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Information Literacy & Library Research: . . . Library Catalog Records

Information literacy is the ability to know when information is needed and to be able to identify, locate and evaluate, and then legally and responsibly use and share that information.

Library Catalog Records

Section Three A: Find Books and Articles - Finding Books and Media - Library Catalog Records

Library Catalog Records

The library catalog is used to locate everything owned by that library. It is a database of records for books, media (audio, video, DVD), maps, pictures, and other materials. The SUU Library Catalog can be used to locate books, media, Reserve Books, and new books in our library. The catalog can also be used to see if the library has print or microfilm copies of magazines, newspapers or journals.

NOTE: The library catalog cannot be used to find the articles in magazines or journals by their author or title. To search at the article level you need to search article databases such as Academic Search Ultimate.

Catalog Records

A search of the library catalog will show a Search Results screen listing library records. A library catalog record includes item details like the title, author, publication information, call number, and library location.

Catalog search and catalog record

Click Brief Record to see additional information. Click on Full Record to see even more details for many books, including the table of contents (Contents), a book review (Review), and Subjects. The information on the Full Record screen can be helpful in selecting the right book for your topic and for expanding your search to locate similar books.

Brief and Full catalog records

The following Library Catalog Records video (1:43 minutes) gives details what you can find in catalog records such as call number, location, Brief Record and Full Record: