Physics: Finding Books

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.

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

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 ":"

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 "Shakespeare, W" to see all possible name variations
• If you want books about a person but not written by them, search for their name by subject

Search by ~~>Subject

• Subject headings are standardized tags that link related items throughout the library catalog
• 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
• The library catalog uses the Library of Congress Classification system

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.)