Overview

Call number browse functionality in FOLIO is based on the call number on the items record. This call number can either be specified on the item record itself, or it will be inherited from the associated holdings record. If a holdings record has a call number but no associated items, this call number will not appear in the browse results list.

The results list contains the prefix, call number, and suffix on the record, but of the call number data elements, the call number and the suffix values are the only data considered in the sorting mechanism. In addition, an exact match will be found if the contents of the query match that of the call number and suffix, if applicable, regardless of case. Therefore, queries containing the prefix, copy number, volume, or enumeration data, will not produce an exact match.

If the call number and suffix combination appears on items of separate instances, the call number will appear as one line, with no contents in the "Title" column, but with the number of different instances in the "Number of titles" column. Selecting the call number will redirect user to the Instance tab on Inventory Search, and Query search will be populated with the selected call number. The results list will contain all of the corresponding instances.

There are scenarios that may result in multiple lines showing in the results list of the same call number and suffix, such as:

Multiple items with the same call number but different locations
Multiple items with the same call number but different call number types

ECS

Current Limitations

Browsing delay after adding new call number

When browsing a call number that has just been added to an Item record, there will be a short delay until that call number appears in the browse results list.

Field limits

Limits have been imposed both in the storage of call number data as well as in calculating sorting behavior. At this time, no validation has been added on the front end to restrict the number of characters that display.

Field	Limit

Field	Limit
Call number	50
Prefix	20
Suffix	25
Volume	50
Enumeration	50
Chronology	50
Copy	10

Browsing by call number types

Within Inventory Browse and the header "Call numbers (item)", users can browse entire list of call numbers regardless of type ("Call numbers (all)"), as well as limit to call numbers of specific type, including:

Dewey Decimal classification
Library of Congress classification
National Library of Medicine classification
Other scheme
Superintendent of Documents classification

Note: As of Sunflower, “Local” browse option has currently been suppressed. It will be restored in a future release.

Sorting

As call numbers of all types are browsable in the "Call numbers (all)" option, call numbers will be interfiled together and sorted alphanumerically using ASCII sort order. When limiting by call number type, call numbers will be sorted based on the algorithm of the corresponding type. These sorting algorithms are calculated within mod-search, the results of which are not stored in the Item schema.

Library of Congress classification and Dewey Decimal classification sorting algorithms based on marc4j library
SuDoc sorting: https://folio-org.atlassian.net/browse/MODINVSTOR-1069

Configuration

The type-specific browse options are controlled and cannot be edited at this time. However, libraries can configure these browse options by specifying which call number types should be browsable under which option. Without this configuration, all call numbers will be browsable under each type, therefore, it is required to be able to limit properly by type.