Library of Congress Control Number
Encyclopedia
The Library of Congress Control Number or LCCN is a serially
based system of numbering cataloging records in the Library of Congress
in the United States. It has nothing to do with the contents of any book, and should not be confused with Library of Congress Classification
.
and would sell duplicate sets of the cards to other libraries for use in their catalogs. This is known as centralized cataloging. Each set of cards was given a serial number to help identify it.
Although most of the bibliographic information is now electronically created, stored and shared with other libraries, there is still a need to identify each unique record, and the LCCN continues to perform that function.
Librarian
s all over the world use this unique identifier
in the process of cataloging most books which have been published in the United States. It helps them reach the correct cataloging data (known as a cataloging record), which the Library of Congress and third parties make available on the Web and through other media.
In February 2008, the Library of Congress created the LCCN Permalink service, providing a stable URL for all Library of Congress Control Numbers.
Serial numbers are six digits long and should include leading zeros. The hyphen
that is often seen separating the year and serial number is optional. More recently, the Library of Congress has instructed publishers not to include a hyphen.
Serial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
based system of numbering cataloging records in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
in the United States. It has nothing to do with the contents of any book, and should not be confused with Library of Congress Classification
Library of Congress Classification
The Library of Congress Classification is a system of library classification developed by the Library of Congress. It is used by most research and academic libraries in the U.S. and several other countries; for example, Australia and Taiwan, R.O.C. It is not to be confused with the Library of...
.
History
The LCCN numbering system has been in use since 1898, at which time the acronym LCCN originally stood for Library of Congress Card Number. It has been variously called the Library of Congress Catalog Card Number. The Library of Congress prepared cards of bibliographic information for their library catalogLibrary catalog
A library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations...
and would sell duplicate sets of the cards to other libraries for use in their catalogs. This is known as centralized cataloging. Each set of cards was given a serial number to help identify it.
Although most of the bibliographic information is now electronically created, stored and shared with other libraries, there is still a need to identify each unique record, and the LCCN continues to perform that function.
Librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
s all over the world use this unique identifier
Identifier
An identifier is a name that identifies either a unique object or a unique class of objects, where the "object" or class may be an idea, physical [countable] object , or physical [noncountable] substance...
in the process of cataloging most books which have been published in the United States. It helps them reach the correct cataloging data (known as a cataloging record), which the Library of Congress and third parties make available on the Web and through other media.
In February 2008, the Library of Congress created the LCCN Permalink service, providing a stable URL for all Library of Congress Control Numbers.
Format
In its most elementary form the number includes a year and a serial number. The year has two digits for 1898 to 2000, and four digits beginning in 2001. The three ambiguous years are distinguished by the size of the serial number. There are also some peculiarities in numbers beginning with a "7" because of an unsuccessful experiment applied between 1969 and 1972.Serial numbers are six digits long and should include leading zeros. The hyphen
Hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes , which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign which is also longer...
that is often seen separating the year and serial number is optional. More recently, the Library of Congress has instructed publishers not to include a hyphen.
See also
- ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
- CODENCODENCODEN – according to ASTM standard E250 – is a six character, alphanumeric bibliographic code, that provides concise, unique and unambiguous identification of the titles of serials and non-serial publications from all subject areas....
- PersonennamendateiPersonennamendateiThe Personennamendatei is an authority file of people, which serves primarily to access literature in libraries. The PND has been built up between 1995 and 1998 and is published by the German National Library...
(PND) - SELIBRSELIBRThe SELIBR is an authority file of people, which serves primarily to access literature in libraries. The SELIBR is published by the National Library of Sweden...
External links
- Structure of the LC Control Number
- LCCN Permalink FAQs
- Search the catalog to look up an LCCN