You can search for books using WorldCat Discovery (WCD), the library catalog. WCD contains records for all of Shenandoah's print books and ebooks, as well as books held at other libraries across the country.
You can enter keywords into the basic search box above, or click Advanced Search to find options for searching by title or author.
This 5-minute video shows how to search for books in WorldCat Discovery.
Visit the library's WorldCat Discovery (WCD) guide to learn more.
A print book record will display a call number that indicates where it is located in the library.
An ebook record will display a button indicating that you can access it online. If you are off-campus, you will need to log in with your SU credentials to access an ebook.
Visit the library's Ebooks guide to learn more.
You can place a hold. Then you will receive a notification when the book is available and be first in line to check it out next.
You can request it through interlibrary loan. Physical books travel through the mail, so if it's for a research project, requesting a copy of a chapter may be a better, faster option for you.
You do not need to read a book from cover to cover in order to use it for your research. Most scholarly books include one or more of the features listed below to help you locate the information that is most relevant to your topic. Click each feature to see an example.
Appearing at the front of a book, the table of contents is a list of the chapters or sections in a book with page numbers or links for each section.
An introduction usually provides an overview of the book's contents. Some briefly summarize the contents of each chapter.
Located in the back of the book, an index is an alphabetical list of specific topics addressed in the book with corresponding page numbers. Browse the index to identify where topics related to your research are found in the book.
Scholarly books typically include lists of their sources either at the ends of chapters or at the end of the book. Some may include lists of suggested texts for further reading. Both types of bibliography may help you identify additional relevant research sources.
Some books may include a list of photographs, drawings, tables, or other illustrations with corresponding page numbers.
In addition to the list of features above, scholarly ebooks often provide a "Search Within" tool to look for keywords appearing anywhere within the text of the book.
