G 63  Cutter Numbers  (was part of G 60)  (General)

BACKGROUND:  The term Cutter is taken from the name Charles Ammi Cutter (1837-1903), who devised the Two-Figure Author Table in the closing years of the 19th century as an easy-to-use method of arranging books by author within a given class.  The Cutter Two-Figure Author Table and its subsequent expansion, the Cutter Three-Figure Author Table, have been adopted and used by libraries throughout the world.  In 1969, the Swanson-Swift revision of the edited and revised table was issued under the title Cutter-Sanborn Three-Figure Author Table (Swanson-Swift Revision).

Cutter's principles were modified to serve the special needs of the Library of Congress' rapidly expanding collections.  The Library's book numbers are composed according to the table in this instruction.  The table was published in the Cataloging Service Bulletin in 1964 and revised in 1971, 1972, and 1979. In 1979, the third letter table was introduced.

The book number is the part of the call number that distinguishes a particular work from others in the same class.  In the LC classification system, the book number is represented by the Cutter or part of the Cutter.

In the shelflist and on the shelf, the Cutter is the means by which an alphabetical arrangement of books is achieved.  This alphabetical arrangement is based on the LC filing rules (see G 100) and the Preferred Shelflist Order table (see G 65).

In order to permit infinite expansion between any two Cutter numbers, Cutters are treated as decimal numbers, as shown in the example below.

.B3

.B47

.B56

.B583

.B66

.B7

1.  Find the filing position in the shelflist

Consult the class number in the shelflist.  Find the proper location for the work being shelflisted.  That is, determine where the work is to file according to standard shelflisting practices.  In many cases, this will be in alphabetical order by main entry or title.

2.  Cuttering for words

After determining the filing position of the work, consider whether use of the following table to create the Cutter will achieve the proper position.  If so, use the table.  If not, complete the Cutter in order to fit in alphabetically with works already shelflisted.

Cutter Table

After initial vowels

After initial letter S

After initial letters Qu

For initial letters Qa-Qt

After other initial consonants

For expansion

In the examples below, Cutters without popup links conform to the table above.  Cutters for Ilardo, Import, Ito, Ivy, Shillingburg, Singer, and Symposium have been developed when a range of letters in the table has been provided, e.g., l-m.  Cutters for Scanlon, Qadduri, Qiao, Qvortrup, Chertok, and Clark have been developed when the second letter is not explicitly stated in the table, e.g., h after an initial consonant.  In most cases, Cutters must be adjusted to file an entry correctly and to allow room for later entries.

Note:  Do not end a Cutter with the numeral 1 or 0.

For ampersands, see G 100, section 15; for initials, see G 100, section 11.

3.  Cuttering for numerals

When Cuttering for Roman or Arabic numerals, use the Cutters .A12 - .A19.  However, if entries already in the shelflist have been assigned "documents numbers" (e.g., .A5 for the corporate heading United States. Dept. of ...) Cutter numerals to file directly behind those entries.  Because of the infinite range of numbers, choose a Cutter toward the center of the available span when Cuttering for the first numeral in a class.  This will allow room for both smaller and larger numbers.  Follow this practice even with relatively low numbers since decimal fractions are filed in numeric order before the number 1.

Examples:

To return:

General