Highline Community College Library
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KNOW YOUR CATALOG

OVERVIEW: catalog  is a database of all materials owned by a particular library. Through the Highline Library catalog you can locate any item that is available in our library, including books, journals, newspapers, and audio/ visual materials. This tutorial describes the library catalog through examples, and explains basic concepts of searching by keyword, subject heading, author, and title.

Call Numbers:  All items in the catalog are assigned a unique group of letters and numbers, or call numbers.  Call numbers are used to classify materials and tell you their locations on the shelf. The Highline Library uses the Dewey Decimal system when assigning call numbers to books and other materials in the libraries.  For example:  the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR has the call number 616.89 D536.

SEARCH BY KEYWORD SEARCH BY SUBJECT SEARCH BY AUTHOR SEARCH BY TITLE
  • Keywords are significant words used to index information in a catalog, database or search engine.  Keyword searching is the most common form of catalog searching and should be used when you need to know what materials the library contains on a specific topic. Search by keyword if you are unsure about the author or title of an item.  
  • Subject headings are words given to books that describe what the book is about. This gives the user the ability to find other books and materials related to the same topic.  Use Subject Search when you know the correct subject heading from Library of Congress or National Library of Medicine. If you do not know the correct subject heading, try a keyword search.
 

 

  

 

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Highline Community College Library
P.O. Box 98000 Des Moines, WA 98198-9800  
(206)  878-3710 x3234


Highline Library Reference Department
 refhelp@highline.edu
last updated 15 Apr 2008
 

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