FINDING BOOKS ...
Not all books on a given subject or by a particular author will necessarily
be located together on the library shelves. You can't find everything by
browsing!
Academic libraries use the Library of Congress Subject Heading system of
cataloguing and shelving books. For the most precise, specific search, do
a SUBJECT search. For best results, consult the Library of Congress Subject
Headings books (the Big Red Books) for the correct search term. This is important!
For example, the books will tell you to use "Indians of North America" rather
than "Native Americans," or will help narrow your search on Sustainability, or Psychology, or Education to narrower, more specific terms. Subject Headings may also be
found in the Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data section of
a book you've already found to be helpful.
TOPIC or KEYWORD searches are good for finding terms which appear in subject
headings or titles. This is much broader than a Subject search. You might
get a lot more than you bargain for, so choose your topic words carefully.
If you know the author of a book, do an AUTHOR search. If you know the exact
title of a book, do a TITLE search. Keep in mind that sometimes you *think*
you know the author or title, but may have a name wrong, or the title words
out of order (looking for The Moon is Blue rather than Blue Moon, for example).
After seeing what books are available at the Prescott College Library by
using FIND BOOKS, use the Internet to browse the collections of your own
local libraries, or any library in the world! Call Linda for help if you're
not sure how to do this.
FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES...
The Prescott College Library subscribes to approximately 280 journals and
magazines, and your local public and university libraries will also
have a wide selection. However, when you're looking for a journal article
on a
specific topic, you don't want to browse through these issues on the
chance you might find something interesting! You'll want to use an
online journal
database which indexes thousands of journals and magazines. Prescott
College currently subscribes to several such resources, available from
the Library's
homepage by clicking on FIND ARTICLES.
These subscription databases are restricted to use by Prescott College
students only, and your library card ID number
is required for access. If you have questions on this, call 928-350-1300,
or e-mail the Circdesk.
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This page is created and maintained by Linda
Butterworth. Send comments or suggestions to library@prescott.edu. |
