The Documents Collection in Penrose Library is classed according to the Superintendent of Documents classification system. In this system, documents are classified by issuing agency (rather than having a subject-oriented call number). In this classification scheme, the call numbers reflect government organization or hierarchy. The SuDoc Classification Number is made up of different elements and parts. Each element such as letter, number, or punctuation, is an important part of the classification number.

The initial letter or letters signify the department or agency that issued the document. Under the "nothing-before something" rule, a one-letter agency is filed before a two (or more) letter agency.

e.g.all E's file before ED or EP.

The first number designates the sub-agency (except "1" which is used for the whole agency). Next is a period ".". This most often divides the agency/sub-agency and the series the document is part of. However, on occasion, the number after the period designates a further sub-agency breakdown.

C 55. C = Department of Commerce 55. = National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
C 3. C = Department of Commerce 3. = Bureau of Census
C 3.3 C = Department of Commerce 3 = Bureau of Census .3 = Bulletin series
D103.20 D = Department of Defense 103 = Corps of Engineers .20 = Army Map Service

The next major element is the colon ":". This separates the call number into two parts. The second part contains either:

a series volume number; or
a "Cutter" letter/number combination (based on a keyword in a monograph's title) which puts titles in alphabetical order.
C 3.3:13 or C 3.2:L 23
Letters are filed before numbers, so C 3.3:L 23 would be filed before C 3.3:13.

A further symbol is the slash "/"followed by a number. This is used if a number or Cutter number is being used again for a different title.

EP 1.23: = U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ecological research series.
EP1.23/2: = U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Environmental protection technology series.
S 1.2:C 18/2 = U.S. Department of State. Foreign Service Careers.
S 1.2:C 18/6 = U.S. Department of State. Civil Service Careers.

NOTE: Some times instead of using the slash, number "/2", the number is written as an exponent (superscript). The information is the same either way.

EP 1.23/2: is the same as EP 1.232:

Different editions are often distinguished by the year of publication. In U.S. federal publications, traditionally, only the last 3 digits of a year are used.

1989 = 989
TD 1.2: SY 6/974
TD 1.2: SY 6/979

A VERY IMPORTANT note about the filing of SuDoc call numbers in Penrose Library; Any number found after a period "." is read and filed as a whole number, NOT a decimal.

The order would be: C 3.2, C 3.3, C 3.4, C 3.4/4,...C 3.8, ...C 3.14, ...C 3.21, ...C 3.35, etc.

Some Exceptions
There are two major exceptions to the SuDoc classification scheme that we will mention. The first is the Y.4's.

The Y 4.'s are the hearings and committee prints of Congressional Committees. The "Y 4." denotes that the document is a Congressional hearing or print. The letters and numbers after the "Y 4." and before the colon ":" designates the Congressional Committee.

Y 4.AG 8/3: designates the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Y 4.B 85/3: designates the House Committee on the Budget.
After the colon ":", the next part of the classification number is either a Cutter, or the Congressional Session.

Y 4.B 85/3:D 36/7
Y 4.B 85/3:103-25

Within each Committee section (i.e. Y 4.B 85/3:), Cuttered documents are shelved first because letters come before numbers in the SuDoc Class. scheme.

After the Cuttered documents, Y 4.'s are shelved by Congressional session. For example: the 99th Session's hearings are all shelved together, 100th Session, 101st Session, etc...

Y 4.B 85/3:103-25
One very confusing factor about the filing of the Congressional session documents is the placement of the Senate Hearings and Committee Prints.

The Senate Hearings are classed and filed differently than the House Hearings.

Y 4.B 85/3:103-25 is an example of the classification of House Hearings.
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.103-381 is an example of the classification of Senate Hearings.
Also, the Senate Committee Prints are filed by session, directly after the Senate Hearings.

Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.102-
then Y 4.AG 8/3:S.PRT.102-
then Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.103-

It would appear that Senate Hearings and Prints should be filed with the Cuttered documents, but this is not the case. They are always filed after the Cuttered documents.
Examples of how Committee sections are shelved:

Senate Committee
Y 4.AG 8/3:C 73/3
Y 4.AG 8/3:R 53

Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG 98-1093
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.98-1169
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.PRT.98-215
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.103-381
Y 4.AG 8/3:S.HRG.103-669

House Committee
Y 4.B 85/3:C 76/6/986
Y 4.B 85/3:D 36/7
Y 4.B 85/3:99-8
Y 4.B 85/3:99-12
Y 4.B 85/3:101-1
Y 4.B 85/3:101-25
Y 4.B 85/3:103-19
Y 4.B 85/3:103-25

The second exception to the SuDoc's Classification Scheme is the United States Serial Set, which is located after the Y's. The United States Serial Set contains Congressional reports and documents (current reports and documents are in microfiche format located in the microforms area). Each volume of the Serial Set is individually numbered and filed according to that number.

14020 is the Serial Set number assigned to the volume that contains House Reports Nos. 811-867 of the 2d Session of the 101st Congress, 1990.

More information on current Congressional Documents

A more detailed description of the Sudoc's Classification System appears on pages V - XX of the 1994 edition of the Guide to U.S. Government Publications, edited by Donna Andriot, located at the Reference Desk. call number: Z 1223.Z7 A574