Mansfield Library Subject Guides
Successful Researching and Writing:
Finding Books
The University of Montana Libraries catalog includes the holdings of all the libraries that are part of The University of Montana system plus St. Patrick's Hospital Library (Missoula). The catalog interface that is used on the Missoula campus is set to bring up only those materials located in the Mansfield Library by default. Library materials can be located by title, author, subject and/or any combination of keywords.
Once a title is located in the catalog, its call number identifies its location in the library.
Locating Books
For example, Blonde, a work of fiction by Joyce Carol Oates, has the following call number information:
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Blonde / | Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938- | 1999 | Blonde / Joyce Carol Oates. | ||
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The first line states the title, author and publishing date. The second line identifies the library and floor where the material is held, followed by the Dewey Decimal Call number that will pinpoint the material’s exact location. The second line also states whether the material is checked out, on reserve or available.
- 813.54 refers to all books of fiction written by twentieth century American authors.
- O11bLo is a cutter number that identifies the individual author and the individual title.
Thus, there are thousands of books with the 813.54 designation in the Mansfield Library; but there is only one book with O11bLo as part of the call number.
Once you have selected a particular book and have pulled up its record, you can choose the option to view the full record for the book by clicking “long view”. Once the long view is on display, subject descriptors are listed, which can often provide more precise keywords (Library of Congress descriptors) for your search. Also, from the long view, you can perform a search for the author of the book or a specific subject listed by clicking on the subject keyword or the author’s name.
WorldCat
WorldCat is a consortium of library catalogs worldwide. WorldCat is an excellent database for browsing the broad universe of published materials. If you are trying to locate a book that is not found in the Mansfield Library’s catalog, WorldCat is the best resource to use for your search. Combined with the Interlibrary Loan service offered free to University of Montana students, faculty and staff, books and media can be borrowed from libraries around the world. WorldCat supports advanced research projects that require in-depth review of books and media, as well as thorough citation information for requesting items through Interlibrary Loan.
To access WorldCat, link to the Mansfield
Library home page and click on the Databases: Search by Subject or Databases: A-Z link. WorldCat
can be found in the category Reference. WorldCat
can also be accessed under “W” on the alphabetical title
list at the top of the page.
| Note: To access WorldCat from any off-campus location you must be a current UM student, staff, or faculty member with a NetID. |