Using Call Numbers in Searches

Libraries that use more than one call number indexing scheme must use special formatting when performing searches for call numbers in Create Lists. Call number indexing schemes that might be in use at your library include Library of Congress (LC), Dewey, NLM, and SUDOCS.

If your library uses only one call number indexing scheme, such as LC or Dewey, but not both, the system automatically determines which scheme the library has and performs call number searches accordingly. On a system with more than one indexing scheme, however, Create Lists searches the indexed call numbers character-by-character. Consequently, you must format the call numbers entered as search terms in the same way that the call numbers are stored in the index. For example, the call number "HG65.G62", indexed using Library of Congress formatting rules, is stored as:

hg   65 g62

Note that the spaces appear in the call number as follows:

hg<space><space><space>65<space>g62

CASE 1

If your library uses only the Library of Congress indexing scheme, you can retrieve this call number by searching for call numbers between "hg 1" and "hg 100". Enter "hg 1" in the Value A cell and "hg 100" in the Value B cell. The search also works if you enter "hg1" and "hg100". When performing the search, Sierra automatically adds spaces to the call numbers you have entered so that they match the format of call numbers in the LC index. The search in this example retrieves all call numbers between "hg    1" and "hg  100". As you can see in the following list, "hg   65" falls within this range:

hg    1
hg   65
hg  100

CASE 2

If your library uses more than one call number indexing scheme, you must enter call numbers as they are stored in the index to obtain a successful search result. On systems with multiple indexing schemes, Create Lists searches for the call number character-by-character. That means that if you omit a space, the system fails to find the call number. In a character-by-character search, the three numbers in our preceding example fall into the following order:

hg 1
hg 100
hg 65

In this case, a search for call numbers between "hg 1" and "hg 100" does not find "hg 65". To search for the LC call number "HG65.G62" at a library using more than one indexing scheme, include the spaces when entering the search terms:

For Value A, enter: hg    1
For Value B, enter: hg  100

Note that the spaces appear in the call numbers as follows:

hg<space><space><space><space>1
hg<space><space>100