Introduction to Research: Finding Books
Finding Books Handout (pdf)
QCAT is the Queen's University Library's online catalogue. It is a searchable database that lists materials found in the six libraries.
Search QCAT to find books (as well as journals, videos, newspapers, government documents, etc.) on your topic in the Queen's University libraries. For help searching our library catalogue, go to our QCAT guides.
You can search QCAT in several different ways: by author, title, subject heading, and keyword.
To find books on a topic (when you do not have an author or title), you can either do a subject search (you will need to know what the Library of congress subject heading is if you do this type of search) or a keyword Boolean search (our recommendation).
After performing your search and retrieving some materials, click on desired titles. You will be presented with a brief record. Click on Full Details to see more information. Subject headings will provide another search method and give ideas for other keyword searches.
Write down the call numbers in order to find the books. Books on similar topics will be shelved together. Scan the shelves for additional books on your topic.
If you cannot find what you need in QCAT, you can either search Other Library Catalogues to check out books yourself (see Reciprocal Borrowing Agreements) or get the material through our Interlibrary Loan service.
Last Updated: 06 December 2010
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