Find Books: Find Books on Shelves

You can find the books, films, and audio recordings owned by Keleher Learning Commons by searching our Catalog.

1. Finding the catalog -- check!
2. Searching the catalog -- check!
3. Record for an interesting book -- check!
4. Getting the book -- ??

To find the book itself, you need three essential pieces of information, all of which can be found in the book's record:

1. Is the book available?

• Allow us to point out the obvious: if the book is checked out to someone else, it won't be on the shelf.
• If the book is checked out and you'd like to use it when it's returned, ask at the circulation desk.
• If the book is an electronic book, you'll be able to click through and read it through the web - no need for an e-reader device - and ta da! You're done.

2. Which section is it in?

• Our books could be in 1 of 5 locations:
  • USML (general collection, most of the books in the library)
  • Special Collections (talk to a librarian to discuss using these items)
  • Spiro's Shelf (Popular Fiction & Nonfiction, located on the low shelves near the Tutoring area)
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3.  Where is it on the shelf?

• You need the location, which tells you which section of the library, and
• You need the call number.  You can't find a book without it!  Make sure you write down the entire thing! 

What's a call number and how do I use it?

This is a picture of a bookshelf in De Paul Library.

See those letters and numbers on the spine?  Those are call numbers; they tell us where on the shelf the book should go.  Think of a call number as a book's street address. 

Our library uses call numbers from the Library of Congress Classification System -- not Dewey Decimal like public and school libraries.  

While it's important to be able to find a book's physical location, the most important job of a call number is to group books by subject.  All those letters and numbers are a kind of code for what the book is about.  What this means is that once you've looked in the library catalog, found a record that looks useful, and located that book on the shelf, the other items AROUND your book will be on the same topic.   Score!