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• Unlike traditional the traditional Library of Congress call number system, the SuDoc classification numbers are WHOLE NUMBERS rather that decimal numbers.  An example of the proper order is as follows:

ED 1.2:Ad 9

ED 1.102:B 56

ED 1.302:B 49/2

• If the call number is the same to a certain point, then varies, the order is: Years, Letters, Numbers. Until the year 2000, the first number was dropped from years, so those years have 3 digits. Beginning with the year 2000, years will be 4 digits.  An example of the proper order would be:

A 1.35:993

A 1.35:R 42

A 1.35:R 42/995

A 1.35:R 42/2

A 1.35:321

• If the call number stem (the numbers before the colon) has numbers slashed onto the base number, the base number comes first, followed by the slashed numbers in order. The same rule applies to numbers dashed onto other numbers or letters.  An example of the proper order would be:

C 3.186:

C 3.186/2:

C 3.186/7:

C 3.186/7-3:

C 3.186/9:

• If there are identical SuDoc numbers until at the end where there may be a slash with an additional number this does NOT mean that this is additional edition of the same document.  This is a completely different title that happens to have the same subject matter as the other titles.  An example would be:

J 1.2:P 75        The Police Chief Executive Report

J 1.2:P 75/3     An Alternative Approach in Police Patrol

J 1.2:P 75/4     Policy Formulation and Implementation at the Federal Level

J 1.2:P 75/11   Police Officer Body-Worn Cameras

• If a document title is updated (2^nd or 3^rd edition, etc.), the basic classification assigned to the 1^st edition will be given to the subsequent editions.  As stated above, until the year 2000, the first number was dropped from years, so those years have 3 digits. Beginning with the year 2000, years will be 4 digits.  An example of the proper order would be:

Y 3.T 22/2:2 In 3

Y 3.T 22/2:2 In 3/995

Y 3.T 22/2:2 In 3/2001

Y 3.T 22/2:2 In 3/2

What makes the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) classification system user friendly is that the preceding letter(s) of the SuDoc number represent the Department or Agency that created the document.

For an easy way to search for documents by Department or Agency go to our Virtual Shelf Browser which allows you to peruse the historic and current U.S. government publications available in our library as well as online.