. year of publication, e.g., (89) 1989
  7. title cutter letter, e.g., (A) for Annual Report
  8. serial cutter number, e.g., (55)
  9. series number, e.g., (54)

L = letter
# = number

NOTE: For any single publication not all boxes are used.

Christy Branston (2007/04)

For assistance enquire at the Information Desk or consult the Ask a Librarian web page at http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/asklib/.

Library Guide, No. 6.1 Government Publications: Call Numbers
http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/libguides/6-1.html
Copyright © University of Waterloo

Liaison Librarian (Government Publications)
Agnes Zientarska-Kayko ( )


Last Updated: September 18, 2009