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Library Research Methods: Find Books

How to locate Library Resources

Featured Books & Magazines

Library Catalog

Search Library Catalog

E-Books

Library of Congress Classification

Library of Congress Classification Outline

Check Out Books

The Institute of Technology Library has Open Stacks which means you can browse the shelves to select books.

  • Bring books to the Library Help Desk to check them out
  • Your IOT ID card is your library card
  • Loan periods for borrowing and renewing books:
    • Students - 14 days
    • Faculty & Staff - 1 month
  • You can view and renew your borrowed books in Omnivore. Sign In to your account.
  • Research tip: How do I know if a book is scholarly?

Layout of the IOT Library Book Stacks

The Library's book stacks are organized by the Library of Congress Classification.  The book collection begins with LC Call Numbers starting starting at the top of the bookcases beginning with the Letter A and continues down through all the bookshelves to the Letter Z.

Collection Call Numbers Subjects
Books A - ZA General Works, Psychology, Life Skills, American Literature, Anatomy, Chemistry, Internal Medicine, Physical Therapy, etc.
Periodicals (i.e. Journals, Magazines, Newspapers, Newsletters, etc.) Organized by Title A 110 - ZA 5075 Academic Societies, Business, Criminal Justice, Massage Therapy, Computer Science, Cooking, Government Information
Multimedia (i.e. CD-ROMs, DVDS, Films, VHS, etc.) BF 121 - Z 253 Psychology, U.S. History, Criminal Justice, Law, Nursing,  Animal Science, Cooking, Information Resources, etc.
Reference (i.e. Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Guidebooks, Handbooks, Law, etc.) AE 5 - TX 349 General Works, Law, Mathematics, Medicine, Cooking, etc.

 

Finding a Book on the Library Shelves

In the Library Catalog, look for:

  • Location 
  • Call Number - the "address" of the book on the shelf, e.g. TX 820 .C9676 2011
  • Circulation Status - Available, Checked Out, etc.

There are three locations for books:

  • Circulating books you can borrow; located on the General Stacks in the Library
  • Reserves books set aside by your instructors to be used in the Library; Ask at the Library Help Desk
  • Reference encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc. to be used in the Library