Accession Numbers

There are a wide variety of items for several locations in the Princeton Library system which receive accession numbers instead of specific call numbers. Such materials include: microfilm, microfiche, video cassettes, DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs, etc.

The accession number is formed by placing a material type in front of an accession number (e.g., the call number "cassette 279" means that the cassette was the 279th cassette cataloged for that particular location).

Examples of accession numbers:
microform 35
dvd 322

The online catalog can be searched by specific location for each type of different material. A short list of these items will be maintained for those locations which have a large number of one kind of accession number materials. This list will be updated annually. Some of these locations and items will include:

mlis: CD, LP, CASS, VCASS, DVD
film: MICROFILM, MICROFICHE, CD
vidl: VCASS, DVD

To assign a new accession number:

• Search for the call number range in Voyager:
  • Perform a call number search on the non-keyword search tab in the cataloging module
    
  • Limit the search to the specific location
    
  • Enter the item type (VCASS, DVD, etc.) and the initial number from the list
• When you get the search result, scroll or page down to get to the end of the sequence
• Use the first available number. Re-do the search and check the end of the sequence before assigning numbers at different times during the day.

Microform accession numbers

Microforms (microfiche and microfilm) are located in the Microforms library in Firestone and in many branch libraries. Microfiche, monograph microfilms, and all microforms for branch libraries are assigned regular accession numbers.

Serial and set microfilms for the Microforms library are assigned accession numbers beginning with the letter "S"

Example: