1. SUDOC CALL NUMBER
SYSTEM

2. SUDOC CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM
 National call number system for United
States government publications
 Stands for Superintendent of Documents
– the office in the Government Printing
Office that developed and assigns the call
nos.
 Arranges publications by issuing agency,
not by subject

3. SUDOC (con.)
 Call nos. begin with letters that stand for the issuing
agency, such as:
 A = Agriculture Dept.
 C = Commerce Dept.
 EP = Environmental Protection Agency
 HE = Health & Human Services Dept.
 J = Justice Dept.
 NAS = NASA
 PREX = President’s Executive Office
 TD = Transportation Dept.
 Y = Congressional committees

4. EXAMPLES OF SUDOC
NUMBERS:
 A 13.2:C 12/8
 D 301.82/3:St 8
 EP 1.76:6/4
 HE 20.3902:K 73
 L 2.3:2495
 PREX 2.8:998
 Y 4.J 89/2:S.HRG.107-604

5. Call numbers are on the covers, at the top left, for
unbound materials.

6. Bound volumes often have the
number on the spine.

7. SUDOC (CON.)
 A SuDoc number is composed of two
parts:
 the stem which designates the issuing
agency and publication series
 the book number which identifies each
publication in the series as a unique item
 A colon (:) divides the two parts of the
number.
 Example: HE 20.8216:88
 Stem: HE 20.8216:
 Book number: 88

8. SUDOC (CON.)
 It may help to think of the stem as
representing the “first line” of the call
number.
 The book number is the “second line”
of the call number.

9. SUDOC (con.)
 Publications are first filed
alphabetically by the initial letter(s):
 A 1.75: (Agriculture Dept.)
 AC 1.16: (Arms Control & Disarmament Agency)
 AE 2.108: (National Archives)
 C 3.2: (Commerce Dept.)
 HE 1.28: (Health & Human Services Dept.)

10. SUDOC (CON.)
 The number following the letter(s) is
shelved numerically:
C 3.
C 55.
C 61.

11. SUDOC (CON.)
 The number following the period is a
whole number, not a decimal:
HE 20.9: nine comes before
HE 20.44: forty-four which comes before
HE 20.221: two hundred twenty-one

12. SUDOC (CON.)
 The number following the colon (:) may
begin with a letter or a number and is
filed accordingly – alphabetically or
numerically.
HE 20.402:AD 2
HE 20.402:R 24
 Or
HE 20.8216:17
HE 20.8216:86

13. SUDOC (con.)
 Use the punctuation marks to break
SuDoc numbers into smaller sections.
Compare numbers section by section
until something is different – put in
order according to the first difference:
Correct order:
 Y 4. J 89/ 1: 108/ 12
 Y 4. J 89/ 2: S.Hrg. 105- 74

14. SUDOC (con.)
Another example. Once the first difference is
found, there is no need to consider later
sections of the number, if any.
In correct order:
Y 4.H 81/3:EL 2/9/2001
Y 4.H 81/3:EL 2/22

15. SUDOC (con.)
When one number you are comparing has more sections than the
other, nothing in a particular position comes before something
in that same position.
In correct order:
C 3.186: P-60/113
C 3.186/2: 989
C 3.186/7: 986
C 3.186/7-3: 970-987
C 3.186/9: 985

16. SUDOC (con.)
The last element of a SuDoc number is sometimes a
year – but years before 2000 were represented by the
last 3 digits of the year only
Correct order:
HE 20.402:D 34/986 (dated 1986)
HE 20.402:D 34/995 (dated 1995)
HE 20.402:D 34/2001 (dated 2001)

17. SUDOC (con.)
When comparing years, letters, and numbers (that is
when they fall in the same section of the call
number) the order is: (1) Years, (2) Letters, (3)
Numbers. (Another way to say that is: years before
regular numbers, letters before numbers).
Correct order:
A 1.35:993 [year]
A 1.35:R 42 [letter]
A 1.35:R 42/995 [letter/year]
A 1.35:R 42/2 [letter/number]
A 1.35:321 [number]

18. SUDOC (con.)
 Another example of years before
numbers:
Correct order:
 A 13.28:C 42
 A 13.28:C 42/997
 A 13.28:C 42/2
 A 13.28:C 42/2/990
 A 13.28:C 42/3

19. SUDOC (con.)
 Some stems, particulary in the Y 4.’s,
use both styles of numbering, some in
combination. Look for the stem area
and then find the sub-group that
matches the style of number you are
looking for.

