ELS Guide: Catalog

A catalog is a list of all items found in a library. Resources such as books, e-books, and journals can be found in KSL's catalog to add to a research paper.

During your classroom instruction at KSL, the librarian talked about finding books in our catalog by doing a "Keyword" and "Subject" search. These two ways of searching the catalog will be the best way for you to find what you need to write your research paper. 

Remember, to make it easier finding books for your research paper to pay attention to what a record tells you about the book's location and if it is available.

Location: Books that say "Kelvin Smith Stacks" are on the 3rd floor of Kelvin Smith Library. There are other libraries on Case Western Reserve University's campus that may also have books you need. If you are unsure where the library is, use the hand out that has a map of the libraries or call the Main Service Desk, (216) 368-3506, at Kelvin Smith Library and someone can help you find the library you need.

Call No.: Call numbers contain a group of letters and numbers that give you a way to find a book in a library. You will need the call number to know where to go here at KSL to find the book you want.

Status: When you see the status for a record, this will tell you if the book is available. If you see "Available", this status means the book will be on the shelf.

Searching the catalog by Keyword:

1. After picking a topic for your paper, do a "Keyword" search in the catalog by putting a word or words that are about your topic in the search field. For example, you may put "global warming" in if this were your topic and click "Search".
2. If the words you used to search with find books about your topic, you will see a list of items to pick from.
3. Look through the titles of the books. You can open the record of an item that you find useful by clicking 2 times on the title to see more about what the book is about.
4. Write down the call number for the book(s) and look for it in the 3rd floor stacks or at the library listed.

Remember to look at the Subject(s) listed in the record of a book you are interested in. Subject listings will help you narrow your topic and give you a list of books closer to what you would like to write about.

Searching the catalog by Author:

1. If you know the author of a book you'd like to find, click the circle next to the word "Author" in the search area. 
2. Next, type in the author of the book in like this: last name, first name (example: Smith, Jane) and click on "Search".
3. This way of searching will show you if KSL has any books by the author you looked for.
4. If you see the author's name, double click on his or her name. A new page will show you the books written by that author.
5. Write down the call number for the book(s) and look for it in the 3rd floor stacks or at the library listed.
6. If the author isn't found or you don't see a book related to your topic, try a "Keyword" search in the catalog for books using words about your topic.

Searching the catalog by Title:

1. If you know the title of a book you'd like to find, click the circle next to the word "Title" in the search area.
2. Next, type in the title of the book and click on "Search".
3. If the book you searched for is here at KSL, it will show up in the list.
4. Write down the call number for the book(s) and look for it in the 3rd floor stacks or at the library listed.
5. If it is not found, try a "Keyword" search in the catalog for books using words about your topic.

Searching the catalog by Subject:

1. After picking a topic for your paper, do a "Subject" search in the catalog by putting a word about your topic in the search field. For example, you may put "global warming" in if this were your topic and click "Search".
2. Instead of a list of books like a Keyword search gives you, you will see a list of subjects that are related to your main topic (for example, global warming). You might see your topic and a country, your topic and specific dates, your topic and aspects (health, economic, social) or other ideas that can be related to your main subject.
3. By clicking on a subject heading, you will see a list of books and other items that are available on that subject.
4. Write down the call number for the book(s) and look for it in the 3rd floor stacks or at the library listed.

Keyword searches: will search author, title, subject, and other descriptors of the book/item record. Will retrieve books/items that have the search term(s) anywhere within them. A keyword search is easy to perform and you usually can get a lot of records. But some records may be completely unrelated to your topic. 

Subject searches: "Subjects" are specific words used by librarians to describe the main topics of a book/item.  When you perform a subject search, you will only retrieve records that have the search term in the subject headings part of that record. Once you identify the assigned "subjects" for your topic, you can find the most relevant records to your topic.