English 100 - Professor Walsh - FALL 2024: Find Books

Finding Books on Your Topic 

Use the LIBRARY CATALOG to find books. Books can provide a broad overview of a topic or in-depth information. You can search for books by author, title, subject, or keyword(s).

Most topics are searchable terms in the Library Catalog. Look at any of the links below for examples of catalog searches:

• Eating disorders in teenagers/adults

• Global Warming

• Texting while driving

• Bullying 

• Premature birth

• Police brutality

• Gay marriage

• Gay parenting 

• Physician-assisted suicide

• Euthanasia (mercy killing)

• Adoption 

• Child beauty pageants 

• Fast food

• Violence against women/men

• Immigration 

• Mental health 

• Secondhand smoking

• Privacy 

• Gun control/safety

• Prisons and prisoners

• Insanity defense

• Learning disabilities 

• Obesity 

• Weight Loss Surgery

• Portrayal of women in the Media 

• Television violence

• Student loan forgiveness

 • Racism in the U.S.

• Vaccines 
 

 

• The first two lines describe the subject of the book.

• The third line often represents the author's last name.
• The last line represents the date of publication.

Use the Library Catalog to search for electronic books by subject, keyword, author, or title.

• refine search results by Availability and select Available Online
• further refine the results by Resource Type and select Books 

Ever wonder how books are shelved?

In this library we use The Library of Congress Classification System to organize books on the shelves. The LC SYSTEM organizes material in libraries according to twenty-one branches of knowledge called classes. The system uses letters to represent the twenty-one broad branches of knowledge. The letters I, O, W, X AND Y are not used.

 The twenty-one classes are:

A – GENERAL WORKS

B – PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION

C – AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY

D – HISTORY: GENERAL & OUTSIDE THE AMERICAS

E – HISTORY: UNITED STATES

F – HISTORY: UNITED STATES LOCAL & AMERICAS

G – GEOGRAPHY, ANTHROPOLOGY, RECREATION

H – SOCIAL SCIENCE

J – POLITICAL SCIENCE

K – LAW

L – EDUCATION

M – MUSIC & BOOKS ON MUSIC

N – FINE ARTS

P – LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Q – SCIENCE

R – MEDICINE

S – AGRICULTURE

T – TECHNOLOGY

U – MILITARY SCIENCE

V – NAVAL SCIENCE

Z – BIBLIOGRAPHY, LIBRARY SCIENCE & INFORMATION RESOURCES

These twenty-one broad subject areas are further divided into more specific subject areas by adding one or two additional letters as well as some numbers. For a more detailed breakdown of any subject, go to the Library of Congress web page. 

So, How Do I Find a Book on the Shelf?

Try this exercise, which was put together by the librarians at Kent State University, to see if you have figured out the Library of Congress system!