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The first cutter in a "double-cuttered" call number may stand for a topic listed in the schedule (common in economics, science, etc.), for a type of material (common in law), for a person's name (common in literature, art, philosophy, etc.), or for a place (common in history, social sciences, etc.)
Problems arise when different sources of copy use different cutters for the same person, place, etc.
If you check the shelflist and discover that the same cutter has been used for the same person or place, then the cutter should be fine. If a different cutter has been used for the same person or place, or the same cutter has been used for a different person or place, then one of the cutters should be adjusted, or you should consult a librarian.
Note that there is a list of place names and cutters for the FC schedule available in a binder, for places within a province.
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Unfortunately, the National Library of Canada and the Library of Congress use different lists for Canada and its provinces. Queen's prefers to follow the LC list, but so much of our copy for Canadian books comes from NLC that if we do not correct the cutters we quickly develop double files. In fact, we already have a lot of double, and mixed-up files, because we have not been consistent over the years.
The table below shows some of the variants. Except for Canada, all of these turn up in one "by state or region" call number, HC117; there may be others elsewhere. Note that the N cutters are a special problem.
| Place | LC approved cutter | Other cutters found | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | .C2 | .C3 | Used in country lists only |
| Alberta | .A3 | .A4, .A5, .A6 | |
| British Columbia | .B8 | .B7 | |
| Manitoba | .M3 | .M2 | |
| Maritimes | .M35 | Not in LC list | |
| New Brunswick | .N5 | .N3, .N4, .N53 | |
| Newfoundland | .N6 | .N4 | |
| North / Northwest | .N48, .N5, .N6, .N7 | Not in LC list; Sometimes used for "West" |
|
| Northwest Territories | .N7 | .N5 | |
| Nova Scotia | .N8 | .N9 | |
| Nunavut | not yet assigned | Probably .N9? | |
| Ontario | .O6 | .O5 | |
| Prairie Provinces | .P64, .P67, .P8 | Not in LC list | |
| Prince Edward Island | .P8 | .P7, .P9 | |
| Québec | .Q3 | .Q4, .Q7, .Q8 | Q4 most common in shelflist? |
| Saskatchewan | .S2 | .S2 | |
| Yukon | .Y8 | .Y9 |
Even LC is not completely consistent in using their approved cutters — if older records have been cuttered some other way in a particular class number, they may choose to stick with what they have done before in order to keep provinces, etc., together.
If you have a call number which uses a first cutter other than those approved by LC, you should normally change it. However, if our shelflist in that class number overwhelmingly uses the number you have, you may use it unchanged, or you may change to a first cutter which will best keep provinces together.
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Sept. 17, 2002
by D. Rutherford
Page maintained by Elizabeth A. Read, readel@queensu.ca. Created: Sept. 18, 2002; Updated: 19-09-2002 at 3:49:37 PM