Animal Genetics: Finding books

Search by Keyword 

• Combine terms using AND.
• This search returns records that contain words that match exactly what you typed in.
• This is often (but not always) the best place to start.

Search as Subject 

• Catalog uses pre-defined subjects. 
• This type of search works well if you are browsing for a particular subject that you know or a broad term. So if you aren't finding anything, switch to the keyword search instead.
• Subjects are arranged using the Library of Congress Classification system.

Search by Author

• Author searches are for looking for items a particular person has authored or written.
• The library catalog works best if you type in searches in the format "Last name, First name."
• If you want books about a person, search for their name by subject.

Search by Title

• Use this search if you know the title of the material that you need.

After you've found a book in the catalog, you'll need to find it on the shelf. Each book has a Library of Congress call number that identifies where exactly it's located.

Library of Congress call numbers should be read one line at a time as follows:

Example of a complete call number, DA 36 .A55:

1. First, look at Line 1:

Books are arranged in alphabetical order, by the letters on the first line of the call number. Example: first come all the D call numbers, then all the DA call numbers, then DB, etc.

2. Next, look at Line 2:

Within the DA call numbers, books are arranged in number order. The numbers are arranged in numerical from low to high. Example:

3. Then look at Line 3:

Line 3 of the call number has a letter and a number. The letters are in alphabetical order. Then read the numbers—but BEWARE! The numbers are not whole numbers, they are DECIMAL numbers. Example: A55 is read as A .55—this is why A55 comes before A6 (A .55, A .6, A .65, etc.)