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Dance

Research resources for dance courses offered at Jordan College of Fine Arts, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN.

What are LC Class Numbers and Subjects?

Items in the catalog are assigned Subject Headings in the catalog.  Subject Headings are meant to capture the most essential themes and content of the material (books, recordings, eResources, etc.).  When you search by subjects, you are able to find a smaller collection of items that share the same essential subject matter.  In catalog records, subjects are hyperlinked so that you can click on related subjects to browse related groups of items. You can also combine subjects in searches to get narrower results.

 

At Butler University, all of the libraries use the Library of Congress (LC) Classification System.  For those accustomed to the Dewey Decimal System, the LC System may look strange because it combines letters and numbers. Every LC call number begins with a letter or letters which designate the general subject of the material and knowing helpful classification numbers will help you browse the catalog and the stacks for related material.

 

A chart with a sample library of congress call number and explanations of how to interpret each part if you are browsing books in the stacks. Call numbers in the Library of Congress system are organized from general classification to more specific identifying information in each part. The sample call number is "PS3527 .E917 G7 1925 V.3." The first part, "PS3527," is the classification number. You read the letters in alphabetical order, so A comes before B, and P comes before PA, comes before PB. PS would come between PR and PT. The number is read in ascending numerical order. One comes before two, which comes before three. In this example, PS3527 would come between PS3526 and PS3528. The second part of the call number is the Cutter number. These have a decimal point at the beginning, followed by an initial letter then a number. Sometimes a call number can have two Cutter numbers, as our example does, ".E917" and "G7." In both cases you would interpret the number as decimal numbers, so ".E917" would come between ".E91" and ".E92" and "G7" would come between "G69" and "G71." The third part of the call number is the publication date. This is the year the book was published. Editions of the same book, published in different years, are arranged in chronological order. In our example, the book was published in 1925. The last part of the call number is the enumeration. If a book has multiple volumes, parts, or copies, those are arranged in numerical order. In our example, this is volume three, "V.3" which would be shelved between volumes 2 and 4.

LC Class & Subjects

General Information

The Butler University Libraries use the Library of Congress classification system. Dance materials generally fall within the range of GV 1580 - GV 1799. Within that range, some of the useful subdivisions for Theory & Philosophy of Dance are:

  • GV 1585 - Dictionaries, encyclopedias
  • GV 1588 - Philosophy (and theory)
  • GV 1589- Study and teaching
  • GV 1590-GV 1594 - General works
    • GV 1590 - Dancing -- General works -- Early through 1850
  • GV 1595 - Special aspects of the subject as a whole
  • GV 1597 - Dancing as a profession
  • GV 1600 - Dance criticism, appreciation
  • GV 1645-GV 1728 - Dance history (and historical dance)
  • GV 1743 - National dances. Folk dances and dancing (General)
  • GV 1746-GV 1771 - Social dancing. Ballroom dancing
  • GV 1781-GV 1795 - Theatrical dancing (Biography: GV 1785)
  • GV 1796 -GV 1799 Special dances.
  • M 1450 - Dance music (Note: Scores in the Irwin Library are located in the Basement)

Commonly Searched Subjects:

As seen above, subject headings can often be combined into a single subject with different facets.  For example, if you search not just Choreographers but Choreographers--Germany you get results that limit to choreographers from a particular geographic region (Germany), or you can get even more specific with Choreographers--Germany--Biography, limited to biographies of choreographers in Germany.  Once you have the pattern in mind, you can add and subtract facets as needed.  Here are some examples:

 

Additional Search Terms:

CONTACT

Email Butler University Libraries
Irwin Library: 317-940-9227
Science Library: 317-940-9937

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