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If you're taking college level classes, chances are good that at some point you'll have to find a book in order to complete a research assignment.
At Miami, you can check out an unlimited number of books for FREE using your Miami ID card.
The library's home page defaults to a book search; you may have a seen a similar search box embedded in your Niihka course page or on the library's facebook page.
The default is set to search by Keyword, but you can use the dropdown box to change it to Title or Author if you are looking for a particular book. We'll do a practice Keyword search here.
Or, you can go even more broad. What category does your keyword belong to? For Facebook, you could try Social Networking. Then, click "Search Miami's Collections".
Your search results will pop up in a new window that we call the "Library Catalog".
Here you can see that my search brought back over 3500 results--that's way too many to go through.
On the left side of the page, you can click on "General Topic" to narrow your results down to sub-categories of your main topic.
On the left side of the page, you can click on "General Topic to narrow your results down by sub-categories.
For example, you can limit your search term "Social Networking" down to "History", or "Women". I'll try "Online Social Networks".
For example, you can limit "Social Networking" down to the sub-category of "History", or "Women".
That takes it down to just 221 results. You can keep narrowing it down by continuing to use the General Topic.
Or, you can use the other "limiters" on the side. For example, you can use "Format" to narrow your results down to "Electronic Resources" or "Remote" for books that are available online.
If you're in a hurry to pick up an item, you can click on "Campus" and then select the campus that's closest to you.
I picked Hamilton, which narrowed it down to the 14 available on this topic here at Rentschler Library.
I also want to point out that the results are sorted by "Relevance", but you can quickly change that over to "Newest Publication Date" to get the most current items on your topic.
Now, on the search results page, the first area shows the book's location, which in this case is Hamilton.
The book has to say "Available" in order to be able to check it out.
When you find an item that looks good for your research paper--like this one--what you will need are the letters and numbers in the middle section.
That's the item's "Call Number". It's like the book's address in the library and will help you find it on the shelf.
You can either write the full Call Number down, or click the "Send Info to Phone" button to get the book's details in a text message.
Another option with these buttons is to click the "Cite" tool. That's going to generate a citation that you can copy and paste in APA, MLA, or whatever format your professor requires.
Just be sure to double-check it for accuracy before turning in your Works Cited or References page.
It's also good to click on the Title of the book so you can get some additional information. One cool thing is that you can find "Similar Items" listed on the left side.
Even those these items are located at Hamilton, you aren't limited to what's available here. You can get books delivered from any of the other Miami libraries, too...for free!
When you find an item available somewhere else, like this one at King Library (in Oxford), you can request it as long as it says it's Available.
You just click the "Request Item" button & select "Hamilton" for delivery. That takes a day or two, so you want to give yourself time.
In addition to being able to borrow books from Miami, you can borrow books from all across the state of Ohio for free.
When you come across a book that doesn't say Available--maybe because it's checked out or is Lib Use Only--you won't be able to get it delivered here. Instead, click the title of the book.
On the detailed book page, you can click the "OhioLINK" button to see if any Ohio libraries have it listed as Available.
As long as at least 1 is Available, you can click the Request button to have it delivered to this campus. That can take a little bit longer, so give yourself at least 3-5 days to get it delivered.
That was a super-fast introduction to how to find books using Miami's catalog.
If you need help at any point, you can get ahold of one of our librarians by clicking on the IM button, emailing us, our calling us using the links at the top of the page. Good luck on your research!