The books and media are arranged by topic using the Regensburg classification scheme (RVK).
Each book and medium is assigned a class number (notation). This results in an 'address' of sorts, which is expressed in the shelf mark, a combination of numbers and letters on the signature label on the book/medium.
The first part of the shelf mark, the location code, identifies the location in the library. The location code '40', for instance, denotes the Business/Economics reading room, while '50' stands for a location in the Book Tower. The prefix 'S/' indicates holdings of the Bavarian Regional Library Passau. Three-digit location codes denote reserve collections or special locations.
Reserve collections contain books, article copies and other materials from the library holdings which have been compiled as course material by teaching staff. In the collection area of the Central Library (Lernraum Zentralbibliothek) or in one of the other reading rooms, the reserve collection is marked with the name of the lecturer or the course subject. Media from reserve collections cannot be borrowed and are intended exclusively for use in the library.
