Research Guides: Literature: Find Books

Find Books

Use the tools on this page to help find books of or on poetry.

oneSearch, on the left, searches through the library's catalog for books and e-books. Use this to see if the S.C. Williams Library has a copy of the book you're looking for. Search by title, author, subject, or keyword(s).

WorldCat, below oneSearch on the left, searches through nearby libraries' catalogs for books and e-books. Use this if the S.C. Williams Library does not own a copy of the book you need. If you find what you're looking for, use Inter-Library Loan to have the book delivered to you. Or, check with a librarian to see if you can go and use another university's library through the Metro Referral Card System.

Help! How do I know what to search for?

Even if you have a only vague idea of what you'd like to read and research, shelf browsing can be very useful when doing work in languages & literature. Shelf browsing is exactly what it sounds like: Browsing the shelves to find books that might be helpful! The S.C. Williams Library organizes books according to the Library of Congress Subject Headings. In order to find literature books in the stacks, look for books whose call number starts with the letter P. A book record may look like this:

The call number for this book is PR457.A45. PR means that the book will be located in the English Literature section according to the LC Subject Headings in Languages & Literature (click for details). If you go to this book in the stacks, you'll be able to browse the shelf, which will hold books with a similar subject matter nearby. These might inspire your research and help narrow your topic.

If you're not exactly sure what you're looking for and don't know how to how to begin your research process, first take look at our short video, Getting Started with Your Research. After you've come up with some key concepts, synonyms, and/or related subject areas/authors, try searching oneSearch with those terms. oneSearch allows you refine your search based on subject term, publication date, content type, and more. If you still aren't finding what you need, use a reference resource or ask a librarian for some suggestions. We're here to help!