Library Catalog Tips

Library Catalog Tips

Access	Search	View	Request

Accessing the library catalog:
Go to the library home page.
Click on the “Library Catalog” link in the Quick Links menu
Click on the “Irving Shapiro Library” link to access the library search screen

Searching the library catalog:
There are seven different ways to search the library catalog:
By title By author By category By subject By call number By ISBN By publisher

Searching by title:
Enter the complete title, or as much information as you have, in the “Title” box and click “Search.” Omit “the,” “a,” or “an” from the beginning of the title.
For example, if you are searching for The Cheese Monkeys, enter “cheese monkeys” in the search box.

Searching by author:
Enter the author’s last name in the “Author” box and click “Search.” If you are searching by the author’s full name, be sure to format your search as “Lastname, Firstname.” Entering “Firstname Lastname” will not retrieve any results.
For example, if you are searching for books by Edward Lucie-Smith, enter “Lucie-Smith” or “Lucie-Smith, Edward” in the search box.

Searching by category:
To limit your search to just books that can be checked out, enter “Books” in the “Category” box and click “Search.” Similarly, to locate a reference textbook for in-library use, enter “Reference Textbook.” Items in the general reference collection can be found by searching for “Reference Book.”

Searching by subject:
To locate all of the library’s resources on a given subject, enter your topic in the “Subject” box.
Keep in mind that subjects are assigned to each item by the Library of Congress and the wording may not exactly match your topic (for instance, the subject heading for American art is “Art, American”). If you don’t get many results, try searching by call number or entering your topic in the title field instead.
When you find a book that fits your research topic, be sure to check the surrounding shelves for other resources with the same call number; they should have similar subject matter.

Searching by call number:
Resources in the Irving Shapiro Library are arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification System. Items are organized into 21 broad subject categories, each assigned a letter of the alphabet, and then further subdivided into more specific subjects. Within these categories, each item has a call number, or a unique identifier made up of a combination of letters and numbers. For instance, call numbers beginning with “N” are categorized as “Fine Arts.” Within that classification, call numbers beginning with “ND” are specifically about painting.
To search by call number, locate your subject in the Library of Congress Classification chart. Enter the two-letter identifier in the “Call Number” box and click “Search.” The catalog will return a list of all of the items owned by the library that are classified in that category. If you’re in the library, you can also browse the shelves in that section to see what other books with that call number are available.

Searching by ISBN:
An International Standard Book Number (ISBN) uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally. Each edition or variation of a book is assigned its own ISBN, which also indicates its publisher and the country where it was published. A book’s ISBN can usually be found on the back cover above the barcode; online booksellers such as Amazon.com also include the ISBN in their product descriptions.
To search by ISBN, enter the book’s ISBN with no hyphens or spaces into the “ISBN” box and click “Search.”
Note: ISBNs came into use in the 1960s and 1970s, so some older books may not have an ISBN associated with them. Books published after January 1, 2007 have a 13-digit ISBN rather than the traditional 10-digit number. Some books published around the time of this transition may have two ISBNs—a 10-digit identifier and a 13-digit number that is usually the same as the 10-digit number, but with “978” added to the beginning. These books can generally be found in the library catalog using the 10-digit number.

Searching by publisher:
To find all books owned by the library that were published by a particular company, enter the publisher’s name in the “Publisher” box and click “Search.”
Because many major publishers publish books under a variety of imprints, or brand names (for instance, Doubleday, Knopf, and Bantam are all imprints of the publisher Random House), your results may not represent everything the library owns that is associated with a given publishing company.

Search tips:
You can search by just one field or using any combination of fields.
To search for an exact phrase, select the checkbox next to the search field.
The library catalog currently does not support Boolean searching (combining search terms such as subjects with “AND,” “OR,” or “NOT”). Therefore, multiple authors, titles, or subjects will need to be searched individually (eg, for all resources on drawing or painting, you will need to conduct one search for the subject “drawing” and a separate search for the subject “painting.”).

Viewing the search results screen:
The first part of the search screen identifies how many results were returned for the search. Search results are divided into groups of ten; click the “next” link to view the next ten results.
The second part of the search screen contains an online form for requesting items found in the library catalog. Students and faculty searching the catalog from outside the library can request that the library staff hold items for them to pick up. For more information on requesting a book, please see Requesting a book.
Search results are listed below the request form. Information for each item includes title, author, category, subject, and call number, as well as ISBN and publisher information. The call number is used to locate the item on the library shelves.
Items with “Books” in the category field are available to check out unless the phrase Checked Out appears before the title. However, please keep in mind that the library catalog is not updated in real time, so library staff cannot guarantee that every book that is supposed to be on the shelf is there. Library staff are available to assist students in locating books they find in the catalog; students searching the catalog from home can also request that items be held for them to pick up when they are on campus.

Requesting a book:
If you are searching the catalog from outside the library and find a book that you would like to check out, you can request that the book be reserved for you.
To make a request, select the checkbox next to the title of each item you would like to reserve and enter your name and e-mail address or phone number in the boxes at the top of the search screen. You can use the comments box to enter any additional information for the library staff. Then click the “Request to Borrow Checked Item(s)” button.
Your request will be sent to the library via email. You will receive an email or phone call notifying you when the item is ready to pick up. Requested items will be held at the library desk for three days.