The document provides instructions for locating books and other materials in the Monroe Community College Libraries catalog. It explains that the catalog contains information on all items owned by the libraries and can be used to find books, eBooks, journals, DVDs, and more. It then gives step-by-step directions for accessing the catalog online and searching by keyword, title, author, subject, or series to find relevant materials. Tips are provided for analyzing search results and determining if an item is available.

1. Finding Books
By Lori Annesi, Pam Czaja, Alice Harrington and Michael McCullough
Monroe Community College

2. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:
Locate books and other materials owned by MCC Libraries
through a keyword, subject, series, title or author search.

3. What is a library catalog?
A library catalog contains information on every item owned by a
library. Use it to locate print books, electronic books available
in online library databases, journal titles, DVD’s, CDs, audio
books and other materials.
Searching for library materials using the library online catalog is
different than using a search engine such as Google.
Both are tools for locating resources, but library catalogs have
unique search features. Knowing how to use them will help you
locate materials as quickly and efficiently as possible.

4. How do I access the MCC Libraries’ Catalog?
You can link directly to our catalog at:
 http://mon.sunyconnect.suny.edu:4780/F
OR
 Go to the MCC Libraries’ website
http://www.monroecc.edu/go/library
Click the “Resources” icon then select the “Find Books & Media” link

5. On the Basic Search page you may:
Search by keyword (all fields), title, author, series or
subject.

6. Definition and reason to use…..
Keyword searches are useful if you’re looking for something but
don’t know an exact title, author or subject.
A keyword is the main topic(s) of your search. For example, if your
paper is on tobacco use in teenagers, your keywords would be
tobacco and teenagers. You can also identify more keywords by
finding synonyms and/or related terms for tobacco and teenagers,
such as cigarettes, smoking, youth and adolescent.

7. All Fields Search
Once you have identified your keywords and typed them in the
search term(s) box, select all fields from the search type box. The
catalog will search the title, author, series, subject and notes fields
in the item record, giving you the greatest number of results.
If you get too many results search by the following options …

8. Author Search
The name of an author may be searched as last name, (space)
first name, or just the last name.
Results

9. Title Search
Type in the title of the book or media or keywords from the title.
Selecting words adjacent may assist in locating the correct item.
Results

10. Subject Search
Each book in our library is assigned at least one subject heading.
When doing a subject search, it’s important to experiment with
keywords until you find the correct subject heading.
Searching by subject is an excellent way to focus your results.
Suppose you are searching for books on the Death Penalty:

11. Do you think that there are only two books on the death penalty
at MCC Libraries? Maybe the Library of Congress uses another
term as a subject heading? To find out, do an All Fields Search
using the same keywords.
Here are the results:
Subject Search

12. Try these other words in an All Fields search. Look over the results and
choose a title. Notice that you have more than three records to view.
All Fields Search

13. Selecting the Subject Heading link that closely matches your topic
may help locate other books in our collection. Subject headings may
provide ideas on other search terms (keywords) to use.
Subject Headings

14. Series Search
Type in the Series Name or keywords from the series.
Results

15. Analyzing Results
Use the Call Number to locate an item on the library shelf.
The Copies Owned/Out field shows which library owns the
item (LVG or DCC campus). Select the Is it Here? link in the
Availability field to find out if the item is checked out. Books
can be borrowed up to 30 days. Media can be borrowed up to
14 days. MCC students may borrow items from either campus.

16. Need More Help?
• Stop by the LeRoy V. Good Library (Brighton campus) or
Damon City Campus Learning Commons (DCC) and speak
with a librarian.
• Chat with a Librarian online (Ask Us 24/7).
• Call 292-2319 (LVG) or 262-1420 (DCC).
Updated 1/2015
Go to Library Research Guides