Find Books
Catalog Search Tips
You can search the library catalog directly on the library website! Just click on "Library Catalog" on top of the search bar at the library homepage.
When you don't have a particular title of a book in mind, begin by searching for a key term about your research topic.Then look at the subjects for the books in your search results. You can think of these as 'tags' used to identify what the book is about. You will also see subjects used in this way in our research databases. You can search for books using either keywords or using these subjects.
Start with a Keyword search and identify some relevant books. Then look at the subjects for those books -- do you see anything that might help lead you to other sources? Try clicking on a subject to bring up a list of all the books tagged with that word. You can also use these subjects to help you come up with other keywords to try.
Examples of Subject Headings:
African American Authors American Fiction History And Criticism
African Americans -- History.
American literature -- African American authors.
Library of Congress Classification & the Stacks
Books at Dinand Library are arranged by Library of Congress Call Number. Sometimes, browsing the stacks by call number can lead you to resources you never would have found otherwise!
- 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.
See the handout below for information about how the stacks are organized, and the best places for you to look.
Breakdown of Library of Congress Call Number
