Catalogue
The catalogue is a finding aid for the resources of QFHS. Search the QFHS catalogue to see what we hold. Create and print or save lists to bring with you to make your time in the Research Centre more efficient.
Catalogued resources include:
- printed publications
- journals
- digital (CD/PDF, item held on computer network)
- Internet resources
- microfiche and microfilm
- maps
- items for loan or reserved for in-centre use
Search options available include:
- keyword
- author
- title
- subject
- Item type
- call number
QFHS Library Classification Scheme
QFHS Library cataloguing and classification scheme is modelled on that designed for the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney.
This was, in turn, designed using principles set out by S. Houghton in her Scheme designed for the classification of historical material relating to the City of Brighton, Victoria, 1967. Users will see that it is quite different from the numerical (Dewey) system used in public libraries.
Each item in our collection is given a Call Number (sometimes known as shelf number). These numbers are used for all the different media in our collection—books, journals, microfiche, CDs, and electronic products.
The Call Numbers consist of a three tier system of letters and numbers. The first two tiers provide the classification of the item. Once an item is allocated to a class, the final number identifies the particular volume. Physical items in the Print Library are shelved by area, then by subject.
Download a copy of the QFHS Library Classification Scheme here.
First Tier
The first character of the first tier is always a letter and indicates the geographical area to which the item relates (Table 1). Immediately after the letter, you will find a number. This represents the main subject of the work (Table 2).
Table 1 GEOGRAPHIC AREAS
Table 2 MAIN SUBJECT AREAS
| Code | Main Subject Area |
|---|---|
| 1 | Heraldry |
| 2 | Genealogical guides and texts |
| 3 | History, world, national, state |
| 4 | History, local |
| 5 | Biography, collected biography, dictionaries of lineage and royalty |
| 6 | Individual and family histories and biography |
| 7 | Vital records,BDM, census, electoral rolls, etc |
| 8 | Directories, gazetteers, atlases |
| 9 | Generalities, encyclopedias, yearbooks, dictionaries, almanacs, newspapers |
| 10 | Maps |
| 11 | Journals |
Thus:
- B3 refers to New South Wales history
- H6 refers to Queensland family history or individual’s biography
- S8 refers to an atlas of the Republic of Ireland
The main subject areas of local history (4) and vital records (7) are further subdivided for some geographic areas.
If the areas to be subdivided are Australian, they are given the last three numbers of the locality postcode.
Subdivisions for England see – (Table 3) Scotland (Table 4), Ireland (Table 5), Wales (Table 6). Non-English speaking countries e.g. France use the World ISO Country Codes (Table 7) in this listing.
In the geographical areas of Africa, Central and South America (V) and Europe (W) and Asia (Y), a group of numbers denotes a further narrowing of geographic field.
Thus:
- N7/43 refers to English Vital Records, Yorkshire
- W2/276 refers to Europe, Germany, genealogical guide
- H4/011 3 refers to the history of a school in Clayfield, Brisbane; Clayfield has postcode 4011.
Table 3 ENGLAND
| Number | Description |
|---|---|
| 01 | Bedfordshire |
| 02 | Berkshire |
| 03 | Buckinghamshire |
| 04 | Cambridgeshire |
| 05 | Channel Islands |
| 06 | Cheshire |
| 07 | Cornwall |
| 08 | Cumberland |
| 09 | Derbyshire |
| 10 | Devon |
| 11 | Dorset |
| 12 | Durham |
| 13 | Essex |
