Find Library Resources

• Books, Journals (not individual articles), CDs, DVDs, and other items
  • You'll find most of your books by searching IUCAT, the online catalog for all the Indiana University libraries.
    For help searching IUCAT, Ask A Librarian or view a podcast.
    • Keyword Search podcast
    • Author Search podcast
    • Journal Search podcast
  • Interpreting IUCAT Results:
    • Once you perform your search, you'll see a list of records (not ranked by relevance) that describe books, journals, and other items containing the keywords you searched.
    • Click on a record to see:
    • Title
    • Author
    • Publication information
    • Subject terms (tip: Click on a subject term to find similar items)
    • Location information:
    • 
    • Tip: Browse the shelves around a call number for more items on the same topic.
  • Finding Books and other items in the stacks:
    • 3rd floor shelves if the call number starts with the letters A-N
    • 4th floor shelves if the call number starts with the letters P-Z
    • Other locations
  • Use your JagTag to check out books at the Circulation Desk on the 2nd floor.
  • Getting items not available at IUPUI:
    • Get books from other IU libraries with Request Delivery . (This may take 4-7 days.)
    • Get items from other libraries with Interlibrary Loan . (This usually takes at least 7-10 days.)
  • Need full-text books that can be accessed and read online?
    • Then e-books are for you. Most of our e-books can be found by title in IUCAT , but you can also go directly to our e-book databases, such as e-Book Collection from EBSCOhost and ebrary.
• Articles
  • Journal articles contain information that is up-to-date and highly specific. You can find articles by searching library databases. The library provides access to 350 databases, some covering multiple subjects and others covering a specific discipline.
  • Most of University Library's article databases are available on- or off-campus to IUPUI students, faculty, and staff by logging in with your IUPUI username and passphrase. If you have trouble accessing our resources, go to Can't Connect? for do-it-yourself help, try establishing a VPN connection, or contact the Reference Desk .
  • General, multidisciplinary databases are a good place to start:
    • Academic Search Premier
    • JStor ----This database is great for older materials, usually three years or more
  • Looking for a specific subject area? See Databases by Subject
  • Looking for a specific databases? See Article Databases A-Z
  • Database Searching Tip:
    • If you need recent articles, peer-reviewed (scholarly) articles, or if you only want to see articles which can be viewed online, you can limit your search. Use the database's advanced search options.
  • Interpreting Database Results
    • Once you perform a search, you'll see a list of records. Depending on what database you're using, these records may contain only citation information or may include the full text of the article.
    • In most databases, you can sort results by publication date and relevance. Some databases allow sorting by other criteria as well.
  • Getting Articles and Using
    • If the full text of the article is available through the database, you'll see links to view the article in HTML and/or .PDF format.
    • If the full text of the article is not available through the database, you'll see a red Find It button. Click here for a .PDF explaining the Find It button.
  • Getting Articles Not Available at IUPUI:
    • Get articles from other libraries with Interlibrary Loan. (This may take anywhere from 24 hours to 10 days.)
• Keyword Search Tips
  • Keywords are crucial, and how you combine them is just as important. When you perform a keyword search in IUCAT or a database, you'll get results with the word(s) anywhere in the record.
  • Tips for generating keywords:
    • Think about your search terms before going online.
    • Use vocabulary used in class or suggested by your instructor.
    • Brainstorm related terms and/or synonyms.
    • Think of as many relevant terms and combinations of terms as you can.
    • Try the databases' "Thesaurus" or "Subject Headings" features.
  • Combining keywords
    • AND returns results with all of your keywords (to get more specific results; to get fewer results)
    • OR returns results with any of your keywords (for synonyms; to get more results)
    • NOT excludes results with a specified keyword (be careful using this one!)

If you need help, Ask a Librarian!