Finding books, ebooks, and more @ Texas State Libraries
Below are some strategies and suggestions for finding books and other materials in the library catalog.
Just click on the image in the box below to go directly into the online catalog.
Be sure and use the pull-down menu to the right of the catalog search box if you want to limit your search to ebooks, streaming video, or other types of resources in our collections. By default, results include everything in all formats.
Important note about ebooks- The best thing to do is read ebooks online. Downloading or "checking out" ebooks can sometimes make them unavailable to others for extended periods of time.
Library Catalog
- Library CatalogThe Library Catalog is like a store catalog - it's a list of items available at the University Libraries. Use the Library Catalog to search for print resources, multimedia resources, and ebooks. The Library Catalog also provides location and availability details. The library catalog is a type of database, so you can use the same search strategies you would use in a database, including "phrase searching," Boolean operators, and truncation.
Searching
Search by ~~> Keyword
- This search looks for matches in all fields of the catalog record (title, author, description, table of contents, subject headings, etc.)
- Use Boolean operators to combine keywords and improve your search
- This is the broadest type of search, so it is often a good way to start out—you should get a good idea of how much material is available on a subject.
Broad searches like the "alcohol abuse" search below can be focused by inserting AND followed by an idea that will limit the search, like: "alcohol abuse" AND college
Other searches available in the Catalog include: Journal Title, Call Number, Standard Number ISBN/ISSN, and Reserve by Prof/TA or Course. Use the drop-down menu to choose these search options.
Search by ~~>Subject
- Subject headings search the catalog by Library of Congress subject headings
- This type of search works well if you are browsing for a particular subject that you know or a broad term
- If your search results are too limited, try using the same subject heading terms in a keyword search.
Other searches available in the Catalog include: Journal Title, Call Number, Standard Number ISBN/ISSN, and Reserve by Prof/TA or Course. Use the drop-down menu to choose these search options.
Search by ~~> Author
- This search will find works by an author, editor, actor, or director
- Search by "Lastname, Firstname"
- Many authors have the same name, so if you are not able to find the correct one, try a partial name search like "angelou, m" to see all possible name variations
- If you want books about a person but not written by them, search for their name by subject
Other searches available in the Catalog include: Journal Title, Call Number, Standard Number ISBN/ISSN, and Reserve by Prof/TA or Course. Use the drop-down menu to choose these search options.
Search by ~~> Title
- This search should be used if you know a specific book title
- Don't include leading words like "the" or "a" and leave out punctuation like ":" The Things They Carried should be typed as things they carried and a partial title can be search as well, things they car
Other searches available in the Catalog include: Journal Title, Call Number, Standard Number ISBN/ISSN, and Reserve by Prof/TA or Course. Use the drop-down menu to choose these search options.