Our wonderful library is full of terrific books, computer software, videos, and audio tapes. How do I find what I need?

1.    Your first step is to define exactly what you need. For example, your search could range from materials for research for a school project, to a book for pleasure reading, or even to a biography about an interesting person about whom you've heard great things.

2.    Use the online catalog to see if we have materials on your subject.
            a.     Click on the "Subject" icon on the library catalog screen.
            b.     Type the name of the subject into the text box.
            c.     Click on "Find" or press Return.
            d.    A list of materials containing information about your subject will appear on the screen.

        Remember you can also click on the "Author" or "Title" icons to search for books if you know the name of the author who wrote the book, or its title.
        Using the "Keyword" icon to search for materials will return a much larger list of materials since you are now searching the entire record and not just the fields that contain subject, author, or title information.

3.  Browse through the list of materials that are displayed and determine if any of them fit your needs. Double-clicking on a title will select that item, and then clicking on Show Card will cause a more complete record of the item to display, containing additional information about the item, such as a summary or subject headings.
    Remember to make sure the item is in by checking the right side of the first display screen.  If all copies of that item are checked out, it will say "0 IN/#."

4.   If you find an item you'd like to examine more closely (and it is available), write down the number displayed in the location column of the screen. The location number, or call number will tell you exactly where to find your item.  Use the table below and the following simplified floor plan of the Lower School Library to find your books.

           
Call Number Table

  Front of Building
SCS Library Lower School Side

Call Number Explanation

NON-FICTION What do the numbers and letters mean?
   Simply put, the Librarians catalog and shelve books according to the Dewey Decimal System. With non-fiction that means each subject belongs in a certain category of numbers from 001 to 999. For example, Science occupies the 500s, with each discipline assigned its subdivision. Chemistry books belong in the   540s, Astromomy books in the 520s, Physics in the 530s, and so forth. Animal books are cataloged at the end of the 500s and are broken down into tiny subgroups so that while a book about bats is assigned a number like J 599.4, books about dolphins might be assigned 599.5, and those about hoofed animals might be assigned 599.6.
    It can be confusing, but just remember that the numbers rise in succession, so that a book with a catalog number of J 400 will be located on the shelf before a book with the number of J 600.

What about those other numbers and letters?
   You will see other letters and numbers after (or below) the major Dewey number on the spine of the book. These are simply numbers that further help us shelve the books. They too follow a pattern so that a book with the call number "J 500 P784S" will come before the book "J 500 T678D" on the shelf.  Remember, if you need help, just call a Librarian.

FICTION How do I find books by my favorite fiction author?
    Fiction books are shelved alphabetically by the author's last name. If there's more than one book by the same author then we shelve them alphabetically by title within the author's last name. Again, remember, if you need help, just call a Librarian.

Web page created by Lynne Frey, ©1997-1999 Santa Catalina School
Lynne_Frey@santacatalina.org
Santa Catalina School, Monterey CA, 1999.