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The Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) classification number begins with a capital letter or letters representing a government department or agency. (A - Agriculture Dept., C - Commerce Dept., ED - Education Dept., etc.) The U. S. Congress uses the letters X and Y.
The numbers that follow these letters represent the office of a particular department. For instance, all Internal Revenue Service publications will be given a number beginning with T 22. The numbers after the decimal point represent second and subsequent level offices.
Numbers immediately following the colon indicate numbered series, volumes or dates. Letters and numbers immediately following the colon are based on a system which organizes materials alphabetically by subject.
In general, documents are shelved in alphabetical and numerical order.
This is not a decimal system. Numbers between punctuation are treated as individual whole numbers.
Numbers precede letters.
Senate Hearings and Prints for the 98th and subsequent Congresses:
S.HRG. then S.PRT. by congress number. For more information on shelving order for Congressional publications, see the guide: Government Information--Congress, Laws and Regulations
Microfiche is filed in the same order as paper, in cabinets on the west wall
of the main floor.
This guide is adapted from one by Mary A. Gast at Lawrence University. This tutorial, developed by a librarian at Michigan State University, gives more detailed information about the system.