| 14 | Gloucestershire |
| 15 | Hampshire, Isle of Wight |
| 16 | Herefordshire |
| 17 | Hertfordshire |
| 18 | Huntingdon |
| 19 | Kent |
| 20 | Lancashire |
| 21 | Leicestershire |
| 22 | Lincolnshire |
| 23 | London |
| 24 | Man, Isle of |
| 25 | Middlesex |
| 26 | Norfolk |
| 27 | Northampton |
| 28 | Northumberland |
| 29 | Nottinghamshire |
| 30 | Oxfordshire |
| 31 | Rutland |
| 32 | Scilly Isles |
| 33 | Shropshire |
| 34 | Somersetshire |
| 35 | Staffordshire |
| 36 | Suffolk |
| 37 | Surrey |
| 38 | Sussex |
| 39 | Warwickshire |
| 40 | Westmoreland |
| 41 | Wiltshire |
| 42 | Worcestershire |
| 43 | Yorkshire |
| 44 | Cumbria |
| 45 | Bristol and Avon |
Table 4 SCOTLAND
| Number | Description |
|---|---|
| 01 | Aberdeenshire |
| 02 | Angus (formerly Forfar) |
| 03 | Argyllshire |
| 04 | Ayrshire |
| 05 | Banffshire |
| 06 | Berwickshire |
| 07 | Bute |
| 08 | Caithness |
| 09 | Clackmannanshire |
| 10 | Dumfries-shire |
| 11 | Dunbartonshire |
| 12 | East Lothian |
| 13 | Fife |
| 14 | Hebrides |
| 15 | Inverness-shire |
| 16 | Kincardineshire |
| 17 | Kinross-shire |
| 18 | Kircudbrightshire |
| 19 | Lanarkshire |
| 20 | Midlothian |
| 21 | Morayshire |
| 22 | Nairn |
| 23 | Orkney |
| 24 | Peebles-shire |
| 25 | Perth |
| 26 | Renfrewshire |
| 27 | Ross and Cromarty, and Western Isles |
| 28 | Roxburghshire |
| 29 | Selkirkshire |
| 30 | Shetland |
| 31 | Stirlingshire |
| 32 | Sutherland |
| 33 | West Lothian |
| 34 | Wigtownshire |
Table 5 IRELAND
| Number | Description |
|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | |
| 01 | Co. Antrim |
| 02 | Co. Armagh |
| 03 | Co. Down |
| 04 | Co. Fermanagh |
| 05 | Co. Londonderry |
| 06 | Co. Tyrone |
| Ireland | |
| 01 | Co. Carlow |
| 02 | Co. Cavan |
| 03 | Co. Clare |
| 04 | Co. Cork |
| 05 | Co. Donegal |
| 06 | Co. Dublin |
| 07 | Co. Galway |
| 08 | Co. Kerry |
| 09 | Co. Kildare |
| 10 | Co. Kilkenny |
| 11 | Co. Leitrim |
| 12 | Co. Laois or Leix (formerly Queens) |
| 13 | Co. Limerick |
| 14 | Co. Longford |
| 15 | Co. Louth |
| 16 | Co. Mayo |
| 17 | Co. Meath |
| 18 | Co. Monaghan |
| 19 | Co. Offaly (formerly Kings) |
| 20 | Co. Roscommon |
| 21 | Co. Sligo |
| 22 | Co. Tipperary |
| 23 | Co. Waterford |
| 24 | Co. Westmeath |
| 25 | Co. Wexford |
| 26 | Co. Wicklow |
Table 6 WALES
| Number | Description |
|---|---|
| 01 | Anglesey |
| 02 | Breconshire |
| 03 | Caernarfonshire/Caernarvonshire |
| 04 | Cardiganshire |
| 05 | Carmarthenshire |
| 06 | Denbighshire |
| 07 | Flintshire |
| 08 | Glamorganshire |
| 09 | Merionethshire |
| 10 | Monmouthshire |
| 11 | Montgomeryshire |
| 12 | Pembrokeshire |
| 13 | Radnorshire |
Table 7 OVERSEAS COUNTRY CODES
| Country | ISO Number |
|---|---|
| Austria | 40 |
| Belgium | 56 |
| Bermuda | 69 |
| Burma | 104 |
| China | 156 |
| Czechoslovakia | 203 |
| Denmark | 203 |
| Estonia/Lativia | 428 |
| Finland | 246 |
| France | 250 |
| Germany | 276 |
| Greece | 300 |
| Hong Kong | 156 |
| Hungary | 348 |
| India | 356 |
| Indonesia | 360 |
| Israel | 376 |
| Italy | 380 |
| Jamaica | 388 |
| Japan | 392 |
| Luxembourg | 442 |
| Malaysia | 458 |
| Mexico | 484 |
| Netherlands | 528 |
| Norway | 578 |
| Pakistan | 586 |
| Poland | 618 |
| Serbia | 688 |
| Seychelles | 690 |
| Singapore | 702 |
| South Africa | 710 |
| Soviet Union | 643 |
| Spain | 724 |
| Sri Lanka | 144 |
| Sweden | 752 |
| Switzerland | 756 |
| Thailand | 764 |
| Turkey (Turkiye) | 792 |
Second Tier
This figure further divides the main subject into a large number of subsidiary subjects (Tables 3,4,5,6, 7 and 8). Thus Leeds 1851 census index, vol 1-2 has a Call Number of N7/43 16 3.
