Newspaper Classification

It is desirable to keep American newspapers arranged on the shelves in alphabetical order: 1) by state; 2) by city within state; 3) by title of newspaper.

This can only be done by adapting the usual scheme for the cataloging of serials as follows:

First element of call number:

APN (f APN, p APN); no chronological division necessary.

Second element of call number:

A letter for the state (see list below), followed by a letter for the city, thus:
M3B (M3 = Massachusetts, B = Boston)

Cities beginning with the same letter will require a number following the letter (B2 = Brookfield, Mass., etc.); this may occasionally result in a not strictly alphabetical arrangement of the cities, but this will be of no great importance.

Third element of call number:

A letter for the name of the newspaper (not taking account of the name of the city if it is used as a part of the name of the newspaper, i.e., use C for Boston Courier, not B); the letter to be followed by a regular 4-digit Cutter number, which should itself be followed by a letter when similarity of titles requires: D1437G = Daily Gazette; D 1437J = Daily Journal; D1437M = Daily Monitor; etc.

International newspapers:

For newspapers other than American, the second element arrangement will not be necessary; for these it will be sufficient to follow the usual periodical scheme, with the addition of the N to the first line of the call number (EPN, FPN, etc.), and with the Cutter number for the newspaper as the second line.

States of the Union: