Library Search allows you to search for print books, ebooks, articles, journals, and videos, and more.
Use it to get availability and location information for
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as well as most content from research databases including
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The Vassar libraries, along with most other academic libraries, use the Library of Congress (or L.C.) classification system to arrange books on the shelves, grouping subject areas together. LC is different than other classification systems you may have encountered in public and school libraries, in which literature is grouped by genre (fiction, poetry, plays, etc.). LC numbers start with single or double letters, and the call numbers of all of Language and Literature, in all languages, start with the letter P.
Literary works in all genres by a particular author are shelved together, along with biographical and critical books about that author. The grouping of the work by and about a particular author together is helpful for study and scholarship. Literary authors are also grouped by epoch, and books about the literature of an epoch are found at the beginning of that range, so books about gothic literature in the 19th century or the Harlem Renaissance are found in the same area.
Books by and about British authors and literature have call numbers that start with PR, and books by and about North American authors and literature have call numbers that start with PS.
When you identify a book of criticism about a literary topic, make it a practice to look around the book you're getting from the shelf, to see if there are other books of interest nearby.
|
LC Call Number |
Subject |
|
PE 1-3729 |
English |
|
PN 1-6790 |
Literature (General) |
|
PN 69-72 |
Study and teaching |
|
PN 80-99 |
Criticism |
|
PN 1010-1525 |
Poetry |
|
PN 1560-1590 |
The Performing Arts. Show Business. |
|
PN 1600-3307 |
Drama |
|
PN 3311-3503 |
Prose. Prose Fiction. |
|
PN 4699-5650 |
Journalism. The Periodical Press. |
|
PR 1-9680 |
English Literature |
|
PR 1-56 |
Literary History and Criticism |
|
PR 57-78 |
Criticism |
|
PR 161-488 |
Women Authors |
|
PR 500-614 |
Poetry |
|
PR 621-744 |
Drama |
|
PR 750-890 |
Prose |
|
PR 1098-1369 |
Collections of English Literature |
|
PR 1490-1799 |
Anglo-Saxon Literature |
|
PR 1803-2165 |
Anglo-Norman Period. Early English. Middle English |
|
PR 2199-3195 |
English Renaissance (1500-1640) |
|
PR 3291-3785 |
17th and 18th Centuries (1640-1770) |
|
PR 3991-5990 |
19th Century, 1770/1800-1890/1900 |
|
PR 6000-6049 |
1900-1960 |
|
PR 6050-6076 |
1961-2000 |
|
PR 6100-6126 |
2001- |
|
PS 1-3576 |
American Literature |
|
PS 147-152 |
Women Authors |
|
PS 185-195 |
17th-18th Centuries |
|
PS 201-217 |
19th Century |
|
PS 221-228 |
20th Century |
|
PS 229-231 |
21st Century |
|
PS 301-326 |
Poetry |
|
PS 330-353 |
Drama |
|
PS 360-380 |
Prose |
|
PS 501-689 |
Collections of American Literature |
|
PS 700-3576 |
Individual Authors |
|
PS 8001-8599 |
Canadian Literature |
|
PZ (1)-90 |
Children's Literature |
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