Every bound journal in the library has a combination of numbers and letters on the spine label. You will also find this information, known as the shelfmark, when searching the catalogue. Unbound journal issues are located under the same shelfmark in folding shelves in the subject libraries.

Example:

The following shelf mark is used to explain what information it contains:

40 = location code number

The location code number provides information about the borrowability of a journal volume as well as its location.

The following applies to borrowability

• all bound journals have even location codes => reference holdings(short loans only possible foruniversity staff )
• unbound journals cannot be borrowed.

The following applies to the location

• for bound journals, the location depends on the year. You will find news on the corresponding subject level, older volumes up to 1995 in the stacks. An overview of possible special locations can be found here.

58 = Subject code number

The subject codes are assigned to individual subjects and thus also to the individual subject libraries on the five levels.

n = initial letter of the title

The journals are arranged alphabetically within the subject code numbers according to the first letter of the title.

3 = Consecutive counting

Journals with the same initial letter are sorted according to a consecutive count on the shelf.

If you have any questions about the list of journals and the signatures, the staff at the Information Centre and in the subject libraries will be happy to help you.