Finding Books at the Library

The Walla Walla University Library Catalog contains records of all the books and journal subscriptions owned by Peterson Memorial Library and its branch libraries.  The following steps will walk you through the process of finding a book in the library catalog.

1. From the library’s home page, enter the WWU Catalog.  You may do this from the links at the top of your screen or under ‘Finding Books.’  Once inside the catalog, you must choose a search based upon the type of information you have about the book(s) that you are looking for.


2. If you have:
1. The Title of the book you are looking for, do a title search.  However, you must have the exact title of the book you are looking for.
2. The Author of the book you are looking for, do an author search.  The proper form is last name first, followed by first name or first initial.  This will pull up any books we own that were written by this author.
3. The Topic that you want to read about, do a keyword search.  This is the easiest way to search for a book about a particular topic.  If you have several words or a phrase, you will want to break it down and connect those words with ‘and.’  For instance, instead of, ‘the effects of medicine on children with attention deficit disorder’ enter ‘attention deficit disorder AND children AND medicine.’
4. The Library of Congress subject heading for your topic, do a subject search.  To find out what the subject heading for your topic is you may use the large red books located beside the computers in the lobby or you may look at the ‘subject’ field inside a book record.


3. Once you have located your book in the catalog, you need to determine where to find it in the library.  The location information will tell you in which section of the library to look for your book.  The call number will give you information about where you will find your title.  The Dewey Decimal section and call numbers AC1 thru J80 are located on upper floor, call numbers J80 – QD262 are located on the main floor, and call numbers QD62 – ZA4480 are located on the lower Mezzanine floor.  A location of Quarto or Folio is assigned to over-sized books that are found in the South Reading Room (Computer Lab).  Most encyclopedias, dictionaries, and all titles with a location of 'Reference' will be found in the Reference Room.


4. If a book is located off-site, you should visit the circulation desk to fill out an off-site shelving request.  Books are pulled from off-site almost every afternoon.


5. Status:
1. If a book is currently checked out or you simply cannot locate it on the shelves, you may visit the circulation desk to put a hold or a search request on the item.
2. If a book is on reserve, you should visit the circulation desk to check out the item.