Begin your research with the library catalog, the primary tool for identifying books and other materials in Grinnell College Libraries. To improve your searching skill and strategy, try these two helpful tutorials:
How to Use the Library Catalog
Keywords vs. Subject Headings
The library catalog provides three pieces of information to help you find an item in Grinnell College Libraries:
1. Location: refers to Burling Library's main or numerous collections. A map of Burling Library is available online and at the reference desk.
2. Call Number: Grinnell College Libraries, like most academic libraries, use the Library of Congress (LC) Classification System combining the alphabet with Arabic numerals to distinguish 21 subject areas. For a helpful overview, see Library of Congress Classification System; for a guide to interpreting these numbers, please also see Understanding Call Numbers. For interesting background material, read Wikipedia's entry on the Library of Congress.
3. Status: indicates if an item is, for instance, available, checked out, or in processing.
Remember: always ask a reference librarian or a circulation desk staff member for help retrieving items or for further explanations.
Strengthen your research by including materials not held by Grinnell College Libraries. To do so, search:
WorldCat
: catalog of books and other materials in libraries
worldwide.
Center
for Research Libraries: A consortial collection of materials
available through interlibrary loan. Search the CRL catalog.
NetLibrary
: digital full-text versions of books such as reference
works, scholarly monographs, literature and fiction.
Other Library Catalogs : search Grinnell's Stewart Library, University of Iowa, State of Iowa Libraries Online (SILO), Library of Congress, etc. [make relative link]
Books In Print : listings for over 5 million in-print, out-of-print, and forthcoming book, audio, and video titles.
