Classification schemes

Classification of books in the Haddon Library

If you are curious about how we classify our books and arrange them on the shelves, this page explains the classifications systems that we use in the two main rooms of the library as well as in our locked storage rooms.

• These classification schemes were developed a long time ago and therefore organise knowledge in ways that are often considered outdated today.
   
• We are aware of the dominant discourses that our classification schemes centre and the many resulting gaps or silences that such schemes produce.
   
• We recognise that our classification schemes are complicit in perpetuating structural inequalities and that this is problematic and offensive.

Along with the wider library community at Cambridge and beyond, we are engaging in discussions about how to remove such embedded discrimination from our classification schemes. Further information is available on the Cambridge Decolonising through Critical Librarianship site and the University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives Decolonisation Working Group page. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss changes to classification schemes further. 

All of our collections can be searched for using the University's iDiscover search and discovery website.

Library of Congress classification scheme

Since 2017, all newly acquired books in our main Reading Room have been arranged according to the Library of Congress classification scheme. We are currently converting some of our older material into the Library of Congress classification scheme.

Bliss classification scheme

Many of the books in the main Reading Room are arranged according to the Bliss classification scheme. This uses letters such as LAA for archaeology and KU for anthropology.

Ancient Near East classification scheme

The Assyriology and Egyptology collection, in the McBurney Room, follows the Ancient Near East classification devised before the collection was transferred into the Haddon in 2012. We continue to use it for newer books that are added to this part of the collection.

Sayle/Fegan classification scheme

A few of the books in our locked areas follow the Sayle/Fegan classification scheme drawn up in the 1920s. This uses numbers (e.g. 78 for Scotland). 

If in doubt, please ask a member of the library team who will be happy to help you find what you need.