Finding Books

Books at Pratt are organized using the Dewey Decimal System; if you are searching the stacks for a book, be sure to make note of the call number listed in the library catalog. But how do you make sense of all these numbers and letters? This page from our Pratt Library How-To Guide Zine illustrates how to read a call number:

• Before the decimal, books are organized in ascending numerical order from 000-999.
• Books are also organized in ascending order after the decimal; for instance, a book with the call number 700 (no decimal) would precede 700.01, with 700.10 further along the shelf.
• After the number sequence, a letter and number sequence should be first read alphabetically, then numerically in ascending order. So 700.01 A123 would precede 700.01 B231.

This graphic illustrates parts of the Dewey Decimal call number, like the main class, division, section, and classification.

The HowCast video below succinctly explains Dewey Decimal call numbers:

Dewey Decimal call numbers are organized as follows:

• The three numbers before the decimal are the Main Class, organized by the subject of the book.
• The numbers following the decimal are subdivisions of the main class, organized further by subject and author.

The chart below includes all of the main classes in the Dewey Decimal System.

A breakdown of further subdivisions can be found on the OCLC website.

While students at Pratt Institute have a wide variety interests - research and otherwise - the following some of Pratt's most popular call numbers: