Module 3: The Superintendent Of Documents
(Sudocs) Classification System

Filing Government Publications

After the colon:
 
  1. File by the whole number, Cutter, or letters up to the next punctuation mark.

  2. Note: Some libraries file numbers before letters while others do the opposite. Many use the following order for what immediately follows the colon:
    1. Cutter
    2. Date (be sure that the date is not the number of a bulletin or circular)
    3. Letter
    4. Number
    5. Word

  3. File Cutter numbers alphabetically by letter, then in whole number order. Slash numbers added to the Cutters are filed numerically.

  4. Filing parts, volumes, sections, or revisions is tricky.
Look at the piece and think about how the part, volume, section or revision relates to the book number. An example of proper shelf order:
 
 J 26.2: L 41 Original edition of publication with Cutter for "local"
 J 26.2: L 41/ASSESSOriginal edition, but aimed at project assessment
 J 26.2: L 41/JURISDOriginal edition, but aimed at jurisdiction issues
 J 26.2:L 41/9981998 edition of original publication
 J 26.2:L 41/998/ASSESS1998 edition, aimed at project assessment
 J 26.2: L 41/ 2The original edition of the second title using the Cutter for "local"
 J 26.2: L 41/2/PARTICIPANTPublication developed for use by participant using original edition of the second title

Page 13 of 14



Next Page Return to the Home Page Additional Resources Test Your Knowledge Module 3 Module 2 Begin Module 1 Help with the Tutorial Previous Page Federal Depository Library Program Home Page Filing Govdocs SuDoc Book Numbers SuDoc Class Stems Parts of Numbers Introduction to Mod 3 Item Selection Additional Resources Test Your Knowledge Module 1 Help with the Tutorial