Subject · title · subcategory · author · year — down to the specific word or passage
Format: SUBJECT-TITLE-SUBCATEGORY-CUTTER-YEAR. Title becomes a 3-letter abbreviation from its significant words (skipping "the," "of," "a," etc). The Cutter code is pulled from the surname in the author's full name — deterministic, not the official LC table, but consistent for personal use. Exact duplicates get a letter suffix (2012a, 2012b...).
Referral number: CALL NUMBER-TYPECODE+PAGE (e.g. PSY-POH-HAB-D84-2012-W102 for a Word entry on page 102). Without a page, entries are numbered in sequence per type instead. Exact repeats get a letter suffix.
A starting point — not fixed. Add a new subject the first time you actually need it rather than trying to anticipate everything up front.
| Code | Domain | Example Subcategories |
|---|---|---|
| PSY | Psychology | HAB, COG, EMO, MOT |
| CRE | Creativity & Craft | PRO, CRA, INS |
| BUS | Business & Entrepreneurship | MKT, STR, OPS, BRD |
| SPI | Spirituality & Esoteric | AST, HDN, TAR, RIT |
| STY | Style & Aesthetics | COL, WRD, AES |
| SEL | Self-Development | PRD, MND, HAB |
| PHI | Philosophy | ETH, EXI, STO |
| SOC | Sociology & Culture | TRN, NAR, COM |
| LAN | Language & Linguistics | VOC, ETY, GRA |
| ART | Visual Art & Design | DES, TYP, ILL |
| WRI | Writing & Communication | VOI, STR, EDT |
| LIT | Literature & Fiction | NOV, POE, ESS |
| MED | Media | MUS, TVS, MOV, SOC, VID |
| HIS | History | add as needed |
| SCI | Science | add as needed |
Full backup (JSON) keeps everything exactly as-is and is the safest way to move data between devices. Spreadsheet (CSV) opens directly in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets if you'd rather browse or edit it there. Either can be imported back in — imports merge in, they never overwrite or duplicate what's already here.
Obsidian notes are plain Markdown files, so the subject code table and Cutter map above can drop straight into a vault as a normal note — no plugin needed.
This one exports your actual catalog: a folder per source (named by its call number), with one note per logged entry inside, named by its referral number and linked back to the source note. Unzip the download into your vault.