Shelfmark

In certain American institutions, shelfmark and call number are combined to create a long code containing information on location, classification, size, binding, author and date.

[1] Shelfmarks originated in the early Middle Ages, usually as combinations of numbers and letters, probably indicating the cupboard and shelf.

In the modern period, university libraries often organized their collections by subject and indicated the faculty in the shelfmark.

As libraries grew larger, alphanumeric shelfmarks were augmented with Greek letters and the symbols of the zodiac.

[1] Cave Beck introduced a fore-edge shelfmark system for the Town Library of Ipswich in 1651.