SHAWNEE STATE UNIVERSITY ::

Research Strategies

:: The Library

:: Search Strategy

:: Topic

:: The Web

:: Scholarly?

:: Reference

:: Catalogs

:: Articles

:: Databases I

:: Databases II

:: Databases III

:: Databases IV

:: Quick Search

:: Evaluation

:: Plagiarism

:: Citing

Catalogs
Library catalogs contain catalog records of library materials, such as books, online resources, videos, government documents, CDs, periodical titles (like Newsweek or the New York Times), and other items, that are owned by a particular library or consortium (group ) of libraries.

Many online items are now accessible via the library catalog.

My Library Account
Check "My Library Account" and renew items from any Internet accessible service or location. Your account will list the titles that you have checked out and the dates the items are due and will show you the status of any items you have requested from other OhioLINK libraries.

SSU Library Catalog
Our Shawnee State Clark Memorial Library Catalog is a finding tool for the resources in the local collection. Each catalog record includes either the location, call number, and status of the item or, if the item is an online electronic resource, the electronic link to the item.

Accessing the Catalog
Most catalogs can be searched via a menu with search choices such as Words (Keywords), Author, Title, Subject, and Course Reserves. The "Quick Search for Books, Videos, Etc." option on our Library homepage searches our local catalog and identifies both items here in the Clark Memorial Library and materials accessible via the Clark Library webpages, including online multimedia and thousands of ebooks from Web suppliers like NetLibrary and Safari.

Catalog Entree

The Browse Screen
Search results may be presented in a brief list (an alphabetical list of names or subjects or a list of titles) or as a specific catalog record. In this example, we see initial results for an AUTHOR search for "SMITH, MARY." Clicking a name will cause the catalog to display a list of titles.

The initial display of titles shows a brief record. Clicking on a title will bring up the complete record.

The Catalog Record
The information in the complete catalog record is organized in fields. Fields at the top of the record include the author, title, and imprint (publishing information). Tabs within the record on this screen (More Details, Find Similar Items, and Full Record) will allow you to see more information about the item.

On our local catalog, the location, call number, and status of the item, or, if the item is an online electronic resource, the electronic link to the item, will also be indicated.

Location and Call Number
To find an available item in Clark Memorial Library, first identify the location, for instance, CMC, and then the call number. For help in determining where to look in the Library for particular items see our Call Numbers and Clark Memorial Library Floor Plan pages. The SSU Library catalog includes materials in several different locations:

Location	Floor	Notes
Archives	Top	Glass case north of Reference Stacks
Circulating Stacks	Top and Bottom	A-P on Level 3; Q-Z on Level 1
CLC	N/A	Children’s Learning Center
CMC	Bottom	Curriculum Materials Center
Gov Doc VF	Main	In cabinets behind Reference Counter
Media Stacks	Bottom	Interior wall east of CMC
Microfiche	Main	In cabinets opposite Reference A's
Oversize	Top	Interior north wall
Popular Reading	Main	Beside the Jazzman Cafe
Reference Stacks	Main	Reference Stacks
Reference Counter	Main	Reference Counter
Restricted	Main	Circulation Counter
Reserve	Main	Circulation Counter
SOMCC	N/A	Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center

Book Spine

Table of Contents
Many catalog records also include the table of contents of the item. Scanning the table of contents can help you decide if the item has the information that you need.

Subject Headings
The catalog record also includes a field -- either Subject or Med Subject (medical subject) -- that identifies the subject headings, which can be either Library of Congress or MeSH Medical Subject Headings. You can click on a subject heading to find more titles about that particular subject.

When you click on a subject heading, the catalog will show you the subject headings preceding and following the heading you clicked. Your selection will be boxed and in a larger bolded font.

Click any heading to see the list of items cataloged under that heading.

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), the 5-volume set of big red books on the document stand to the east of the Reference Counter, provides an alphabetical list of all LC subject headings and additional information about broader, narrower, and related terms, as well as the call number(s) commonly associated with a particular subject heading.

Local and Consortial Catalogs
Library catalogs can be local, like Shawnee State's Clark Memorial Library Catalog that contains records for materials in the Clark Memorial Library collection, or they can be shared by a number of libraries, like the OhioLINK Catalog that contains more than 49 million records representing the collections of all 89 OhioLINK member libraries. If an item is not available at SSU, you may request it via the OhioLINK catalog.

The OhioLINK Catalog
SSU's Library Catalog is interactive with the OhioLINK Central Catalog. The OhioLINK Central Catalog is very similar to the Clark Memorial Library Catalog; however, the OhioLINK Central Catalog contains the records for the resources of all of the OhioLINK member libraries and provides users with the opportunity to request materials from other institutions.

From any screen in our local catalog, you can uplink to the OhioLINK Catalog to check holdings at, and to borrow from, other OhioLINK member libraries. Depending on what you are doing in our local catalog when you uplink to OhioLINK, you may see a list of records or a single catalog record.

The OhioLINK "REQUEST" function allows SSU users to have cataloged materials from other OhioLINK libraries delivered within three working days to Clark Memorial Library for local checkout—at no cost to the user.

No library catalog contains records for all the books ever published, but some, like WorldCat, represent very large shared collections.

For more information about using the catalogs, see our webpages Help Using the Shawnee State Library Catalog; Tutorials, Guides, Tips, and Help;
and the Video Guide to the OhioLINK Catalog.

To go to the next page in the Research Strategies tutorial, click Articles.

Need Help?

Get help via IM, online chat, email (Reference_Services@Shawnee.edu), or by phoning (740.351.3321).

If you prefer face-to-face assistance, stop by the Clark Memorial Library Reference Counter or schedule a Research Consultation with a Reference Librarian.

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