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The first resource to use to find books in the Cornell University Library is the online CU Library Catalog.
The CU Library Catalog includes the holdings all CU libraries, except the Weill Cornell Medical Library in New York City. The catalog contains records for books, computer files, manuscripts and archives, maps, music, serials, and visual materials. Go to Finding specific types of materials for more detailed information about searching for non-book materials. The catalog does not contain journal articles. For information on finding journal articles see Finding articles.
Go to the Quick Guide for the CU Library Catalog for an overview on using the catalog. Follow these links to get to more detailed information on specific types of catalog searches:
Searching the CU Library Catalog:
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You can also search the Library Catalog as part of Find it!
If you do not find the material you are searching for in the CU Library Catalog, do not assume the Cornell doesn't have this material. Remember that some older materials acquired by the Library before 1973 (especially those in the subject areas of the humanities and social sciences) do not yet have records in the online catalog. Records for these library materials can be found in the card catalog that is located in the lower level of Olin Library. The card catalog is a dictionary catalog, which means that its author, title, and subject cards are interfiled alphabetically. If you have any difficulties using the card catalog, please ask for assistance at the Reference desk.
The Cornell University Library uses the Library of Congress (LC) classification and Library of Congress call numbers. This alpha-numeric system arranges materials by subject. Each subject or class is represented by a series of letters and numbers, which are used to create an LC call number.
The first line of the call number consists of letters that represent the broad subject of the book or journal. For example, D is history, and DA is the history of Great Britain; Q is science, and QA is mathematics. The second line of the call number is a number that represents a subcategory or the main subject. The third or subsequent lines of the call number are based on the author's name or title of the book, which places the item in alphabetical order on the shelf with others on the same subject. The call number as awhole is both an address on the shelf for the item and a summary of its subject content.
In this example, taken from the CU Library Catalog, note that a call number is displayed horizontally, not vertically as described above:
Database: Cornell University Library
Author/Creator: Hirst, Derek.
Title: England in conflict, 1603-1660 : kingdom, community, commonwealth.
Published: London : Arnold, 1999.
Description: 359 p. ; 24 cm.
Location: Olin Library
Call Number: DA 375 .H57 1999
Status: Not Charged
Here the "DA" informs us that the main subject of the book is the history of Great Britain. The next element, "375" tells us that the subcategory is the history of England, the "H57" refers to the author's last name, and the call number is concluded by the date of the publication.
To see the main classes in the LC system, go to Library of Congress Classification. For a more detailed outline of the Library of Congress Classification system, go to Library of Congress Classification Outline. See Understanding LC Call Numbers for more information about reading call numbers.
If the books or other materials that you need cannot be found in the Cornell University Library catalogs, you can search the catalogs of other libraries to try to find your material. Often these resources can be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan for you.
There are two main approaches for searching other libraries' catalogs. You can either search in a consortial database, like RLIN or WorldCat, that lists the holdings of hundreds of libraries in a single searchable database. Or you can search the online catalogs of many libraries around the region, country, and world directly. Go to Library catalogs worldwide for more information about searching for materials in these catalogs. Remember that most of these databases will use search commands that are different from the ones used in the CU Library Catalog. Note the instructions given in each catalog about logging in and searching.
Use the CU Library Catalog to verify whether Cornell owns the titles you locate through RLIN, OCLC, or another library's catalog. You may wish to use Interlibrary Loan to request titles that Cornell does not own, or you may prefer to find alternate titles that are readily available here. There is a two- or three-week turnaround time for most interlibrary loan requests. Check at a reference desk for further information and assistance.
Go to the next research step, Finding
periodical articles 
Return to Research strategy: a tutorial
