Examples of Call (or shelf mark) Numbers Using the
Moys Classification Scheme
(Example 1)
KN
} Subject classification [KN 10 Contract]
10
}
.K1
Jurisdiction facet indicator [.K1 Australia]
CHE
Shelf locator [first 3 letters of author or title
main entry]
1988
Publication date
Commonly used Jurisdiction Facet Indicators
.A1
England
.B2
Scotland
.F1
Canada
.G1
United States
.K1
Australia
.K2W Western Australia
.L1
New Zealand
MOYS
CLASSIFICATION
SCHEME
The full bibliographic details of the book are:
Cheshire, G C, Cheshire and Fifoot’s law of
th
contract. (Butterworths, 6 Australian ed, 1988).
(Example 2)
KM
} Subject classification [KM 526 Australian
526
} & Jurisdiction indicator Criminal Law]
.Z2
Legal form [.Z2 casebook]
EDW
Shelf locator [first 3 letters of author or title
main entry]
1976
Publication date
The full bibliographic details of the book are:
E J Edwards, R A Hayes and R S O’Regan,
Cases on the Criminal Code: being cases and
material on the criminal law in Queensland,
Western Australia and Papua New Guinea. (Law
nd
Book Company Ltd., 2 ed, 1976).
CRAVEN
LAW LIBRARY
The collection is classified according to the
Moys classification scheme, 4th edition 1.
The scheme was developed on the basis that
legal materials may be divided most
conveniently into:
• primary materials
(Statute and case law)
• secondary materials
(Treatises and periodicals).
The central feature of the scheme is the
treatment as a unit of those countries whose
legal systems are based almost entirely on the
English Common Law, i.e. England and Wales,
Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
United States and the former British West
Indian colonies.
Territorial jurisdictions with Civil Law systems
or legal systems not wholly based on the
Common Law e.g. those in Africa, Latin
America, Asia and Europe, are treated as
separate units.
1
Elizabeth Moys, Moys Classification and Thesaurus for
Legal Materials, (K G Saur, 4th ed, 2001).
Within the Common Law Unit
Primary Materials are subdivided first, by
territorial jurisdiction and then by form
(parliamentary
publications
[including
Statutes] and law reports).
Secondary Materials are subdivided first
by subject and then territorial jurisdiction
within each subject area.
Periodicals are interfiled with
other secondary materials.
In other national systems, division by country
comes first followed by form (for primary
materials)
and
subject
(for
secondary
materials).
Reference books; jurisprudence; international
law; religious legal systems and ancient and
medieval law are treated separately from these
national systems.
A broad outline of the Moys Classification
Scheme is given below.
SUBJECT
CLASSIFICATION
Reference Works
Jurisprudence
Biography
International Law
Conflict of Laws
Religious Legal
Systems
Ancient &
Medieval Law
K
KA
KB 10-22
KC 1-1425
KC 2000-2150
KD
KE
SUBJECT
CLASSIFICATION
Common Law Primary Materials
British Isles
KF
Canada, USA
KG
Australia, N Z
KH
Common Law - Treatises/Periodicals
General
KL
Legal Profession
50-101
Admin. of Justice
200-319
Legal History
400-480
Public Law
KM
Constitutional &
Administrative Law
31 - 334
Taxation
335-337
Criminal Law &
Procedure
500-690
Criminology
700-799
Private Law
KN
Contract and Tort
5-39
Property
(Real & Personal)
50-110
Personal &
Social Laws
150-169
Family Law
170-179
Industrial Law
190-198
Equity
200-203
Trusts & Trustees
210-221
Commercial Law
250-287
Companies
262-265
Sale of Goods
280-287
Insurance
290-295
Finance
300-315
Maritime Law
330-339
Practice &
Procedure
350-400
Evidence
390-399
Comparative Law
KP
Other Modern Legal Systems
Africa
KR
Latin America
KS
Asia and Pacific
KT
Europe
KV
European Communities KW