Finding Books Using the SOU Library Catalog
This assignment explains how to find books about your research topic using the SOU Library Catalog. If you need to select a topic, you may want to use the Finding Topics assignment first.
Finding Your Topic in the SOU Library Catalog
You can use either a keyword or a subject search to find a topic in the SOU Library Catalog. A keyword search is broader because it retrieves books with your words in any order in the title, subjects, and in some cases, the table of contents, of a book. A keyword search may retrieve some books which are not about your specific topic. With a subject search, the words you type in must exactly match a subject heading which has been assigned according to a list created by the Library of Congress. All of the titles retrieved in a subject search will be about a specific topic. There are several ways to find the subject headings which apply to your topic:
- Try a subject search on your topic words in the SOU Library Catalog. If you happen to select terms which are not used, in some cases the Library Catalog will still be able to refer you to the appropriate Library of Congress subject headings so that you can complete your search
- Look up your topic in the Library of Congress Subject Headings set (in the Reference area near the computer terminals) to find the appropriate subject headings
- Follow the instructions below to use a keyword search to identify appropriate subject headings
Using a Keyword Search to Identify Subject Headings: Sample Search
- Select the SOU Library Catalog
- Do a keyword search for "toxic wastes" (catalog will search for the words "toxic" and "wastes" adjacent or next to each other).
- Also, search "toxic and wastes" to compare the difference in results. (Catalog will search for the words "toxic" and "wastes" anywhere in the record).
- When doing a keyword search, if you get zero or fewer than expected results, the chances are that your terms do not match a Library of Congress subject heading
- To find more appropriate terms, select a few of the titles and check their records for a subject heading that could be used to mean the same thing as "toxic wastes"
- You will probably notice the synonym "hazardous wastes" in the subject headings
- Click on the subject heading link or go back to the search screen to do a subject search for "hazardous wastes"
- Your search should retrieve more specific entries this time
Using a Keyword Search to Identify Subjects Headings: Your Topic
- Select the SOU Library Catalog
- Do a keyword search for your topic
- Select one good title which covers your topic, and look at the record for this title
- Write down the best subject headings from this record
- Do a subject search for these headings
Summit: Orbis Cascade Alliance Catalog
- Search Summit for books available from the Summit consortium. Summit is a library catalog that combines information from 26 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington into a single unified database. Over 22 million books, sound recordings, films, videos, and more have come to Summit from the local catalogs.
- You can search for titles, authors, and publisher numbers. Search keywords from subjects, content notes, titles, personal and corporate authors and more. Explore subject headings from the Library of Congress, and from other subject headings lists such as medical, agricultural, children's literature.
- Borrowing materials through Summit
- Authorized users can easily request items located at one of the participating libraries.
- Items are delivered to the Hannon Library within 3 working days. Items not picked up within 4 days are returned.
- Items can be checked out for 3 weeks with one renewal.
- For more information, go to Summit Borrowing.
Please direct inquiries about this page to Dale Vidmar.