Library catalogues
Every library has a catalogue - a database of the resources it has: books, dissertations etc. A library catalogue helps to find those resources in the library. Some library catalogues can also search other databases.
Our students can use two libraries and their catalogues:
the QAHE campus library and
the library of the university of their study.
Simple search
Use a simple search (the first search box you see when accessing the catalogue) for most enquiries, e.g. when searching for a topic or a word from the title or author's surname.
Search for the module code to find the reading list for that module.
Keywords
Library catalogues do not do full-text searches inside books. Therefore, they may not be able to identify useful books if you search for the topics covered on a few pages.
Give a thought to what kind of textbooks may discuss your topic. For example, employee motivation is likely part of work psychology or organisational behaviour textbooks. The 4P framework is discussed in marketing textbooks, while CSS can be found in books on web design. Then search for the title of those textbooks in library catalogues.
If unsure what textbooks may be useful to you, ask your lecturer or librarian, see reading lists and use Google Books to do a full-text search inside books.
Advanced search
If you know the author or title of the book or article you want, use the advanced search.
Understanding library catalogue records
Each book title has its own catalogue record.
Catalogue records for print books will tell you where the book is placed in the library, how many copies are available in each campus, and which keywords are associated with this book.
Catalogue record can provide some information about the book as well: author, edition number, publisher, place of publication.
To view a catalogue record click on the book title link.
This is what the catalogue record looks like when opened. (See this example in your browser.)
The top of the page gives you various bibliographic information, as well as keywords relevant to this book.
At the bottom of the screen, you can see that there are six copies in total - three in Birmingham and three in London.
Note the shelfmark - 658.4 ROB. This shelfmark tells you where in the library the book is placed. Books in the library are arranged in numerical (by subject) and alphabetical (according to the author's surname) order.
Many textbooks have multiple editions. Normally a librarian would recommend the latest edition. You can find out if there are other editions of a book that you need either by searching for the author or checking the Related field in the catalogue record.
