The benefits of browsing at the library

Where to start when you are looking for a gripping topic for that paper or books on the battle of Waterloo? You can of course search for literature via UvA CataloguePlus. But a visit to our physical library at PC Hoofthuis could result in finding literature you missed online. Serendipity at the library. 

All physical books within the UvA Library have a specific code or call number. The number always starts with one or two letters and is based on the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) system. How does it work?  

Historical publications

All publications are classified in one of 21 basic categories, each category starting with a letter. There could be a second letter added which stands for a subcategory, followed by numbers.   

For history the most important first letters are:

• C = Auxiliary Sciences of History
• D = History
• E/F = American Studies

All categories with the corresponding letter(s) can be found on a flyer at the library desk or here online

Finding Napoleon
So how do you find -for instance- books on Napoleon at the physical library in PC Hoofthuis?

There are two ways:

1. Check the flyer for the code. In this case, books on Napoleon should appear within this category: 
   France = DC 60-355 Ancient, medieval and modern history 
   So you should search for this letter/number combination on the bookcases.    
   
   
2. Search CataloguePlus for books on Napoleon. And then check the call number of one of those books to see what the letter/number combination is. The publication should of course be available at PC Hoofthuis. For instance this book with call number: DC 203 .B878 2014 

Year of publication
The final 4 numbers within the call number are usually the year of publication of the book. As you can see, the specific book above on Napoleon was published in 2014. 

Browsing the physical collection at PC Hoofthuis provides you similar literature. All you need to know is the letter/number combination of your topic. Serendipity will do the rest.