ENGL B1B: Historical Context Essay: Finding Books

You can look for generic subject headings such as

American Literature 

Or you can look for specifics, such as Transcendentalism. 

You can search by title to locate literary criticism. These books will usually share the same name as the piece you are reading but will have a different author. Search by piece name. 

You can also search by author name. 

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

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

Always check the status first to make sure it says "Available" before you get too excited about a book. 

Then check which collection it can be found in.  If it says "General Collection" it is in the white-labeled bookcases, and if it says "Reference Collection" it is in the green-labeled bookcases. If it says "Delano  Library", it's at the Delano Campus. 

Lastly, always write down the entire call number!  See the box below about how to use that to find the book on the shelf. 

Books can be found in the library's General Collection or the white-labeled bookshelves. Use the call number to find the book on the shelves. You can check out 20 general books at one time. Each book can be checked out for 3 weeks, with up to two renewals of 3 weeks each.

Call Number= the address of the book on its spine

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

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

REFERENCE= Green-labeled bookcases

GENERAL= White-labeled bookcases

Once in correct aisle, read call number, matching one line at a time, until find the right book.  Browse the shelves around it for possibly more books on your topic.