Use the Catalog


Finding Fiction Use the Catalog
To use the library’s catalog, go to the library’s home page at http://lib.sdstate.edu/ and click on Library Catalog OR click the icon to go directly to the catalog.
Author, Title Searches In the library’s catalog you can search by author or title. To the right is the online catalog’s basic search screen. Note that you have a number of searching options. Once you have retrieved a list of results, click on a work’s title to go to its individual record. Click on show availability to see if a work is currently in the library (on shelf is listed under due date) or checked out (a specific due date is listed).

Word/s Anywhere, Subject Word/s Searches Searching for fiction by keyword or subject can be tricky. Some of the older records in the catalog do not include subject terms for fiction and consequently won’t be retrieved with this type of search. Also, the terms applied to fiction works can vary, even for an individual author. For example, the library’s holdings of fiction works by Stephen King are described with 16 different category or genre terms, including ghost stories, horror tales, horror stories, mystery fiction, fantasy fiction, and adventure stories. The library is improving the ability to search for fiction by including more terms in newer records. We are also adding icons of cover art like the one on the left. When using the catalog, click on the icon to access more information such as title profiles, first chapters or excerpts, summaries, and reviews.

	Browsing When you begin using the catalog click on Browse in the search options bar at the top of the page. Use the drop-down menu for “Select Index to Browse” to choose the type of browsing you want to do. For example, selecting the author index and entering Wilhelm, Kate will lead to an alphabetical list of authors beginning with Wilhelm, Kate. Clicking on an author’s name will lead to a list of works by the author that the library owns.

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Contact Information: Hilton M. Briggs Library, SBL 2115, SDSU, Brookings, SD 57007-1098, Phone: 605-688-5570, Fax: 605-688-6133, Email Us Updated: 26 February 2008 by me