Videos From the Library Session
Handling Rare Books
Organization of Rare Books
Rare books are organized by various classification systems. The most common is Library of Congress (LC), but you might encounter Dewey Decimal numbers or shelf-mark numbers. A shelf-mark number is a general term that refers to internal numbering systems created by libraries. Learning the way Dewey Decimal or LC numbers are put together may also be useful in expanding your search parameters. The easiest way to differentiate between Dewey Decimal numbers and LC numbers is that Dewey Decimal call numbers start with a number and LC call numbers start with a letter classification.
From University of Nebraska at Omaha
From Middle Tennessee State University James E. Walker Library
Searching for Rare Books
When searching for rare books, the best starting point is usually the library catalog. When you don't have a specific title in mind, filters will be important tools to help narrow the results. Specifically for rare books, limiting the date range for the publication year or zeroing in on subject headings can be quite useful.
Additionally, it is often useful to start your search at the special collections or rare book library's website. They will regularly have tips for searching and other useful information to navigate their collections. For example, the Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives' website includes a search box that automatically filters the results to include only materials that are held by Special Collections.
When in doubt, the best thing you can do is contact the library. The staff will know how to help you find what you are looking for and let you know what needs to be done to secure physical or digital access to materials. Always get in touch sooner rather than later!
Rare Books Collections at Vanderbilt
Special Collections is the home for the rare book collections of the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Over 50,000 titles strong, the collections cover a variety of subject matters across many eras. There is always something captivating to be found in Special Collections, from an illuminated Book of Hours from 1480, to facsimile recreations of Aztec and Maya codices, to a signed first edition of Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s Beloved. The department also houses one of the finest twentieth-century Southern literature collections in the United States, and is the center for the study of the Fugitive and Agrarian literary groups.
