Subject Guide: English: Finding Books

Books you can check out and take home can be found in the library's General Collection, or the white-labeled book shelves. You can check out up to 20 general books at one time using your BC student ID card at the Circulation Desk. Each book can be checked out for 3 weeks, with up to two renewals of 3 weeks each.

Look at the boxes on this page about how to use the book's information in OneSearch to find the book on the library shelves.

eBooks are books available online and not in print on our shelves. Clicking on the book title will take you to a page where you can click on the link under the "View Online" section, which takes you to another page where you need to click on the PDF (or EPUB when available--see below for the difference) in the left margin to read the full book.

PDF stands for Portable Document Format.  It is basically an electronic image of text or graphics that can be read, printed, and transmitted electronically.  It is static and cannot be interacted with or edited.  If you zoom in you will have to move the page around to read it all.

EPUB stands for Electronic Publication.  It is the universal format used by most e-readers (iBook and Nook, but not Kindle).  It is dynamic.  It can adjust to the e-reader or device on which you are reading it. If you zoom in it will resize the text and move the words on the screen so that they all still fit and you don't have to move the page around to read it.  EPUB is also interactive, with links to footnotes, original sources, and/or other pages in the book.  

Once you have search results in OneSearch, click on one of the book titles.  A screen for that book will pop up:

For each book you will see the availability status, collection, call number, citation information, description, and contents. 

Always check the status first to make sure it says "Available" in green before you get too excited about a book. Also notice where it is available:

• Bakersfield College Library (the Panorama Campus Library)
• Delano Campus Library
• BC Southwest Campus Library
• Online

Then check which collection it can be found in.  If it says "General Collection" it is in the white-labeled bookcases. If it says "Reference Collection" it is in the green-labeled bookcases and cannot be checked out.

Lastly, always write down the entire call number (everything within the parentheses)!  This is the address for the book, typed up on the white sticker that library books have on their spine.  See the box below to learn how to use the call number to find the book on the shelf. 

Pay attention to "collection" on the book entry in the catalog:  

REFERENCE= Green-labeled bookcases

GENERAL= White-labeled bookcases

Call Number= the address of the book on its spine

The signs on the end of the bookcases only refer to the first two lines of a call number.

In the General Collection, the alphabet (A) starts in the far back, left corner of the library on the Panorama Campus, and snakes alphabetically back to front of the library until Z over by the windows. Notice, the white General Collection signs continue behind the bookcases with green and blue signs. 

Find the sign that has the correct letter range and number range that match the first two lines of your call number. Once you are in the correct aisle, match the call number one line at a time, alphabetically then numerically (don't go to the next line until a line fully matches), until you find the right book.  Browse the shelves around it for possibly more books on your topic.