So important...so hard to understand. This can be complicated. If you are trying to find a score or learn how to read a score call number and this explanation is more confusing than helpful you can always email the Performing and Visual Arts Librarian or schedule a one-on-one consultation where you can get hands-on instruction to better understand this system. Once you understand it, you can find a score in practically any music library in the United States.
Call numbers are a way for you to locate a book -- basically, an address for where the item lives on the shelf. Butler Libraries uses the Library of Congress call number system, which combines letters and numbers. Scores get tricky because composers can be prolific and to identify and find a particular work, many composers have their own organizational system that also uses letters and numbers. These comprehensive catalogs use specific numbering systems to organize and identify each work written by a composer.
Call numbers for scores in our collection smash the two systems together. This is the best, imperfect way to reconcile these two systems so that you can find the exact score that you need.
In the call number: M1113 .B32 BWV.1043 2000
BWV.1043 is NOT part of the Library of Congress call numbering system, it is the composer catalog number. BWV is the Bach Werke Verzeichnis (the Bach Works Catalog) and BWV.1043 is the number assigned to the Concerto for Two Violins, in D Minor.
The other parts of the call number, M1113 .B32 and the 2000 that comes at the end, are part of the Library of Congress call number convention.
Clear as mud? That is understandable. It can be difficult to figure out where one call number system starts and the other stops. Typically, the composer catalog number is included after the Cutter number(s) and before the publication date.
This is made trickier by the fact that not every composer has works organized into a composer catalog. This means that some scores have a call number that looks just like a book. For example, William Bolcom does not have a composer catalog, and does not use Opus (op.) numbers for his works. An example call number for one of his violin romanzas is: M1113 .B682 R6 2010
M1113 -- Classification number for a piano reduction of a piece for solo violin with string orchestra
.B682 -- Cutter number for William Bolcom
R6 -- a second Cutter number (there can be up to two cutter numbers in a call number) identifying this romanza
2010 -- the year of publication for this edition
Below is a brief introduction to understanding the Library of Congress call numbering system.
You can find a list of catalogs of classical composers, and the symbol for their catalog, on Wikipedia. Often a catalog is named after the musicologist or bibliographer who compiled it. For example, the Mozart's compositions are given K numbers, because his catalog is the Köchel catalog, after Ludwig Ritten von Köchel who originally created it. Likewise, Schubert's works have D numbers, because his catalog is the Deutsch catalog, after Otto Erich Deutsch.
The fastest way to cross reference catalogs (and also to understand where to find specific pieces in the composer's collected sets...found in the .M2 section) is to look up the composer in the Grove Music Online:
Once in the Grove, most composers will have a section called "Works" in their entry. As an example, here is William Bolcom's entry, you can see the Works are listed as a separate section within the article:
Some prolific composers have more than one catalog and more than one edition of collected works, in that case, the Grove provides an invaluable crosswalk between the different editions and catalogs. For example, under the Works list for Johann Sebastian Bach, you have a helpful list of editions and catalogs with the abbreviations defined for you:
If we look up BWV.1043 (the concerto from earlier) in the Works list you can see that the Grove provides not only the BWV number, but also the title, key, scoring, remarks about first performance, and in which volume you would find it in the two collected scholarly editions (the Bach-Gesellschaft and the Neue Bach-Ausgabe):
Please note: the Grove is currently the easiest way to find this kind of crosswalk between catalogs and scholarly editions.
Use the WorldCat Discovery search box below to begin your search for print scores owned by Butler Libraries, PALNI (Private Academic Library Network of Indiana) Libraries and other WorldCat Libraries around the world.
The scores owned by the Butler Libraries will have the following at the bottom of the brief record for the item:
To access scores NOT owned by the Butler University Libraries, you will need to make an interlibrary loan request. Click on the "Interlibrary Loan" tab/page on this LibGuide to access the ILL tutorial and register.
The Butler Libraries use the Library of Congress Classification system. This is an alpha-numeric system of classification (meaning it uses both letters and numbers to describe the classification and location of an item).
Use the WorldCat Discovery search box below to begin your search for print scores owned by Butler Libraries, PALNI (Private Academic Library Network of Indiana) Libraries and other WorldCat Libraries around the world.
The scores owned by the Butler Libraries will have the following at the bottom of the brief record for the item:
To access scores NOT owned by the Butler University Libraries, you will need to make an interlibrary loan request. Click on the "Interlibrary Loan" tab/page on this LibGuide to access the ILL tutorial and register.
The Butler Libraries use the Library of Congress Classification system. This is an alpha-numeric system of classification (meaning it uses both letters and numbers to describe the classification and location of an item).
Use the WorldCat Discovery search box below to begin your search for print scores owned by Butler Libraries, PALNI (Private Academic Library Network of Indiana) Libraries and other WorldCat Libraries around the world.
The scores owned by the Butler Libraries will have the following at the bottom of the brief record for the item:
To access scores NOT owned by the Butler University Libraries, you will need to make an interlibrary loan request. Click on the "Interlibrary Loan" tab/page on this LibGuide to access the ILL tutorial and register.
The Butler Libraries use the Library of Congress Classification system. This is an alpha-numeric system of classification (meaning it uses both letters and numbers to describe the classification and location of an item).
Letter: This is a US standard size of 8 1/2 x 11 inches
A4: This is an International standard size that is 210 x 297 millimeters (roughly 8.27 x 11.7
There are two commonly used paper sizing standards in the world. ANSI (American National Standards Institute) is used across North America. The rest of the world uses ISO (the International Organization for Standardization). ISO bases their standard paper size on a fixed ratio that aligns with the metric system. A0 (the largest size) has an area of one square meter and a ratio of 1:√2 (841 mm x 1189 mm). Each size that comes after is two equal halves of the previous size and keeps the same a height/width ration of the square root of two (1.4142).
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