- N—England,
- 7—Vital records,
- 43—Yorkshire Listing
- 16—Census
- 3—the third item in this Shelf Position.
The Guide to probate and land jurisdictions in Denmark—Thisted County has Call Number W2/208 21 2.
- W—Europe
- 2—Genealogical Guides and Texts.
- 208 Denmark ISO Country Code
- 21—Wills
- 2—Second item in this class
In case of histories of a single family and biographies of a single individual, the second tier contains the first three letters of the family name.
For example, the biography of Billy Blue would be B6 BLU 1 provided there are no other items in the category. (1 is the shelf position).
Please note
- Area sub-divisions in Table 4 (e.g. P2/826 48 2) (‘P’ is for Table 4 ‘Scotland’
- Journals are denoted by the first code component of 11, thus the fourth journal from Germany (using the ISO Code) might have a code such as W11/276 50 4.
Table 8 SECOND TIER CLASSIFICATIONS
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 01 | Shire, manor, parish, town, city history |
| 02 | Business history |
| 03 | Education history |
| 04 | Military history |
| 05 | Maritime history |
| 06 | Government, semi-government departments and institutions |
| 07 | Mining history |
| 08 | Architecture and buildings |
| 09 | Discovery and exploration, explorers |
| 10 | Collected biography - a number of biographies in one volume |
| 11 | Primary industry - pastoral and agricultural |
| 12 | Secondary industry |
| 13 | Electoral rolls |
| 14 | Parish registers and transcriptions |
| 15 | Cemetery Inscriptions and Death Records |
| 16 | Census |
| 17 | Newspaper and periodical indexes BDM |
| 18 | Newspaper and Periodical Indexes other than BDM |
| 19 | Description and Travel |
| 20 | Facsimile reprints |
| 21 | Wills |
| 22 | Resource centre guides; sources for genealogical information |
| 23 | Ecclesiastical history |
| 24 | Taxation records |
| 25 | Name Indexes including pedigrees |
| 26 | Medical history |
| 27 | Ethnic history |
| 28 | Social history |
| 29 | Traditions and customs, folklore |
| 30 | Bibliographies |
| 31 | Societies, institutions, etc |
| 32 | Computers and microforms |
| 33 | Word lists, dictionaries, encyclopedias |
| 34 | Annuals , series |
| 35 | Collective history, e.g. education, mining, architecture, discovery and exploration, social |
| 36 | Marriage licenses and records |
| 37 | Languages |
| 38 | Political history |
| 39 | Land records |
| 40 | Emigration and immigration |
| 41 | Naturalisation and denization |
| 42 | Population studies, demography |
| 43 | Occupations and professions |
| 44 | Convicts and prison system |
| 45 | Crime and criminals including bushrangers |
| 46 | Coroners records and inquests |
| 47 | Aborigines |
| 48 | Surnames, given names |
| 49 | Family Reunions |
| 50 | How to do family history |
| 51 | Writing family history |
| 52 | Map drawing |
| 53 | Publishing and publishers |
| 54 | Maps |
| 55 | Geography, geology, archaeology |
| 56 | Transport (land) |
| 57 | Aeronautical history |
| 58 | Communication and technology |
| 59 | (Unallocated) |
| 60 | How to do local history |
| 61 | Local history resources |
| 62 | Newspapers - general |
| 63 | Birth and baptism records |
| 64 | Composite BDM, not newspapers or parish registers |
| 65 | Legal records excluding criminal and ecclesiastical |
| 66-68 | (Unallocated) |
| 69 | Video and audiovisual |
| 70 | Photography |
| 71 | Arts, paintings |
| 72 | Furniture, artefacts, pottery etc |
| 73 | Handwriting, calligraphy |
| 74 | Hobbies |
| 75 | Sport - amateur and professional |
| 76-93 | (unallocated) |
| 94 | Royalty, peerage |
| 95 | Hallmarks, bookplates |
| 96 | Honours, decorations, awards (non-military) |
| 97 | Coins and medals |
| 98 | Flags and tartans |
| 99 | Heraldry - general |
Third Tier
The next tier represents a particular place on the shelf in the classification, making the Call Number unique, thus helping to further identify a particular item.
New Lending Library books to be added to the catalogue will have the Code of LL following the Call Number on the bottom of the sticker.
There may be other identifiers at the bottom of the Call Number sticker and in the KOHA library that may indicate a year, volume, copy number etc. that helps in book identification.
