I Want To Find Books On My Topic
Enter a keyword or keywords that describe your topic.
In @LL Search, it is often best to start with a simple search.
Examples: bilingual education; music therapy and autism.
Review the search page and apply limiters (located on the left-hand side) as necessary. Your search likely provided a variety of formats, including books, newspapers, journal articles, and video. To limit to books only (i.e. both print books and e-books), apply the format limiter for "books" in the lefthand column:
Review the search results page for relevant items. The results page includes basic information on an item like title, publication date, format, and location.
E-books will be accessible via a direct link, either from the search results page or from the item's detailed record (what you get by clicking the book's title). Their format is also noted under the book cover images that accompany the search results.
Just like our electronic journals, our e-books live on different platforms (e.g. EBook Central, EBSCO, or JSTOR). Each platform will give you additional opportunities to discover related resources. Keywords and subject terms (often available as hyperlinks in an e-book's record) are both helpful ways of searching for books across platforms (via @LL Search) or within a single platform such as EBook Central.
Print books are available at both Sherrill Library and Moriarty Library. Sherrill maintains an interdisciplinary collection, while the books at Moriarty are focused on the fields of art and design. Item locations, call numbers, and availability show clearly in the search results.
Search tip:
Call numbers are largely a shorthand for subject matter, so when you find a book on the shelf, similar items are likely nearby because of their similar call numbers. It can be worthwhile to browse the shelves!
Your search results may include items with call numbers from more than one area, so you may want to browse more than just one area.
Stop by our Information Desk to find out where certain call numbers may be located.
Browse Print Library Books on Topic
Like books in a public library, books in academic libraries are grouped by subject. The Library of Congress Classification Outline can help you identify call numbers for your subject. Then you can find where the call numbers are in the library by asking our staff at the Information Desk. Since books on your subject will likely be located together, once you identify a few relevant titles, try browsing around those books on the shelves.
You can search for books using our @LL Search and FLO Catalog.