How to Use The Library Catalog

Hi. We're all about saving time here at Belk. Today I'm going to show you how to use the library catalog to decide if a book is the right one for your research topic before you even take it off the shelf. I'm going to start on the library homepage and enter a search term in the search box so I can find out what kinds of books and materials the library has on my topic. My topic today is Syria. So, I'll type Syria into the catalog search box and click on the search button. You can see we got 315 results. The first thing you'll notice is the different types of resources available on Syria. Number one on the list in an ebook which you can access online. I will scan the titles of the books as the title will sometimes tell me about the content of the book. I think the second book might be useful to my research so I'm going to click on the title and learn more information about this particular book. Notice that my search term, Syria, is highlighted in red all the way through this description. The table of contents is listed as well as the subject headings which tell me what specific subjects about Syria are covered in this book. Each of these subject headings is an active link. If I click on the protest movements heading, it will take me to more sources in our catalog about protest movements in Syria. For even more information about this book, I'll scroll back up a little to the book cover. Not every book in the catalog has one of these but most do. If I click on the picture some information included here might include the table of contents, a summary of the book including major points or points of view, and often one or more scholarly reviews of the work. After reviewing all of this information, I've decided this book will be helpful for my research paper on Syria. The next thing I need to know is whether or not it's available. For that information, I look here under the status and I can see that this book is available. If this book said "checked out" under status, I could scroll up here and use the request button to be notified by email as soon as the book was returned. The last bit of information I need is the location of the book. That is determined by its call number listed here. I happen to know this book is on the third floor but for your convenience there is a map of the library including call number on our webpage. If you ever have trouble locating a book, ask any member of our friendly staff for assistance. I hope this video will save you lots of time in determining the right sources to use for your research.