Finding Books in the Library

From the introductory search page of the Schaffer Library Catalog, you must first select a search option that best fits your needs. The principal choices are explained below.

When you know the author and/or the title, use one of these:

• Author--enter the last name first.  If you are unsure of part of the name, you may enter the left-most part you know. (For example: dost for dostoevsky.)

• Title--enter the title with or without a, an, or the.  If you are unsure of part of the title, you may enter the left-most part you know. (For example: does fidel for does fidel eat more than your father?)

• Author/Title--with this option you may combine the above methods

When you do not know the author and/or the title, use one of these:

• Subject--requires use of subject headings established by the U.S. Library of Congress.  (For example: informal sector (economics) is used, rather than underground economy)

• Keyword--searches for user's own terminology (For example, a Keyword search on underground economy works successfully, in contrast to a Subject search as above.)

Other options

• Call number--enter all or part of a call number to browse the Library's holdings in that subject classification (For example: g or ge or ge40 or ge 40)

• Genre/form--enter the form, style, or physical character of books, etc., such as fiction, or biography, or web sites (Many other examples are given at the entry point for this type of search.)

Use the Start Over button or the Different Search pull-down menu to shift from one of the above modes of searching to another.

See the catalog's Help and See examples links for additional assistance and search examples.

Your search results will list books that are located in the stacks or in storage, as well as reference books located on the first floor beyond the Reference Desk and books housed in Special Collections on the third floor:

See How to Locate Items in the Library to determine the location of a book on the shelf.

See Forms for information on ordering books that are in storage.

In addition to searching for other related material, the catalog display will tell you if a book may be checked out, as the following examples show.

A book on the shelf:

See our guide to Borrowing Materials for additional information from the Circulation Department.

If you have questions about the content of the Schaffer Library Web Catalog, or are not certain how to search the online catalog, please ask a Reference Librarian for assistance or call x6281.

Revised by: David Gerhan