Finding Books & Other Materials: Library Catalogs

1. Finding Books & Other Materials: Library Catalogs How to effectively search library catalog systems for individual libraries and library networks.

2. Books: Notes on the Format • Books are often the culmination of scholarly work, giving the broadest overview of a topic and exploring many applications. • Books may also bring together multiple authors each writing a chapter on the same theme. • Effectively using books involves browsing the shelves, scanning tables of contents, and using book indexes to narrow your search. Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

3. The Catalog: UTMOST and others • Each library has a catalog of books and other materials in their collections. • University of Toledo’s catalog can be found at http://utmost.cl.utoledo.edu/search • Additional help on UTMOST can be found in this Guide or this Tutorial. Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

4. The Catalog: Finding Known Items Sometimes you know exactly what you’re after… maybe you’re trying to locate items in a Works Cited page, or want to see everything written by a particular researcher. • Books can be searched by Title, or by the Author (last name first) • Articles should be looked up by the Title of the journal or magazine, not the title of the article or the author’s name. Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

5. Subject Searches Use librarian-defined terms More precise searches Usually only a few subject headings assigned per item Useful for straight-forward topics Keyword Searches Use author-defined terms Broader retrieval Can find words in title, author, notes, subject headings, & contents Useful for complex topics The Catalog: Finding by Topic When you are searching for items on a particular topic, use Subject or Keyword Searches. Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

6. The Catalog: Subject Searching • The librarian-defined Subject Heading may be oddly phrased, or in an odd order. For example, the term “Education, Higher” is used instead of “Higher Education” • Some catalogs will help guide you to the right term, or suggest other terms to use. Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

7. Subject Searching (cont.) Subheadings after the main subject heading show • specific sub-topics (Administration) • Specific formats (Periodicals, Handbooks Manuals, etc.) • Specific treatments (Case Studies, Mathematical Models) • Specific geographic areas (Africa) Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

8. The Catalog: Keyword Searching Keyword searching finds the word(s) in the subject heading, but also in the title, author, publisher, notes, and sometimes tables of contents. Keyword searching uses wildcards or truncation symbols (such as an ‘*’) to find alternative endings: educat* finds education, educator, educated, etc. Keyword searching is essential for combining two topic concepts together • Use AND to require both concepts to be present: freshmen AND tutor* AND retention • Use OR to allow either concept or to account for synonyms, etc.:First Year Experience OR Freshman Year Experience. Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

9. The Catalog: Limiting your Results To be more specific about the location, format, or publication details of the items you want, use the or buttons to limit your search. Limit options are shown here: Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

10. The Catalog: Locating your Item Clicking on any entry in the results will bring up the record for the individual item. Look for this box to see where the item is and if its available to be checked out: Click on this link to see which floor it is on. Write down the call number to find your book. Click on the link to browse other books nearby on the shelf, which will have similar topics. AVAILABLE means you can check it out. A DUE date means it’s been checked out already. Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

11. The Catalog: OhioLINK Catalog To find more books, you can search a consortial catalog, such as the OhioLINK Library Catalog for Ohio college & university libraries. To quickly search the entire OhioLINK Catalog, click the button from any UTMOST screen. Even better, you can have books sent at no charge from other OhioLINK libraries and picked up at UT, Owens, or any other OhioLINK library… Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)

12. OhioLINK Catalog (cont.) To request a book in the OhioLINK Library Catalog, click on REQUEST THIS ITEM from any record. If the book is available to be checked out you just choose your institution (U Toledo), then enter your Name, Student ID, and where you’d like to pick up the book. Books arrive in 3-5 days, can be checked out for 3 weeks, and renewed if no one else needs the item. More information on OhioLINK requesting is available here. Enter your e-mail address in your Library Record to receive notifications by e-mail when your item is ready to be picked up. Univ. of Toledo Libraries (http://utoledo.edu/library)