Searching for books
K·Search, Kenyon's one-stop search tool, can effectively search for books by title and subject, or for authors by name.
CONSORT, Kenyon's shared library catalog, is also a great way to search specifically for print and ebooks. This search box will automatically limit your search results to just books:
OhioLINK is a network of 90+ libraries in Ohio, most at academic institutions:
WorldCat searches library catalogs across the globe, and Kenyon affiliates can request most WorldCat items through Interlibrary Loan:
eBook databases
- Oxford Scholarship Online This link opens in a new window
Collection of ebooks on a broad range of scholarly subject areas.
- O'Reilly (Safari) Books Online This link opens in a new window
Electronic books in computer science, information technology, business, and related fields.
- Springer eBooks This link opens in a new window
Ebooks covering a wide range of academic subjects, including: Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Law, Business and Management, Architecture, and the Physical and Social Sciences.
Locating a book in Chalmers
After you've identified a book you're interested in, you'll need its Call Number in order to find it:
Call number breakdown
The call number for the book in the screenshot above is HQ1155 .S66 2010. This call number breaks down as follows:
- HQ represents the general subject area and is sorted in alphabetical order, e.g.,
G ⇒ HQ ⇒ J
HN ⇒ HQ ⇒ HS - 1155 represents a specific subdomain or discipline and is sorted as a whole number, e.g.,
HQ310 ⇒ HQ1155 ⇒ HQ2100
HQ1140.9 ⇒ HQ1155 ⇒ HQ1155.1 - .S66 represents the author's last name or another identifier and is sorted alphabetically by letter and then numerically as a decimal, e.g.,
HQ1155 .R98 ⇒ HQ1155 .S66 ⇒ HQ1155 .T11
HQ1155 .S42 ⇒ HQ1155 .S66 ⇒ HQ1155 .S8 - 2010 is the year of publication but is not usually necessary for finding a book
Finding your book
- Use the one or two letters at the start of the call number (HQ in this example) to identify the book's general location in the library.
- Once in the general area, use the labels at the end of each shelf to find the row containing the initial letter/number combination (HQ1155 in this example).
- The initial letter/number combination (HQ1155) should narrow the search down to one or two shelves, where either the book's author and title or the decimal letter/number (.S66 in this example) can be used to identify the correct book
- If necessary, the date (2010 in this example) can be used to differentiate between editions or works by the same author
General location of call numbers
The maps below give the general arrangement in Chalmers Library of the one or two letter that begin each call number:
Chalmers L1
Chalmers L2
