Finding Books, Media, and More: Looking on the Shelves

Search the library catalog for the item. Once found, click on it to view the item's detail page. Here you can see:

• the item's availability,
• the library it's in,
• the location within the library,
• and the call number. 

Take note of the floor and section (ex: north or south).

The call number is like an address for the location of the book on the shelf. Read it left to right.

It has four parts that start general and get more and more specific until you zero in on the book you want. The call number for Critical perspectives on Harry Potter is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is PR 6068 .O93 H374 2000.

To find the above book in the Merrill-Cazier Library, first go to the 3rd floor, south side and look at the signs on the ends of the shelves. Go alphabetically to the P section. After the P section will be PA, PB, PC, etc. Go to PR.

• Within the PR section, it goes numerically. Look on the spines of the books. You will see PR 1, PR 2, etc. Keep going until you find PR 6068 (read: six thousand sixty-eight).
• After PR 6068 there is a decimal number that starts with a letter. The letters go alphabetically again. You will see PR 6068 .A, PR 6068 .B, etc. Keep going until you find PR 6068 .O and then .O93.
• You're getting close! Keep going alphabetically in .O93 until you see H and 374. You did it!  PR 6068 .O93 H374 2000. The 2000 represents the year this edition was published.

When you are done searching for a book, do not reshelve the book. Place it on one of the open shelves labeled "Reshelving" and library staff will make sure it gets put back in the correct place.

If you want to borrow a book, check it out at the Circulation Desk on the 1st floor.