Finding books and journals

Where do I start?

If you are writing an essay or researching a subject as part of your studies it is important to know what you are looking for before you start searching for it. Knowing this will help focus your search and save you time.

If you are coming to the Library, please make a note of the titles and authors of the books you are interested in. It is always a good idea to check if they are available, using the online catalogue, before making your journey. Please note that if a book is marked as Available on the online catalogue and it is not on the shelf, it is possible it may be in the reshelving area of that section or another reader could be consulting it in the Library.

The basics

We can use the quick search on the front page of the website or the online catalogue to find books and journals. If you are looking for a specific book, key in the title or the author's name into the search box. This is what the search box looks like:

Above image shows the online catalogue search box.

The first drop down menu option offers Quick Search, Title and Author, choose whichever is most suitable for your search. Please ensure that Senate House Library is selected in the second drop down menu option to ensure you are searching only Senate House Library. The other options are Special Collections and All Senate House Libraries which includes the seven other Libraries in the Senate House Libraries group (please note that these all have seperate membership).

The online catalogue results page will show if the item is available. Clicking on the item will provide more detailed information.

Here is an example of the information the catalogue provides for, 'India: A History', by John Keay:

India : a history / John Keay

Keay, John.

London : HarperPress, 2010.

HISTORY (SHL) 4th Floor PERIODICALS ROOM GALLERY (63) OMB Kea AVAILABLE

This tells us the name of the book, the author, the publisher and the date of publication. The book we are looking for is located in the History Collection, on the 4th Floor, Periodicals Room Gallery. The classmark is (63) OMB Kea and it is currently Available in the Library.

Please make a note of the classmark and floor number before you go to the shelf location.

The classmark is the code written on the spine of the book. This identifies where the book is stored on the shelf. Please note, our main classmark system (which is called Bliss) is case sensitive. This means that capitol letters such as 'A' usually (but not always) appear in the shelf sequence before the lower case letters, such as 'a'. If you have any difficulty please ask a member staff at the Enquiries or Circulation desks, in the Library Services Hall, 4th floor.

Books and journals are located on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th floors of Senate House.

Floorplans are displayed on the walls throughout the Library and are available to download on the Floorplans webpage. This page also has a list of subjects with corresponding floor and room number locations.

It sounds obvious but one of the main reasons why readers are unable to find items is that they are looking in the wrong place, or the item they are looking for has already been borrowed by another reader. A few moments checking the online catalogue will save you time.

Should you require further assistance please do ask a member of staff who will be happy to help you.

Carrying out wider search

If you wish to carry out a wider search (rather than find specific books) you can:

• enter carefully selected keywords into the online catalogue search box
• visit the Collections and Gateways page and click on the relevant subject to find out more about that Collection and the resources we hold

Also, by clicking on the Articles link at the top of the search results page your keyword will be reused to bring up a select list of relevant articles:

The above image shows the Articles link at the top of the catalogue's search results page.

Databases

Academic databases are collections of digital research materials or lists linking to those materials. Our collection of Databases hold an incredible amount of valuable research material and are priized by Postgraduate researchers. If you know the name of the database you are looking for just search for it by name via the online catalogue. Alternatively, you can view databases from the subject list on the Collections and Gateways page. One of the issues with databases is that you probably need to be inside it to search within it. To get the most out of them you really need to spend a little time to see what is available for your subject from the Collections and Gateways page.

The Stack and requesting books

Items from the 8th to the 19th floor of Senate House and from our Offsite Store are part of what we call the 'Stack'. You can find and request Stack items via the online catalogue. More information about the Stack and requesting Stack items is available here.

Making the most of Library staff

Please do ask Library staff if you require any assistance in the Library, especially if you need someone to show you how to use the online catalogue or to access databases. If you have wider research related questions please ask staff at the Enquiries Desk or contact one of our Subject Librarians.