Finding resources: Finding books

For most assignments, books will be the starting point for your research. Print and e-books will give a general introduction, a topic and an overview of key theories and concepts. Use Locate, the Library catalogue, to search for books.

It is rarely necessary to read the whole book from start to finish and this may be an inefficient use of your time.

Instead:

• Use the contents page, at the start of the book, to find a chapter or section relevant to your topic. 
• Refer to the index, at the end of the book, to find a particular theory, author or specific topic.
• Use the search function in an e-book to find a specific topic, theory, author etc.

To find the Essential and Recommended reading for your module, go to your Reading List and search for your specific module by the course title or module code.

A wide range of ebooks are also available from Locate. To search for ebooks, enter the author's last name and one or two keywords from the title or search for your topic in the search bar on Locate. Select Books and more (online only) from the drop-down menu to exclude print books. 

You will be presented with differing access options when you select an ebook title on Locate. This varies from publication to publication. Some publishers will allow you to download the full text, others will limit access to 24 hours. This may involve downloading an extra piece of software, or an app if you want to read the book on a mobile device.

Note some publishers limit access to a defined number of users at any one time. In the example below, the same ebook is available from BibliU and Ebook Central, though only 5 users can have simultaneous access from Ebook Central.

The library uses a classification scheme called Dewey Decimal Classification (Dewey) to organise the physical collection. This ensures books written about the same subject are located at the same shelf number.

You will find the Dewey number on the label on the spine of a book.

Dewey is a hierarchical system based on ten broad areas from 000 to 900.

These broad areas sub-divide giving specific classification numbers for all discipline areas. The result is that all books with have at least three digits and often sub-divided by further digits separated by a decimal point. For example, books about tennis will have a Dewey classification of 796.34. As an explanation of that number:

• 700 - Arts & Recreation is the broad category
• 796 - Sports books are found at this number within the 700 series
• 796.34 - Books on racquet sports found at this number as a sub-division of Sports

Following the numbers are 3 letters corresponding to the book's author or the editor. Books are shelved in alphabetical order within a class number so 796.34 BRO will be shelved before 796.34 SMI.

All books are shelved in numerical sequence, taking each digit separately, for example, 612.305 will be shelved before 612.31.

This short video will show you how to find print and ebooks on Locate.