This is a comprehensive guide to accessing the library catalog, a key resource for academic research. You will:
Learn how to use the library's online catalog and interpret records to find a variety of materials, including books, journals, DVDs, and electronic resources.
Develop the ability to refine search results using various filters such as subject, format, and publication date
Additionally, you’ll see how to request items and manage your library account
This video will demonstrate how to find materials in our catalog using the University of Michigan Library Search. You can use the catalog to find books, journals, newspapers, DVDs, music and musical scores, as well as electronic books and journals. To search the catalog, go to the library's homepage at lib.umich.edu.
Type your topic into the search box and click search to see the results you'll be provided with results from the catalog articles, databases, and more. You should look at the results inside the catalog column to see everything that is available in the catalog. If you scroll down to the bottom of this catalog column, you'll see the option to view all catalog results. On this page, you'll see more results and now have options to refine them. You can narrow by subject by format, or by several other options such as by date of publication.
To view a record, click on the title of the item. Let's open the record for this book called Education for Upward Mobility. The record will give you basic information like title, author, publisher and publication date.
Click Show Complete Record to view more details about the item. The Subject section will show you all the subjects that are associated with this book. You can click any of the subject links to find more related items. Towards the bottom of the record, you can see which U-M libraries have this book and whether it's on the shelf, checked out, missing, or on order. You'll see the call number which you'll need in order to find the book on the shelf.
You will also see a link titled Get This. Clicking this link will allow you to log in and view the different ways to request this item. To perform another search at any time, just scroll up to the top of the page for more options to narrow and refine your search use Advanced Search. Library Search can also be used to manage your library account. Just click on My Account at the top of the page log in and you'll be able to view any items that you have checked out.
If you need help with Library Search you can always Ask a Librarian for further assistance.
Tip: If a book you are looking for is not available in our catalog, try placing an interlibrary loan requestLinks to an external site. for it. We will do our best to track down a version of the book and make it available.