LC Call Numbers - No Dot

What is this?

Most LC call numbers have at least one cutter consisting of a dot, followed by a letter, followed by one or more numbers. If a call number does not have a dot, something may have gone wrong.

Why is this trouble?

A call number with this pattern may be an indicator that it has been truncated, maybe by having the second part of the call number in a wrong subfield. For example, a call number coded in holdings as $h DP157 $b .R33 (with a $b instead of $i) might display in the catalog (and be transferred to the spine label) as: 

DP
157

A call number with this pattern may not be an LC call number at all, for example KEY as the call number for a local record for circulating keys in the library. Such a call number might appear in the middle of library reports by call number: 

KEQ1068.Z85 R54
KEY
KF1.A2 C66

A call number with this pattern may be an otherwise good LC call number that just doesn't have the dot before the first cutter:

CB3 C7 1967

While this may not cause problems for shelving, it may be an indicator that the resource was not cataloged carefully.

A call number with this pattern may be incomplete or truncated:

  • LA14
  • G798

    • A call number with this pattern may be have been corrupted in the catalog, and may or may not match what is on the book:

  • QV772D79451973
  • QT225J71s1975

    • Exceptions

    There are good call numbers matching this pattern, for example:

    • B3958 1985

    How to Find

    If you are in Alma, there is an analysis to search for this issue in the "Looking for Trouble" folder. Go to the "LC Call Numbers" folder and look for the "No Dot" analysis.

    If you can search or filter your call numbers by regular expression, look for call numbers that do not match the expression /\./.