Books in Dinand Library & Beyond
CrossSearch is the Libraries' multi-search "discovery" tool. CrossSearch searches a cross-section of journal articles, newspapers, CDs, images, and many other types of resources available through the libraries. It is also our main library catalog -- the tool you use to find books, journals, and other items physically located in the library. 
To search only items physically owned by the libraries, you can use the Catalog Only limit in CrossSearch.
Click here for a brief tutorial on using CrossSearch.
Search Tips
If you are searching for a "known item" (that is, a title and/or author that you already know), remember:
- Search for authors as Lastname, Firstname (for example, "Dickinson, Emily" not "Emily Dickinson")
- When searching for titles, using "quotes" around the title will be more likely to bring the item you want to the top of your search results
Try searching for books using a very basic keyword search. Books tend to be on broad topics, so the terms you search with should be broad, too! Once you've found a few books that look interesting to you, you can use clues from the books to help you find other books. For example....
- Call Numbers. Books on similar subjects are in similar areas of the library. For example, if you search for books on Oscar Wilde, Cervantes, you would see pretty quickly that many books have call numbers starting with PR5823 (or nearby). This means you can easily go to that section of the library and look through the books in person.
- Vocabulary. Check the records in the library catalog for vocabulary in the tables of contents, titles, descriptions or other information that you might use for future searches.
- Subjects. Every book in our catalog is marked with at least 1 "tag" that tells you what the book is mostly about, and links together other books on that same topic. You can click on the tags to find a list of all other books using that tag. For example, if you click on the tag --Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900 -- Criticism and interpretation.-- you would find all of our books marked as being about criticism and interpretation of Wilde's works.
Did you know that it is also possible to browse in the library stacks?
The Holy Cross Libraries use a system called Library of Congress Classification (LCC) to organize our books. Each book or journal is identified by a unique call number. These call numbers identify the location of the book in our stacks; they also identify the subject (or the main subject if there are more than one) of the book or journal.
Because call numbers are subject-based, it is possible to physically view most of the books on a given topic in one area of the library. This means that it is possible to visit the stacks and browse the selection of materials on your topic.
Locate a book on your topic in the Libraries' catalog, and note the call number; this will tell you the area of the library where you should begin browsing. If your topic is complex or multidisciplinary, there may be more than one area that you should visit.
Books at Dinand Library are arranged by Library of Congress Call Number.
- Reference books are in the Main Reading Room.
- Call numbers A through G are on the upper (Mezzanine) level.
- Call numbers H through Z are on the lower (Ground) level (with a few exceptions).
- Oversize books (with a "+" in the call number) are shelved at the end of the normal section for that letter.
Use the handout below to guide you in understanding LCC and navigating the Dinand Stacks: