The first place to go to find a book in the library is the online catalog, Caravan. Caravan contains records for all the books, journals, videos and other items held in Shain Library and Greer Music Library. Records from Trinity College and Wesleyan University can also be search in Caravan by using the "Search CTW" function.  The catalog can also be reached by going to the Homepage of the library (http://www.conncoll.edu/is/info-resources/index.html) and is available from any computer that has access to the Internet.

The first screen you will see when you access the catalog is this one:

To begin a search, follow the these steps:

1.    Enter your search term or terms in the "Search for" box.  There are many types of searches available, you can search by author's names or a book's title if you know it, or you can use keywords to do a general search.

2.    Select the type of search by selecting from the list in the "Search by" box.   What these choice allow you to do is to tell the computer how you want the words searched.  If you know  the exact title of a book, and are just trying to find the location, use the "Title begins with" option (making sure to omit the initial article) and the system will search only for those words in the order given.  Using the "Keyword" search will return all records that have your search term(s) located anywhere in the record (author, title, subject, etc.). Remeber when using the Keyword search to to use quotes around phrases and boolean operators to link terms.

3.    Quick Limits: The "Quick Limits" feature allows you to restrict your search based on either a type of item (i.e. Videos and DVDs) or a location (i.e. Greer Music Library). The "Quick Limits" option works only with Title or Keyword searches.

Once you've completed entering the information, click the "Search" button to execute your search.

There are other types of searches available from the Simple Search page, use the tabs above the search box to move to an Advanced Search page or to Reserves.

Once you have executed your search, the catalog will (hopefully) produce a list of relevant titles.  The results can be displayed in a number of different ways by using the "Sort Results" option located in the upper left portion of the results list page.

The results list will provide a brief view of each item that will look something like this:

Included in this view is the call number so you can locate the book on the shelf, a location code, the title and author. If the item is currently checked out, you will see a due date listed in the "Status" field.  To see the full record, click on the light blue "number" link located to the left of the record.

So now you have a book that looks good and you want to browse through it, where do you go?  There are a number of locations for books within Shain Library:

Circulating Items:

Call numbers that start with:
A - N:    2nd Floor
P - Z:     3rd Floor

Large books are located in seperate areas noted as "Oversize" or "Folio"

Oversize A - PQ:    2nd Floor
Oversize PR - Z:     3rd Floor
Folio:                      2nd Floor

Some of the older books in the library collections are still shelved using Dewey Decimal call numbers and they are located on the 3rd Floor.

Non-Circulating Items:

Reference Books: REF A-Z:    Main Floor
Government Documents (Federal and State):    Lower Level (Arranged by SuDoc Number)

For information on reading Library of Congress call numbers, please see the "How to Read LC Call Numbers" page or handout.
 

If you are unable to locate a book in Shain Library, you have a number of options.  Books at Trinity and Wesleyan can be requested directly through Caravan. Use the function to search titles at Trinity and Wesleyan, then if you find a title you would like, click and follow the instructions on the screen. Delivery time is generally 2-3 days.  If the book you need is not available through the consortium, requests can be made through InterLibrary Loan (ILL).  Receiving books through ILL can take up to two weeks, so it pays to start your research early.  Further information on requesting items through ILL is available online (http://www.conncoll.edu/is/info-resources/ill/).

To search for books in other libraries, the library provides access to Worldcat, an online catalog listing books held by libraries in the United States and Internationally.  World Cat is accessible by going to the Research Databases section of the Library homepage.  Many of the subject specific indexes (ie. PsychInfo, Econlit, etc.) also index books by chapter.