Within each designated symbol for the agency, there is a schedule of publications produced somewhat regularly by that agency. The number is used to designate a particular document type for that particular agency. That number is called the classification stem.
In the SuDoc system, the call number A1.35:381/986 is broken down in the following way:
A |
Department of Agriculture |
1 |
Indicates the agency of subordinate office withing that agency |
. |
Indicates the end of the agency designation |
35 |
Designates the publication series of title |
: |
Separates the "class stem" from information about the individual publication |
381 |
The number assigned to the original publication |
/ |
Separates the publication number from the edition information |
986 |
The edition number which in this example means the year "1986" |
Copyright 2001, Revised 2007, Sam Houston State University