Finding Books

Why Use Books for Research?

Books are useful for research because they:

give in-depth coverage of a topic
often provide background information on a topic
are used to get an overview of a topic
demonstrate how a research topic relates to broader, narrower and related issues
lead readers to other related books and reference sources

Books are sometimes NOT useful if the research topic is very new or narrow in focus. It can take over a year for many academic books to be published. Use articles to find information on a very current topic.

What Is the Library Catalog?

The library catalog is the database containing a record for every book, magazine, journal, newspaper, electronic books, video, audio cassette, CD, DVD, and/or other item owned by a library.

Use the online catalog to find out which books are available, on what subjects, and where they are located in a particular library.

What the Catalog Is NOT!

Do NOT use the catalog to look for articles on research topic. Use indexes to find articles and article references. Specific magazine, journal or newspaper articles can NOT be found by using a library catalog.

The library catalog is not useful for finding Web sites.

How To Use the Library Catalog

Watch the demonstration about accessing and using the catalog by following these instructions:

TO VIEW THE DEMONSTRATION:

Just click on the button below, and the demonstration will begin by opening a new window.
The demonstration will automatically move forward.
If you wish to move quicker or slower through the demonstration, just click on the buttons on the right side of the window.
When you are finished, click on the X at the top right corner of the window

Watch Demonstration

If You Have Trouble Finding Books

If you cannot find any books on your topic, here are some things to try:

Broaden your search. Catalogs cannot give detailed information about each books, so select one of the broader topics from your keyword list. When you find books on this subject, look in the index and table of contents to see if your topic is included.
Browse the shelves. Books with similar call numbers will have similar subjects. Look at other books by browsing the shelves for your call number area.
Search other catalogs. If it doesn't appear that the UVSC Library has a book on your topic, try a different college or university. You may find that no books have been published yet if it is a very recent subject. You can get to other catalogs by clicking on the "Books & Media" link on the library's website.
Checkout Books from Other Colleges/Universities. With your UVSC ID, you may checkout books from any Utah college or university library, including BYU and Westminster.
Request Books through Interlibrary Loan. If you plan ahead, let us get the book for you! Locate a book for your research, verify that UVSC doesn't own it by searching the catalog, and then fill out the Interlibrary Loan form online. We'll notify you when the book arrives at the UVSC campus so that you can pick it up. This is a free service!

Practice

Write down the answers for this assignment. You will be using them later to complete the exercise at the end of the tutorial.

View the Catalog demonstration.
Go to the UVSC Library's catalog and type in your topic.
Locate 1 book which has information related to your topic.
Write down the title, author, publisher, place of publication, publication date, and call number for the library exercise.

Continue -
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