I do then
with my friends
as I do
with my books.
I would have them
where I can find them,
but I seldom use them.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The first field to be evaluated was the book numbers. My shelf numbers had no relationship to the classification system, as books were shelved with five-digit fixed location codes as follows: The first character was the apartment number. In almost every case this was 8, but sometimes a different number was assigned to indicate a storeroom.

This was followed by a room code, with L being assigned the living room, M for the master bedroom, B or G for the boys’ or girls’ room, and so on. PC-File allows this information on the data-entry screen, thus obviating the need for cumbersome reference sources.

The next character identified the specific bookstack, which was lettered sequentially from A to Z around each room. The letter was taped to selected shelves, but was later removed when book numbers were added. Each 30” shelf merited a new letter, which was never greater than T because of the limited size of the rooms.

The next number was the sequential shelf location from the ceiling, from 1 to 2 or more.

The final letter indicated the location on the shelf: L for left, M for Middle, and R for Right. When shelves extended into a corner and were covered by books on the adjacent shelf, they were lettered H for books Hidden on the right side, or S for books on the right Side. LEFT SIDE

This lettering system was not only mnemonically appropriate, but it also allowed the computer to sort the books correctly on the shelves. A shelf number of 8LF6M, for example, indicted a book in Apartment 8, Living room, book stack F, Shelf 6 from the ceiling, middle of the shelf. Even the last letter was not merely arbitrary. The sequential shelf location letters H-L-M-R-S indicating location on the shelf from left to right, were intentionally selected so that their alphabetical order could help the computer sort them on the shelf automatically.