ENGL 105, Academic Writing: Books & Videos

Example searches

Some useful strategies for successfully finding books in the UFV library:

1. Start with a simple search of one or two keywords; once you find a book that looks relevant:
   • click on the Title;
   • look on the Catalog Record tab to see the subject terms used to describe the book - these can be used to search for more books and other materials on the same topic (try searching for these terms as a subject).
     
2. Look for call numbers in your search results that repeat - these can lead you to good areas to browse for books (you might find hidden gems by examining the tables of contents or index).

When searching for items with the library catalogue:

• Don’t search by using a sentence. Instead, identify the main concepts related to your research question.
• If you don't get any results think of synonyms or other words that describe your topic
• Truncation: searches for variant endings. Use $ in the UFV library catalog. (disab$ will find: disability, disabilities, disabled)
• Use AND to combine separate concepts (architecture AND physically handicapped)
• use OR to combine different concepts, either of which are acceptable (physically handicapped or people with disabilities) and (build$ or architect$)

In order to find a book on the shelf, you need a call number and the location. Here’s an example: LC 4814 C32 T58 2011 Stacks

Once you have a call number, you can browse that section of the shelves for more on the same subject.

 “E-books” are available electronically, no call number needed. Just click on the Read Online link.

"Just Received” items are not available but you can place a hold on them to get them quickly.

“On Order” items are in the process of being purchased. This can take a long time so look for something else.

You can also request books from other campuses as well as place holds on books that are checked out.