Nursing Books: Reference and Main Collection

Giovale Library uses the Library of Congress Classification System.

The Library of Congress Classification System was designed for the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The LC (Library of Congress) system is now used all over the world.

Classification System:

• Groups items of the same or similar subject together
• Arranges books in a helpful way on the shelf

The LC classification system consists of the letters of the alphabet followed by Arabic numerals. It is called an alpha-numeric system (consisting of letter-alpha-and numbers-numeric).

Each broad subject category is assigned a letter of the alphabet. Each subject is then further divided by additional letters and numbers.

Nursing falls under the broad category of Medicine.

The Library of Congress assigned the letter R to Medicine.

Here are some subcategories of Medicine:

R Medicine
Browse this area for general books on Alternative medicine

RA RB RC RD RE RF RG RJ RK RL RM RS RT RV RX RZ

Public aspects of medicine Pathology Internal Medicine. Practice of medicine Surgery Opthalmology Otorhinolaryngology Gynecology and Obstetrics Pediatrics Dentistry Dermatology Therapeutics. Pharmacology Pharmacy and materia medic Nursing Botanic, Thomsonian, and eclectic medicine Homeopathy Other systems of medicine

Reference Books:

Use reference books for:

• Definitions of terms
• Overviews and summaries of topics
  (these articles have usually gone through an editorial review process by the publishers)
• References that lead you to more information

Reference books are located in the Main Library's Reference Area unless otherwise noted in the catalog! The Reference Area is located to your right when entering the library!

Main Collection:

Books will give you:

• In depth treatment of a topic
• Extensive bibliography

Use: the Giovale Library Catalog, our online catalog to find books on your topic.

Note: Use the Library of Congress Subject Headings for specific terms, to find all books/videos available on your topic. The books containing the Subject Headings (often referred to as the Red Books) are located on the dictionary stand across from the circulation desk.

Use Keyword Search if you do not know the correct Subject Heading. Then, within the retrieved records, look for other relevant subject headings for your topic.

Search Example: The search below is made using elderly as the keyword.

Inside one of the retrieved records under Subjects you see that elderly is not a correct LC Heading. It is aged. You can click on any of the hyperlinked subjects to do a search on that topic.