How to find books

What will I learn in this tutorial?

In this tutorial you will learn:

• why you need to look at books
• how to find a book when you know the title
• how to find a book on the shelves
• how to find more books in a particualr subject
• how to find books on a topic
• how to get books that Monash doesn't have
• how to evaluate what you find
• how to acknowledge what you've read

Why do I need to use books?

Books (also called monographs) may provide most of the information you need on a topic. They usually contain detailed analysis and discussion of issues. However, books are not as up-to-date as recent journals and conference proceedings.

Textbooks are intended for undergraduate reading, monographs and conference proceedings tend to be on the level of research students. Check the Table of Contents determine whether the treatment of the subject suits your needs.

If you are looking for brief, factual or bibliographic information try a reference book.

Where do I start?

Monash University Library Catalogue contains records of material held by Monash University Library. While it contains titles of the journals the library subscribes to it does not hold information about the articles within those journals. It is usually a good place to begin your search, because:

• the material you find will often be at a convenient location
• you can use the call numbers of material you find to look for other material
• you can use the library catalogue to search for other material using subject headings

Using Monash University library catalogue

Select Search to begin. In this search the library catalogue can be searched for any or all of the words you type in. Unless you want a very large number of records to be returned, it is a good idea to request that the catalogue searches all of the words you type in.

To search for a particular book, enter the family name of the author, and one or two words from the title.

Punctuation, case, and word order are ignored. Use ? at the end of a term to truncate a word in your search. (e.g. design? will search for design, designs, designer, etc.)

You can use Choose Limits to restrict your search to a specific campus, date, material type or language.

Finding a known book

1. Identify an author and one or two words from the title of the book.
2. Enter them as search terms e.g. crosbie strategy business.
3. Click on Search
4. The catalogue displays the only record with all these terms.
5. Scroll down the screen to see the location information. Note that the Matheson copy is in Reserve.

You can access the library catalogue at http://library.monash.edu.au

Step 1:

Steps 2-3:

Steps 4-5:

You can access the catalogue at http://library.monash.edu.au

Finding material on the shelves

To tell if there are any copies of an item available you need to compare the number of copies listed as being held, with the number currently out on loan or on hold. In this case, there are twenty copies at this site, with one copy (no.16) on Reserve. This copy is not listed as being out on loan. Therefore, there should be one copy available in Reserve, and 12 other copies on the shelves.

You should take note of all the location information to find an item.

It is important that you note down all of the call number, and which part of the Monash collection the item is held in. Then you need to find each part of the number in turn.

For example to find the book Strategy for sustainable business, by L. Crosbie & K. Knight (Matheson call number 658.408 C949S):

1. Locate the first three digits.
2. Locate any digits following the decimal point. Remember that it is a decimal system, so 658.41 comes after 658.408.
3. When you have located the number in full, look for the letter, then the next set of numbers.
4. Check that the last letter is correct, to make sure you have the right book. Later editions of the same book will have the edition number or date after this letter.

Note: most older books in the Caulfield & Gippsland Libraries use a slightly different system. In step 3 instead of a letter followed by numbers there will be three letters e.g. the Caulfield call number is 658.408 CRO.

Using subject headings

Once you have found a suitable record in the library catalogue you can use it to find other material on the same subject. If you click on "Show Detailed Record" you can use links to search for related material. For instance, you can click on the author's name to find other items by the same person, or you can click on the assigned subject headings to find other material on the same subject.

Subject headings (also known as descriptors) provide a concise description of the content of a book or article. When viewing records, you should also look for subject headings relating to your topic that you may not have considered.

Using subject headings exercise

1. After displaying a record select "Detailed View".
2. Click on a relevant subject heading.
3. A list is produced. You can click on the major subject heading, or a more specific heading.
4. The catalogue displays all records with this subject heading. Click on the item to see holdings details.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

You can access the library catalogue at http://library.monash.edu.au

How can I find books on my topic?

To find books on a topic, try using some key terms from your question in Basic Search.

For instance, to answer the question: Does economic growth always damage the environment? you could use some of the key terms, such as economic, growth and environment.

By combining these terms using "All of these", you will should find books on this topic. You should then try other, related terms (e.g. corporate environmental policy), or the subject headings of those records that seem most useful..

Finding books on a topic

1. Enter search terms economic growth environment.
2. Click on Search
3. The catalogue displays all records with these terms.
4. Display a record by clicking on the link.
5. Scroll down the screen to see the location information.

Steps 1-2:

Steps 3-4:

Step 5:

You can access the catalogue at http://library.monash.edu.au

Browsing the shelves

Call numbers are used so that items dealing with the same subjects are near each other on the shelves. Once you are familiar with the call number of material in your subject area, you can browse the same part of the shelves for useful material.

Important tips:

• don't be too specific - useful information might be shelved across several shelves with slightly different call numbers
• don't limit yourself to one area - in many subject areas you will need to look in more than one call number range
• most call numbers will occur in more than one location within the library (e.g. Reserve, Reference) - check all potential areas
• material moves in and out of the library quickly - check the shelves often

Monash University Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification system for its call numbers except:

• The Law Library uses a variation on the Moys legal classification system.
• Clayton campus libraries use Dewey variations for Literature, Philosophy and Mathematics (Mos).

How do I get books from other libraries?

Page removed, out of date, investigate Services and facilities

Acknowledging what you've read

It is essential that you acknowledge what you have read to protect yourself against charges of plagiarism. Proper acknowledgement is also important:

• to prove that your work has a substantial, factual basis
• to show the research you've done to reach your conclusions
• to allow your readers to identify and retrieve the references for their own use

The important things to remember about acknowledging your sources:

• Find out what style your department or lecturer wants you to use. If they don't specify one pick the one you feel confident with.
• Whatever style you use, be consistent.
• Start collecting the details you need while doing your research.
• Make sure you acknowledge any facts or ideas that are not your own.

Summary

The key things to remember about finding books are:

• use Basic Search when searching in the library catalogue
• if you're looking for a particular book, use the author's family name, and one or two words from the title
• note down the full location and call number of the book
• use subject headings to find more books on your topic
• try a few words from your topic when searching - do NOT type in your whole question
• other libraries may hold books that Monash doesn't
• always evaluate what you find
• acknowledge what you've read

If you need more help contact the library.