Catalogue System of Materials at Heritage Archives

A Guide for Researchers and Visitors

Heritage Archives follows a unique in-house classification system to organize its vast and diverse collection. Materials are categorized under 405 distinct topics, arranged alphabetically by their English keywords — making it accessible, searchable, and research-friendly.

🔤 Alphabetical Topic-Based Structure

Each subject is assigned a specific topic number.
Examples include:

• Archeology → 15
• Biography → 36
• Dissertation → 82

To search for a topic like “নারী”, users should use the English term Women, which corresponds to Topic 355.

📍 Subcategories for More Specific Navigation

Some topics are further divided for easier exploration.

Example: Local History

• Topic number: 189
• Subdivided into: 189.1, 189.2, … for each of Bangladesh’s 64 districts
• Example: 189.54 → Rajshahi district
• For regional materials: 189.54(a) → Barendra region under Rajshahi

📰 Periodicals and Journals

This includes:

• Journals
• Newspapers
• Little magazines

All are grouped under Topic 243 (Periodicals) and sorted alphabetically.

🏛️ Political Parties

Documents on political parties are listed under Topic 249.

🔍 How to Use the Catalogue

1. Use the Main List (Catalogue 00) to identify the topic number
2. Then look up the corresponding Call Number in the detailed catalogue

Some topics overlap — search using related terms like Act, Ordinance, Rules, Manuals, Religion, Christianity, etc.