Editing Cutter Expansive Classification (section)

== Construction of call numbers ==
{{Expand section|citations and corrections|date=August 2011}}
Most call numbers in the Expansive Classification follow conventions offering clues to the book's subject. The first line represents the subject, the second the author (and perhaps title), the third and fourth dates of editions, indications of translations, and critical works on particular books or authors. All numbers in the Expansive Classification are (or should be) shelved as if in decimal order.

Size of volumes is indicated by points (.), pluses (+), or slashes (/ or //).

For some subjects a numerical geographical subdivision follows the classification letters on the first line. The number 83 stands for the United States—hence, F83 is U.S. history, G83 U.S. travel, JU83 U.S. politics, WP83 U.S. painting. Geographical numbers are often further expanded decimally to represent more specific areas, sometimes followed by a capital letter indicating a particular city.

The second line usually represents the author's name by a capital letter plus one or more numbers arranged decimally. This may be followed by the first letter or letters of the title in lower-case, and/or sometimes the letters a, b, c indicating other printings of the same title. When appropriate, the second line may begin with a 'form' number—e.g., 1 stands for history and criticism of a subject, 2 for a bibliography, 5 for a dictionary, 6 for an atlas or maps, 7 for a periodical, 8 for a society or university publication, 9 for a collection of works by different authors.

On the third line a capital Y indicates a work about the author or book represented by the first two lines, and a capital E (for English—other letters are used for other languages) indicates a translation into English. If both criticism and translation apply to a single title, the number expands into four lines.

=== Cutter numbers (Cutter codes) ===
{{Expand section|examples and additional citations|date=August 2011}}
One of the features adopted by other systems, including Library of Congress, is the Cutter number. It is an alphanumeric device to code text so that it can be arranged in alphabetical order using the fewest characters. It contains one or two initial letters and Arabic numbers, treated as a decimal. To construct a Cutter number, a cataloguer consults a Cutter table as required by the classification rules.  Although Cutter numbers are mostly used for coding the names of authors, the system can be used for titles, subjects, geographic areas, and more.

{| class=wikitable
|+Cutter table for second character
|-
! If the first letter is a... || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9
|-
! S
| a || ch || e || h–i || m–p || t || u || w–z
|-
! Qu
| || a || e || i || o || r || t || y
|-
! other consonant
| || a || e || i || o || r || u || y
|-
! vowel
| b || d || l–m || n || p || r || s–t || u–y
|}

{| class=wikitable
|+Cutter table for additional characters

|-
! 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9
|-
| ||  a–d || e–h || i–l || m–o || p–s || t–v || w–z
|}

Initial letters Qa–Qt are assigned Q2–Q29, while entries beginning with numerals have a Cutter number A12–A19, therefore sorting before the first A entry.<ref>{{cite web|title=LC Cutter Tables |url=http://staff.library.mun.ca/staff/toolbox/tables/lccutter.htm |website=Queen Elizabeth II Libraries |publisher=Memorial University of Newfoundland |access-date=14 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814173419/http://staff.library.mun.ca/staff/toolbox/tables/lccutter.htm |archive-date=14 August 2014 }}</ref>

So to make the three-digit Cutter number for "Cutter", one would start with "C", then looking under ''other consonants'', find that "u" gives the number 8, and under ''additional letters'', "t" is 8, giving a Cutter number of "C88".