LC Call Numbers - Non-Zero Z
What is this?
If you would like to include a publication date in a Library of Congress
call number but only know the date within a range (such as 1980-1989),
you can include that call number as 1980z. A call number with
a date 1900z could mean that the date range is either 1900-1909
or 1900-1999.
Where is the trouble?
If a call number ends with z but it does not follow a zero (as it does
in 1900z or 1960z), there may be some error.
It may be an error of some other character such as 2 or 7 being read as a z, such as:
196z(should be 1962)
It may be an error of including 'z' for any questionable date, which is incorrect usage.
Exceptions
It is possible that a z at the end of a call number but not following zero means that 24 other resources were also published that year that have already been assigned that call number (with no shiftable cutter), so the z was assigned to distinguish this one:- ND497.R54 A4 2019
- ND497.R54 A4 2019b
- ...
- ND497.R54 A4 2019y
- ND497.R54 A4 2019z
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 "Non-Zero Z" analysis.
If you can search or filter your call numbers by regular expression, use the expression /[1-9]z$/.