20. SUDOC (con.)
 Y 4 – example of multiple style groups:
Y 4.J 89/2: C 43/8/986 (letter group first)
Y 4.J 89/2: 96-62 (numbered group next)
 Y 4.J 89/2: S.hrg.103-284
(senate hearing numbered group next)
Y 4.J 89/2: S.prt.101-54
(senate print numbered group last)

21. SUDOC (con.)
 Which call number is a SuDoc
number?
1. TD 8.2:M 46/14
2. TD 424.4 .M47 P75 2006

22. SUDOC (CON.)
1. TD 8.2:M 46/14
2. TD 424.4 .M47 P75 2006
 No. 1 is a SuDoc call number
 SuDoc numbers have a colon (:) and
sometimes slashes (/). Library of
Congress (LC) call numbers do not.

23. SUDOC (CON.)
 Which SuDoc number comes first?
1. S 1.2:Se 2/4
2. S 1.2:Se 3

24. SUDOC (CON.)
1. S 1.2:Se 2 /4
2. S 1.2:Se 3
 No. 1 comes first. Stop after the first
difference between the two numbers

25. SUDOC (CON.)
 Which SuDoc number comes first?
1. HE 20.8102:D 84/3
2. HE 20.8102:D 84/990

26. SUDOC (CON.)
1. HE 20.8102:D 84/3
2. HE 20.8102:D 84/990
 No. 2 comes first. 990 represents the
year 1990. Years come before other
numbers.

27. SUDOC (CON.)
 Which SuDoc number comes first?
1. HE 20.12:Am 3
2. HE 20.111:53

28. SUDOC (CON.)
1. HE 20.12:Am 3
2. HE 20.111:53
 No. 1 comes first. The number
following the period is a whole
number, not a decimal

29. SUDOC (CON.)
 Which SuDoc number comes first?
1. J 28.15/2-3:995
2. J 28.15:2000

30. SUDOC (CON.)
1. J 28.15/2-3: 995
2. J 28.15: 2000
 No. 2 is first. Put the part of the
number before the colon (:) in order
before the part of the number after the
colon.

31. LOCATION OF SOME
MAJOR U.S. SETS
 Some large sets are shelved separately
and do not have call numbers

32. LOCATION OF SOME
MAJOR U.S. SETS
 Census
 Publications that make up the decennial
Census of Population & Housing or the
Economic Census are shelved in a
separate Census Collection
 They are not shelved by SuDoc numbers
but by Census name and then
chronologically

33. LOCATION OF SOME
MAJOR U.S. SETS
 Congressional Serial Set
Shelved at the beginning of the Y’s by
volume number.
Unbound House & Senate reports and
documents are shelved immediately
following the Serial Set – these are
eventually bound and become part of the
Serial Set.

34. LOCATION OF SOME
MAJOR U.S. SETS
 Congressional Serial Set (con.)
Unbound House & Senate reports and
documents are shelved alphabetically by
series name, i.e. House Documents are
first, then House Reports, then Senate
Documents, etc.

35. LOCATION OF SOME
MAJOR U.S. SETS
 Congressional Serial Set (con.)
Indexes & catalogs give SuDoc nos. for
unbound reports & documents ranging
from Y 1.1/3: - Y 1.1/8:
There is a chart in the shelf area to help
convert these SuDoc numbers to
report/document type.