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How to Search for Books

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The Martin Luther King, Jr., Library at LACC holds over 150,000 print titles and over 200,000 ebook titles. Search the collection by entering keywords, author’s name, title, subject, or ISBN in the box below and pressing the Search button.

Search our Books in the Library Catalog.

 

Advanced Search

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Dewey Breakdown

Dewey Decimal System Poster

Dewey Decimal System

The Dewey Decimal System has ten major subject groupings. Within each subject group, there are classification numbers that lead to more specific topics:

Overview

000 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
100 PHILOSOPHY & PSYCHOLOGY
200 RELIGION
300 SOCIAL SCIENCES
400 LANGUAGES
500 SCIENCE
600 TECHNOLOGY
700 ARTS & RECREATION
800 LITERATURE
900 HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY

How to read a call number and find your book!

How to read a call number and find your book!

When you find a title in our catalog note down the Call Number to locate the physical book in the library (which will be on the spine of the book).

For example, the call number for the book Higher education in the digital age by William G. Bowen is 378.173 B675h

  • Catalog Search Results: Available at Los Angeles City College LACC Stacks (378.173 B675h)

The call number identifies the location of the book. Here is a breakdown of the call number, line by line:

  1. Read the first line in numerical order as a decimal (e.g. 378.173 comes between 378.17 and 378.18)

  2. The second line is a combination of letters and numbers to further identify the location of the book 

Book spines showing call number

Next identify the Catalog Location to find your book in the library. 

Catalog Location Location in Library Notes
Stacks 2nd and 3rd floors
  • Call numbers between 0-400 are on the 2nd floor
  • Call numbers between 500-900 are on the 3rd floor
Reference 1st floor (behind the reference desk) The letter “R” will appear before the call number (Ex. The Gale encyclopedia of medicine R 616 G131a4)  
Reserve desk 1st floor (where you check out and return books) If there is no call number and only a class name, that means that it is located at the Reserve Desk and can be checked out for 2-hours for use in the library only (Ex. Rules for Writers ENGLISH 28/101/103)
Circulation desk 1st floor (where you check out and return books) These books can be checked out for 7-days. You will need the Call Number to request them.  (Ex. Rules for Writers 808.02 H115r7)
Fiction 2nd floor Fiction is organized by author’s last name. (Ex. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros has a call number of C4974h)
Children’s Collection 2nd Floor Follows same rules of Dewey Decimal call number and Fiction collection, however call number begins with “XZ”
New Book Display 1st floor (by the circulation desk) This collection is frequently updated
Foreign Language 3rd Floor Language indicated by letter preceding call number (Ex. C for Chinese, S for Spanish, G for German, etc.)

For more information on the Dewey Decimal System and how subjects are organized, see the guide page here: http://lacitycollege.libguides.com/libraryguide/dewey

Contact Us:
Library (323) 953-4000 ext: 2400 * Reference (323) 953-4000 ext: 2406 * Circulation/Periodicals (323) 953-4000 ext: 2395
mlklibrary@lacitycollege.edu