Assigning California Document Call Numbers (January 2004)

The document collections at UCSD (EU, United States, and California documents) are shelved according to agency based classifications rather than the subject based classification which we use for our general collection. Since there is no official agency that assigns EU call numbers, we created a scheme locally and assign numbers from that. California has official call numbers assigned from the California State Library and the United States documents have official call numbers that come from the Superintendent of Documents.

If you have searched in OCLC and the California State Library and have been unable to find the officially assigned (086 $2 cadocs) call numbers, this document will help you create CSL-like call numbers.

The most current “gathered” list of California State classification numbers is called the California State Agency Classification scheme and is housed in the Serials Cataloging Unit (SCU) section in the Catalog Dept. It is “supplemented” by the monthly listings of new and corrected titles of California State Publications.

Assigning the classification number

First determine who is responsible for publishing the item. Look on the title page, title page verso, introductory pages, colophon, and pages 1-4 of the cover for the specific body. It is usually apparent which agency is responsible. Often a personal author has actual intellectual responsibility. The person will be named in the author field (100 1 ) but the classification is still for the responsible agency, not the person who was the author.
Agency number (first line). The first line, or agency number, consists of a single capital letter followed by 3 or 4 digits. A separate number is created (usually) for subdivision of agencies.
In recent years sometimes a second agency line has been used when space is no longer available in a section of the classification. The second line is an alphanumeric code consisting of a capital letter for the subagency followed by one or two digits. The book number becomes the third line. This technique is only used when a first line agency number cannot be created
- E2015 Energy Commission
- .P6 Office of Policy and Program Evaluation
- I52 Innovative regulatory incentives
Try to look for the specific sub-body responsible for the item, rather than the larger body. If there is no agency class number for the specific sub-body of the agency, then use the broader agency class number
Oftentimes, two or more California state agencies will be responsible for an item. Use the classification number of the agency listed first on the piece.
Once the issuing body has been determined, look on the list of the California state agency classification numbers for the corresponding number. If it is not on the list, search the state agency on Innopac, try to find other records also issued by that agency, and use the classification number found on those records. Note: if two or more agencies are listed in the Innopac record make sure the classification number corresponds to your agency. You might have to look at several records to make a determination.
If the item you are cataloging is issued by an agency that is not in Innopac, bounce to Becky and she will assign a classification number.

Assigning cutter numbers (i.e. book numbers)

Book Number. The book number, usually the second line, is constructed of a capital letter followed by one or more digits. UCSD will cutter on the first filing word of the title. This is in contrast to the practice followed by the California State Library. They choose a book number reflecting the KEY WORD in the title, NOT the first FILING word in the title. The standard cutter table is used to construct most book numbers. There are also a number of “standard” book numbers that are used. Listed here:

Standard Book Numbers

A4 Addresses, speeches, etc.
B9 Bulletin
C3 Catalog
D4 Decision
D5 Directory
F5 Film Catalog
H4 Hearing (other than legislative)
H5 History
I5 General information
M3 Manual
M5 Minutes
O7 Order
O8 Organization chart
P8 Press release
P9 List of publications
R4 Report (annual, biennial, etc.)
R45 Resolution

Book numbers for counties: The book numbers listed below are used as a third line when a publication is issued with a separate part for each county. This number follows the book number line.For example:E1950 Employment Data and Research Division.W3 Wage and salary and employmentC6 Contra Costa County

Book Numbers for Counties

A3 Alameda
A4 Alpine
A5 Amador
B8 Butte
C3 Calaveras
C5 Colusa
C6 Contra Costa
D4 Del Norte
E4 El Dorado
F7 Fresno
G5 Glenn
H8 Humboldt
I5 Imperial
I6 Inyo
K4 Kern
K5 Kings
L2 Lake
L3 Lassen
L6 Los Angeles
M1 Madera
M2 Marin
M3 Mariposa
M4 Mendocino
M5 Merced
M6 Modoc
M7 Mono
M8 Monterey
N3 Napa
N4 Nevada
O7 Orange
P5 Placer
P6 Plumas
R5 Riverside
S2 Sacramento
S22 San Benito
S23 San Bernadino
S24 San Diego
S25 San Francisco
S26 San Joaquin
S27 San Luis Obispo
S28 San Mateo
S3 Santa Barbara
S4 Santa Clara
S5 Santa Cruz
S6 Shasta
S63 Sierra
S66 Siskiyou
S7 Solano
S75 Sonoma
S8 Stanislaus
S9 Sutter
T4 Tehama
T7 Trinity
T8 Tulare
T9 Tuolumne
V4 Ventura
Y6 Yolo
Y8 Yuba

When a book number is assigned locally, add a small “x” at the end of the book number. For example, T4320 $a R27x; H1313 $a C6x $a 1998
The whole call number is entered in an 099 field in the bibliographic and item records. Separate each element in the call number with $a. In the above example, “Wage and salary and employment. Contra Costa County,” is issued by the California Employment Data and Research Division. The whole call number would then be “099 E1950 $a .W3 $a C6.”
Normally, there is no date in the call number. Add a date of publication to the end of the call number ONLY if the publication is an edition of an earlier California state document.