Q. How do I read a call number?

Buley Library uses the Library of Congress call number system, which groups books by what they're about rather than by author or title or something like that. There are several different parts to a call number, but as long as you remember what order letters and numbers go in, you should be okay.

For example, the book This I Believe, which was the Southern Reads book for Fall 2012 freshmen, has the following call number at Buley:

BD215 .T48 2006

First, you'd have to look for BD (you can pretend it's a little word, so it would come after BA but before C), which means the book is shelved with other books about speculative philosophy.

Next, amongst the BD books, you look for 215 as a whole number, which means the book is shelved with other books about epistemology.

Now, within the BD 215 books, you have to find the T books, which just stands for the title This I Believe (other books may have letters that refer to the author instead).

After that, amongst the BD 215 .T books, you'll look for .48, which should be read as a decimal (that is, .48 would come after .456 but before .5).

Finally, if there are multiple editions of the same book, you want the one published in 2006.