Library

Finding Books and other materials: Library Catalogs

The best place to find overviews and summaries of a topic is in books. Books sometimes contain collections of essays that can provide different points of view on a topic. Some books include bibliographies which can point to more sources for you to use in your paper.

The first place to look for a book or journal title is to search the Simmons Catalog. You can then check regional library catalogs, such as the Fenway Library Consortium, Boston Library Consortium, Harvard Library, area public library, and also check WorldCat. You can also check netLibrary - access to over 8000 full text books online, and Books 24x7 - access to over 2000 books on technology topics.

The Simmons Library catalog includes records not only for books, but also for journal, magazine and newspaper titles, Internet resources, maps, computer software, audio and video recordings, and more. The Simmons College Library online catalog runs through INNOPAC software from Innovative Interfaces Inc.

You can see a list of all new materials acquired by the Library in the past month: Browse New Titles

 

Searching the Simmons Library Online Catalog

The Simmons Library online catalog contains information about all the library's collections, including books, videos, software, and journal titles. Online catalogs are databases and can be searched in the same ways as any database - typically by subject/keyword, author, and title of the book or other item you are looking for. Usually you will have a topic or subject in mind that you want to find out about, so it's best to start searching the library catalog either by subject or keyword.

Most libraries arrange books and other materials by subject and use a classification system to do so. At Simmons (and most other academic libraries), we use the Library of Congress classification system, which is an alpha-numeric, subject-based system. So when you search the library catalog by subject, the catalog matches against Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Sometimes these headings are very stringent; they are a set of controlled vocabulary terms, and not natural language. For example, the LCSH for the term 'domestic violence' is 'family violence.' And the LCSH for the term 'heart attack' is 'myocardial infarction.' The most precise way to search, however, is by LCSH because each item included in the library catalog is assigned one or more subject headings, which describe the content of that item.

When you search for a topic in the library catalog, a good rule of thumb is to first try that term as a subject. If you get no or few results, next try that term as a keyword. A keyword search will match your search terms in any part of the record for that item - in the title, notes/chapter titles, or subject headings. So while a keyword search is less precise than a subject search, you can sometimes find more results searching by keyword, though the results may not all be relevant.

Search the catalog using Keywords, Subjects, or Author searches.

  • Author: If you are looking for a book or other research by a certain author, search the catalog to see Simmons library holdings. Search using last name first, followed by a comma and the first name of the author. If you do not find any results, search by last name, followed by a comma and than the author's first name initial.
    eg., Walker, Alice or Walker, A.

  • Keyword: If you are looking for books about a certain topic, try searching by keyword. Keyword searches yield results when the search word, exactly as entered, appears in an item's record. The record includes the title, author, abstract, notes, and subject assigned to the item. So, if the keyword entered appears in any of these fields, or areas, of the record, the record will appear in the results list.

  • Subject: Subject searching is similar to keyword searching, in that you use this type of search to find items about a certain topic. Subject searches differ from keyword searches, however, in that the search phrase must match, exactly, the phrase in the subject area, or field, of a record to yield an item as a result. Subject words or phrases in the library catalog are assigned from the Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Another good rule of thumb is to scan your keyword search results for items that look relevant; notice the subject headings at the bottom of the record and you may find one or more subject headings to search by.

Your search results may contain a variety of types of items - probably mostly books, but videos, journal titles, or web sites could appear in your results list. The full record, viewed by clicking on the title of the item, will give you more information about that item - a complete citation (title, author, publisher), plus a Location, Call Number and Status, so you know which Simmons Library collection houses the item, where you will find it on the shelf, and whether or not it's available to be checked out from the Library.

Reference Books

Reference books are a good place to start research. They are books that you cannot check out of the library, but are useful for finding general background information, statistics, and definitions. Examples of the kinds of resources included in reference collections are encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and almanacs. Use the catalog to find reference books for your project or consult a librarian.

Circulating Books

Most books found in a library that you will want to use for your research are circulating books. Whereas Reference books are a good place to find general information, such as that found in an encyclopedia on immigration, circulating books often include deeper information on more specific topics, such as a study on the educational attainment of Chinese children who immigrated to the United States in the 1980's. These books can be useful in in developing a stronger argument to support your thesis. Use the catalog to find circulating books to check out and develop your paper.

