Search the Library Catalog
How Books Are Arranged in the Library
Each book in the library has a label on the spine that shows the book's call number, which is basically the book's address. Most college and university libraries in the United States, including NOVA, use the Library of Congress Classification system.
- Library of Congress Call Number System Most college and university libraries in the United States, including NOVA, use this system. This system uses letters and numbers (call numbers) to arrange books on the shelves, with books on the same topic arranged together.
- How to Use Call Numbers to Find a Book on the Shelf Animated demo
Google Books
A collection of online books that have been digitized by libraries around the country and world.
- Google Books While in some cases you won't be able to see anything more than the title of the book, in other cases you may be able to view a significant portion of the book.
Library Catalog Search Tips
The Library Catalog does not search the full-text of books. It looks at the title, author, subject headings, and any details provided (such as table of contents).
In the search box, type in only the most relevant words related to your topic. For example:
tutors
tutors AND writing
"writing centers"
Sometimes you will need to use synonyms, related terms or variations of a word to get the best results:
home AND psychology
home AND psychological
dwellings AND psychology
dwellings AND psychological
When you see a book in your list of results that looks good, look at the "Details" information. You will often see other useful words to try searching:
environmental psychology
place attachment