At the Centre College Library, we use the Library of Congress Classification System (LOC). Most Art & Art History books are in the "N" call number range.
Types of Books you may encounter:
Anthology - A published collection of articles or writing.
Scholarly Books - Sometimes called 'Monographs', these books are written by scholars and experts in English and intended for other specialists in the field. Scholarly books are typically published by a university press or other scholarly publishing house.
Primary Sources - Though many books are secondary sources, some books can be considered primary sources.
Some examples of primary source books in English include:
Original Literature (sometimes called seminal texts such as Plato's Republic) - Secondary sources can also be seminal sources. Seminal just means “universally recognized as something everyone should read.
Autobiographies
Reproduction of Diaries, essays, and other personal manuscripts.
Suggested call numbers relevant to the Art & Art History department are below.
Note the numerous sub-headings when searching the history of a particular country. Many refer to specific time periods.