Literature search: How to find books

Handy hints before you begin

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Library Catalogue

To find critical works on an individual text, or to find books on a particular topic, you need to use the Library Catalogue. The following pages will show you the most effective Catalogue search options to use and how to interpret Catalogue records.

How the literature search techniques pages work

I've put together a series of linked images of web pages showing the whole process step by step. Simply click anywhere on an image, or on a green arrow button, to go to the next step in the search sequence.

Bear in mind that the results of looking up books and topics in the Library Catalogue won't be the same every time because new books are constantly being added to the collections. The screens that you see in the following pages won't necessarily be what you'll get if you repeat my search examples in the Library Catalogue.

Arrangement of call numbers

Books in the Library by and about a particular author are arranged in a specific sequence on the Library shelves. It pays to know this arrangement to make it easier to find the books you need.
In essence, you'll find books in this sequence:

• Collected works by the author
• Critical works on the author generally
• Individual works by the author
• Critical works on individual titles

Note: critical work(s) on an individual title are shelved immediately following the text(s) of that particular title

It's iomportant to learn how to interpret the Call Numbers on the Library Catalogue records. The Call Number tells you exactly what sort of book it is.

Let's take Jane Austen as an example; we'll look at some typical Catalogue records.

First you'll find collected editions of her writings:

Author: Austen, Jane, 1775-1817. Title: The works of Jane Austen / Illustrated by Charles E. Brock. Published: Lond. : Dent ; New York : Dutton, 1950 Description: 6 v. : illus. ; 19 cm. [1] Sense and sensibility -- [2] Northanger Abbey -- [3] Emma -- [4] Pride and prejudice -- [5] Mansfield Park -- [6] Persuasion. Call Number: 823 A93 1950 [823 is the Dewey number for English fiction. A93 is the code for Jane Austen. 1950 is to distinguish this edition, published in 1950, from an earlier edition of her works by the same publisher]

Immediately after the collected works you'll find general critical works. They are distinguished by a capital letter 'Z' followed by the intial(s) of the surname of the writer of the critical work:

Author: Jones, Darryl, 1967- Title: Jane Austen / Darryl Jones. Published: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Call Number: 823 A93ZJON [The capital letter Z tells you it's a critical work. JON is from the first three letters of the author of the critical work, in this case Darryl Jones]

Next on the shelves you'll find Jane Austen's individual novels, arranged alphabetically by the first word of the title:

Author: Austen, Jane, 1775-1817. Title: Pride and prejudice / edited with an introduction by Frank W. Bradbrook ; textual notes and bibliography by James Kinsley. Published: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1970. Call Number: 823 A93pr.B [The pr indicates 'Pride and prejudice'. B is the first letter of the editor of the critical work, in this case Frank W. Bradbrook]

Immediately following the editions of the text of Pride and prejudice you'll find any critical works on that novel, such as:

Author: Rubinstein, Elliot, 1936-, comp Title: Twentieth century interpretations of Pride and prejudice : a collection of critical essays / edited by E. Rubinstein Published: Englewood Cliffs, N.J : Prentice-Hall, [1969] Call Number: 823 A93pr.ZR [The pr indicates 'Pride and prejudice'. The Z tells you it's a critical work. R is the first letter of the author's last name of the critical work, in this case Elliot Rubinstein]

Can't find your book?

There are other things you can do if the specific book you want isn't currently available. If, say, you are looking for critical works on Jane Eyre and there are none on the shelves, think laterally! Have a look at books about Charlotte Brontë (or the Brontë sisters), which will be shelved just before books on the individual novels. Have a look in the book's index for information on Jane Eyre.

Let's see how to find some books !

Now it's time to start learning how to do a literature search for books. The structure is a series of linked images of web pages showing the whole process step by step. Simply click anywhere on an image, or on a green arrow button, to go to the next step in the search sequence.

Click the arrow to begin