Scores in the Music Library's collection are currently undergoing a reclassification from our old Dickinson Classification system into the Library of Congress Classification system.

The Dickinson system was designed by George Sherman Dickinson (1888-1964), first Music Librarian at Vassar College. UB has used the option which classifies scores by original medium. These scores are located directly after the reference scores end in the general collection. Because theses scores are undergoing reclassification, their locations are subject to change often. If you have trouble finding materials, please see staff for assistance. 

For browsing and finding items on the shelves, the most important feature of the Dickinson system, which makes it different from Library of Congress call numbers in the rest of the library, is that the class number, under M, functions as a decimal--even though there are no decimal points.

This guide describes how to read a single call number, and it provides an outline of all Ms and tips and outlines for feature types of music.

For a guide to locations of different kinds of music in the Music Library (scores, chamber music parts, oversize scores), please see "In the Library" in our guide to Scores and Sheet Music.