- The Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) classification number begins with a capital letter or letters representing a government department or agency. (A - Agriculture Dept., C - Commerce Dept., ED - Education Dept., etc.) The U. S. Congress uses the letters X and Y.
- The numbers that follow these letters represent the office of a particular department. For instance, all Internal Revenue Service publications will be given a number beginning with T 22. The numbers after the decimal point represent second and subsequent level offices.
- Numbers immediately following the colon indicate numbered series, volumes or dates. Letters and numbers immediately following the colon are based on a system which organizes materials alphabetically by subject.
- In general, documents are shelved in alphabetical and numerical order.
- This is not a decimal system. Numbers between punctuation are treated as individual whole numbers.
- Numbers precede letters.
- Senate Hearings and Prints:
S.HRG. then S.PRT. by congress number. After that, numbers, and then alphabetically. - Microfiche is filed in the same way as paper except Foreign Broadcast Information Service (PREX 7.10 & PREX 7.13), House and Senate Reports and Documents (Y 1.1), and Bills and Resolutions (Y 1.4) are filed in the microfiche cabinets at the north end of the reference area. A finding aid for Y 1.4 is kept in the black binder in the microfiche area.
- Serial set volumes are shelved at the end of the document collection.
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C 3.24/8: IN 23
C 3.25: AF 48
NAS 1.2: FR 76
NS 5: 100
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D 1.2: EX 83
D 1.16: TO 75
D 1.23: NA 42
D 1.23/2: CR 76
D 1.23/2-3: AL 23
D 1.23/2-11: LI 45
D 1.142: LE 78
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C 61.12: 89-7
C 61.12: AM 32
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Y 4.B 85/2: S.HRG.100-45
Y 4.B 85/2: S.PRT.100-37
Y 4.B 85/2: S.HRG.101-13
Y 4.B 85/2: S.PRT.101-20
Y 4.B 85/2: 100-9
Y 4.B 85/2: AR 56
