CUTTER CALL NUMBERS
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How Cutter call numbers are constructed
When you are searching for a book in the Cutter Classification system remember to always alphabetize and
decimalize.
Most call numbers in the Cutter classification follow conventions offering clues to the book's subject. The first
line represents the subject, the second the author (and perhaps title), the third and fourth dates of editions,
indications of translations, and critical works on particular books or authors. All numbers in the Cutter system
are (or should be) shelved as if in decimal order. The Cutter number "D557" comes between D55 and D56.
Imagine that there is an invisible decimal point between the D and the 5 in the above examples. Although Cutter
numbers are never printed using a terminal zero, it is sometimes helpful to think of a Cutter as ending in a zero.
If you think of the above examples as D557, D550, and D560, it's easy to find the item you want
For some subjects a numerical geographical subdivision follows the classification letters on the first line. The
number 83 stands for the United States—hence, F83 is U.S. history, G83 U.S. travel, JU83 U.S. politics, WP83
U.S. painting. Geographical numbers are often further expanded decimally to represent more specific areas,
sometimes followed by a capital letter indicating a particular city.
The second line usually represents the author's name by a capital letter plus one or more numbers arranged
decimally. This may be followed by the first letter or letters of the title in lower-case, and/or sometimes the
letters a,b,c indicating other printings of the same title. When appropriate, the second line may begin with a
'form' number—e.g., 1 stands for history and criticism of a subject, 2 for a bibliography, 5 for a dictionary, 6 for
an atlas or maps, 7 for a periodical, 8 for a society or university publication, 9 for a collection of works by
different authors. Books with a ‘form’ number are shelved before those without a ‘form’ number.
Therefore JU83 9C5 will be shelved before JU83 A3
Oversize volumes are indicated by pluses + and ++. The latter includes some volumes with spine labels saying
+++ but that is a defunct location and should appear in the catalog as ++. All oversize volumes are in storage
and are retrieved on request.
The following outline of the Cutter
Classification system describes each
category and the types of materials
you will find in general areas.
I: Sociology and Education
Social services, insurances,
directories of colleges and
universities
R: Technology/Useful Arts
Invention and patents,
agriculture, horticulture,
forestry, nutrition and food,
cooking, dieting.
J: Political Science
Civics, government, citizenship,
political topics.
S: Constructive Arts Engineering and Building
Construction, engineering,
transportation, cars, railroads.
A: General Works
Encyclopedias, almanacs, indexes,
periodicals, quotations.
B: Philosophy, Psychology, and some
Religion
The occult, religion and theology,
mythology, folklore, healing, mind and
body.
C: Christian and Jewish Religions
Judaism, Christianity, and theological
works.
K: Law
Legal resources
T: Handicrafts,
Manufacturing, Mechanical
Engineering
Carpentry, sewing, machines,
metalwork, leather, textiles,
plastics.
D: Church History
Catholicism, Reformation, Protestants,
etc.
L: General Sciences
Mathematics, physics and
chemistry.
U: War, Military History
Battles, military law & science,
warfare.
E: Biography
Books are arranged by
subject/biography.
M: Natural Sciences
Environmental science, ecology,
weather and meteorology,
geology, volcanoes and
earthquakes, oceanography,
biology/life sciences.
V: Athletics, Recreation,
Music, Performing Arts
Sports in general, magic,
juggling, theatre, film, dance,
music, works of music.
F: History
Books are arranged by time period and
country.
N: Botany
Plants, flowers, wildflowers,
mushrooms, ferns, trees.
W: Fine Arts, Art
Art history, architecture,
sculpture, drawing, painting,
photography, needlework,
furniture.
G: Geography and Travel
Guidebooks, travel books, atlases,
maps.
O - P: Zoology
Animal behavior, zoology
X: Language
Linguistics, language learning
tools, dictionaries, name books.
H: Social Sciences
Statistics, economics, business,
investment, consumer information.
Q: Medicine
Health, naturopathy, medical
directories, mental health.
Y: Literature
Fiction, drama, poetry, essays,
speeches.
Z: Books and Literary History
Writing, printing, public libraries, bibliography, literary criticism, author information.
History of the Cutter classification
Charles Ammi Cutter (1837–1903), inspired by the decimal classification of his contemporary Melvil Dewey,
originally developed his own classification scheme for the collections of the Boston Athenaeum, at which he
served as librarian from 1868-1893. Charles Cutter began work on the Cutter system about 1880 and published
the first schedules in the early 1890s. His five-volume catalogue of the Athenaeum collection is a classic in
bibliographic history. He was also one of the founders of the American Library Association.
The Cutter classification, although adopted by comparatively few libraries, most of which were in New
England, has been called one of the most logical and scholarly of American classifications. The Cutter
classification system is still used by the Boston Athenaeum and the Forbes Library of Northampton,
Massachusetts, where Cutter was the librarian from 1894 - 1903. In the early 1970s Wesleyan University
switched to the Library of Congress classification. However its storage collections, some 175,000 items, are
still classed in Cutter.
The Cutter classification system served as a basis for the Library of Congress classification, which also took
over some of its features. It did not catch on as did Dewey's system because Cutter died before it was
completely finished, making no provision for the kind of development necessary as the bounds of knowledge
expanded and scholarly emphases changed throughout the 20th century.