Library Search

You can use Library Search to look for a specific book when you have the reference details.

For example:

O'Toole, G. (2016). Communication: Core interpersonal skills for health professionals (3rd ed.). Elsevier.

1. Go to the Library home page.
2. Type one author family name and part of the book title into the Library Search box.

3. Click Search.
4. Find correct book in the results list.

If it is an eBook, you can use the links in the record to access it online.

If it is a print book, you can use the Available at information to see which campus library has it. You will need the call number, e.g. 610.696 64/2016, to locate the book on the shelf. If you need help locating a book on the shelves, ask a Client Service Officer at the Library help desk.

Use Library Search to find eBooks on your topic.

1. Go to the Library home page.
2. Type your keywords into the Library Search box.

3. Click Search.
4. Select Books under Content type.
5. Select Full Text Online under Show only.

6. Your results list should now have ebooks and chapters from ebooks. Click on the title to open the ebook or chapter record.
7. Scroll to the View Online section to see a list of the databases that have copies of the ebook.
8. Click the database name to go to the record for the eBook in the database. If you are using a campus computer, it will open directly. If you are using your own computer, you will need to log in to the database first.
9. Use the links in the record to open the ebook and navigate it. You should be able to read the book online. Sometimes you can download part or all of the book to read on your computer.

NOTE: If there is an option to download the book and read it on your computer, you might also need to download an ebook reader software. For more information see the ebooks @ CQUniversity guide.

If you need a bit more help with ebooks, you can contact the library staff via TASAC.

If you are unable to access an ebook, it might be because there is a limit on how many people can use the book at the same time.

If you want to check for this information, you can look in the Full text availability section of the Library Search record for an ebook. If there is an Access Model note under the database name, it will tell you the maximum number of people who can use the book at the same time (concurrent users).

Use Library Search to find print books on your topic.

1. Go to the Library home page.
2. Type your keywords into the Library Search box.

3. Click Search.
4. Select Books under Content type.
5. Select Available in the Library under Show only.

6. Your results list should now contain books from the library shelves. Click on a book title to open the book record.
7. Scroll to the Location section to see a list of the libraries that have copies of the book. Each one will have details about their copies underneath, e.g. (1 copy, 1 available, 0 requests).
   • Copy = the number of copies that belong at that campus library
   • Available = the number of copies that are on the shelf in that library right now. If no copies are available, you will need to request the book.
   • Requests = the number of requests on the title.
8. Beside the name of the collection you will see a long number, e.g. 658.4092 209. This is a Call Number. The same number will be on a small white label on the book. Use the Call Number to locate the book on the shelf.

If you have trouble finding the book, ask one of the library staff at the front desk.

Libraries have lots of books to organise. We group your textbooks and other non-fiction books by topic and subtopics. To do this we use a numbering system. The numbers relate to the subjects. There are also numbers for subtopics. These are added after a decimal point.

The books are organised in order from the smallest number to the largest. The numbers at the beginning are in order, e.g. 657, 658, 659. The decimals are also in the same order, e.g. 658.303, 658.4, 658.4092, 658.5.

The number in the Library search record looks like this: 658.4092 209 / 2012

The number on the book label looks like this:

658.4092
    209
 / 2012

1. The easiest way to do this is to start by finding part of the number in front of the decimal. It's written on the top line of the white label on the book. If you were looking for 658.4092 209 / 2012, you'd look for labels starting with 658.
2. When you find that section, look within it for the number after the decimal, but before the space. In this example, you'd look in the 658s for 658.4 first, then look a bit more closely to find 658.4092.
3. The next step is to find that number after the space. It will be underneath the main number on the label. This number is unique to that title. For this example, it would be 209.
4. If there was a number after a /, it is the year of publication. It is only included if we have more than one edition of a title. Check the bottom of the white label to see that you've got the right year, e.g. / 2012.
5. Now that you've found your book, pull it off the shelf and check that it's the right title. (You can use the Table of Contents at the front and / or the Index at the back to see if it has the information you need.)

If you want to browse for books on a topic, these are the broad groups of subjects:

• 000 – 099 Computer science, Library and information sciences, and general works like encyclopaedias.
• 100 – 199 Philosophy and psychology (including Ethics)
• 200 – 299 Religion
• 300 – 399 Social sciences (including Law, Education and Organisational behaviour)
• 400 – 499 Language (including dictionaries)
• 500 – 599 Science
• 600 – 699 Technology (including Management, Accounting, Speech pathology, Nursing, Sonography, Agriculture, Engineering and Construction)
• 700 – 799 Arts and recreation (including Architecture, and Music)
• 800 – 899 Literature
• 900 – 999 History and geography

There are also numbers for subtopics. These are added after a decimal point.