The Simmons Library catalog has many useful features that you should take advantage of and use regularly. The blue buttons on the top and bottom of the results page will help you maneuver around the library catalog.

  • Extended Display - allows you to view the call number and year of publication for each title
  • Limit the Search - allows you to narrow your search results in several ways: by language, material type (choose projected media to find videos), words, location (choose Reference Beatley to find reference materials), and year of publication
  • Search as Words - turns your search into a keyword search, usually broadening your results
  • Return to Browse - goes back to the full results list
  • Export - allows you to download, print, or e-mail a set of records that you have marked or selected (by checking the boxes next to the titles)
  • Request - allows you to put in a request for an item that is currently checked out or at another branch of the Simmons Library
  • You can also search the library catalog for reserve materials by either your professor's name or course number. Reserves usually check out for 2 hours to allow access for everyone in the class. Many are available to read online.
  • View your Record - allows you to see what you currently have checked out and to renew your books online.

Fenway Library Consortium

Simmons College is a member of the Fenway Library Consortium (FLC): a cooperating group of fifteen library in the Boston Area. The Consortium is open to faculty, staff and students of its member institutions. Ten of the FLC library have one single computer catalog that you can use to search for books. This computer catalog is called Fenway Library Online (FLO).

Circulating materials may be borrowed from FLC library with a Fenway Consortium member identification card. Simmons students, faculty and staff may purchase a FLO card at any of the FLO libraries for $1.00. This card will be valid throughout your tenure at Simmons College at all FLO library. Borrowers are responsible for returning items according to the policies of the individual library.

Contact the individual library for hours of operation and additional information.

 

Boston Library Consortium

Simmons College is NOT a member of the Boston Library Consortium; your Simmons ID will NOT allow you to check books out from a BLC library.You do have the option of getting a Boston Public Library card to borrow from the BPL and its branches. In most cases, however, you can go to any of the BLC libraries and use their materials (books and journals). Contact individual libraries for their policies.

Members of the Boston Library Consortium (BLC ) are:

  • Boston College
  • Boston Public Library
  • Boston University
  • Brandeis University
  • Brown University
  • Marine Biological Laboratory
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Northeastern University
  • State Library of Massachusetts
  • Tufts University
  • University of Connecticut
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • University of Massachusetts Boston
  • University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
  • University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • University of Massachusetts Worcester
  • University of New Hampshire
  • Wellesley College
  • Williams College

Once connected to the Boston Library Consortium, search either the individual catalogs of each of the BLC library for books and other materials.

Harvard Library Online

The Harvard Library Online, offer access to one of the largest library collections in the Boston area. If you locate an item at one of the Harvard Library, please see a reference librarian about how to access the information.

Public Library Catalogs

If you live in or around Boston, your local public library may be part of the following public library networks or catalogs:

CLAMS (Cape Library Automated Materials Sharing). Username is: library

C/W MARS (Central/Western Massachusetts Library). Member library.

The MBLN (Metro Boston Library Network) includes the circulating collection of the Boston Public Library (BPL). Any Massachusetts resident is eligible for a library card from the Boston Public Library, including students. To get a BPL card, present a piece of mail with a MA address and an ID card at the BPL circulation desk.

The Minuteman Library Network, is a consortium of over 20 public and university library in eastern Massachusetts. See the MLN home page for member library and borrowing policies.

MVLC (Merrimack Valley Library Consortium). Click Guest Login.

NOBLE (North of Boston Library Exchange). NOBLE includes public and college library.

OCLN (Old Colony Library Network). OCLN includes South Shore / Southeastern MA library.

SAILS Library Network. See the SAILS home page for a list of member library.

 

WorldCat

WorldCat is a combined catalog of many of the world's libraries, from OCLC. If Simmons does not own a book or periodical title, and you need to see which libraries in Massachusetts or in the world might own it, use WorldCat.

netLibrary

netLibrary provides access to over 8000 electronic books. Readers have four hours to use a netLibrary title. Readers can check out as many titles as they need at any one time. Books can be recalled if another patron requests them. For a quick overview, download this fact sheet (pdf) or visit the netLibrary help page for more information.

Page updated: September 27, 2005

 

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