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Information Literacy & Library Research: . . . Search the Catalog

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.

Searching the Library Catalog

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

Quick Search

Quick Search can be used for most library catalog searches. Quick Search allows you to search for a keyword or combination of keywords in all fields of a catalog record. For example, if you search for the keywords women and sports and select Search Everything, your results will include records with both keywords. If you did the same search but selected title search, you would only find records with the keywords in the title.

The Search Results screen will display brief information about the item (title, author, call number, publisher, and date published). This is enough information to know if the book is in the library and where it's located. For more information on the book, click the title to see the Brief Record or Full Record.

  1. From the library homepage (library.suu.edu) scroll to the bottom of the page, then click Catalog in the 
  2. Type your keywords in the search window, then select a type of search (Search Everything, title, author, subject, ...)

Advanced Search

Advanced Search allows you to narrow your searches by type (ebooks, media, Reference books) and location (e.g., Main Collection, Media DVD, Reference). From the Quick Search window click the Advanced Search link:

Reserve Books Search

The Library Catalog can be searched for books, videos, and other items your professors have placed on reserve for your classes. You can check these out at the Circulation Desk. In the Library Catalog click the Reserve Books link, type the Instructor, Course Number, or Course Name in the window and click the appropriate button.

eBooks Search

The library has many eBooks available to users. Ebooks are versatile--as well as reading them anywhere you have an Internet connection, you may also search them for keywords and print out sections too. To find eBooks in the library catalog, type your keyword(s) in the Quick Search window (like above), then click the "Search only Electronic Books" box, before clicking the search button. By selecting that option, your search results should only include eBooks.