Outline, Library of Congress Call Numbers (Classification) for Comics Material

The Comic Art Collection in the Michigan State University Libraries is the largest comics collection ever classified using the Library of Congress call number system, and to do so we have felt it necessary to make some adjustments and innovations. These are spelled out more completely in chapter 4 of Comics Librarianship (Jefferson, NC : McFarland & Company, 1990)

    PN 6700  Periodicals, societies, etc.
       6702  Congresses
       6705  Exhibitions, museums, etc.
       6707  Encyclopedias, dictionaries
       6710  General works including history
       6712  Moral and religious aspects
       6714  Other special topics
       6720  General collections

By Region or Country:

    PN 6725-6728  United States (see local development below)
       6731-6734  Canada
       6735-6738  Great Britain
       6745-6748  France
       6755-6758  Germany
       6765-6768  Italy
       6775-6778  Spain
            6790  Other regions or countries, A-Z

This system divides the numbers for each country as follows:

    (1) History
    (2) Collections
    (3) Individual author numbers, A-Z
    (4) Individual comics by title, A-Z


Local call numbers for U.S. comic books:

    PN 6728.1  Golden Age comic books of the United States,
               titles beginning in the years from 1935 to
               1949, by publisher, A-Z, then by title.

    PN 6728.15 "Eight-pagers" or "Tijuana bibles":
               pornographic comic books often illegally using
               newspaper comic strip characters of the 1920s
               through 1950s, by title.

    PN 6728.2  Fifties comic books of the United States,
               titles beginning in the years from 1950 to
               1959, by publisher, then by title.

    PN 6728.25 Propaganda, educational and giveaway comic
               books published in the United States, by
               publisher, A-Z, then by title.

    PN 6728.3  Silver Age comic books of the United States,
               titles beginning in the years from 1960 to
               1969, by publisher, A-Z, then by title.

    PN 6728.4  Seventies comic books of the United States,
               except undergrounds, titles beginning in the
               years from 1970 to 1979, by publisher, then by
               title.

    PN 6728.45 Underground comic books of the United States,
               titles beginning in the years from about 1967,
               by publisher, A-Z, then by title.

    PN 6728.5  Eighties mainstream or color comic books of the
               United States, titles beginning in the years
               from 1980 to 1989, by publisher, A-Z, then by
               title.

    PN 6728.55 New wave comix, minis, other amateur and
               self-published stripzines of the United States,
               including black and white explosion comic
               books.  Titles beginning in the years from
               about 1980 to 1989, by publisher or creator,
               A-Z, then by title.

    PN 6728.6  Nineties comic books of the United States,
               titles beginning in the years from 1990 to
               1999, by publisher, A-Z, then by title.


Please address questions about this scheme, including requests
for further detail, to Randall W. Scott: scottr@msu.edu

This segment last updated October 10, 1997
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