How to Find a Book in the Olin Stacks
- Finding a Book in the Catalog Tutorial
Learn about how books are organized and how to find physical and e-books in the library catalog.
Call Numbers
The Cornell University Library uses the Library of Congress classification system.
Subject Browse
Use the Subject Browse feature to discover books in the catalog.
Catalog Search Tips
To search for literary criticism, use the words criticism and interpretation as subject terms.
Helpful subject browse searches:
Fairy tales > History and criticism.
Fairy tales > France > History and criticism
Morgan le Fay (Legendary character)
Witchcraft > France > Early works to 1800
Catalogs: Learn to search library catalogs effectively to locate books and other relevant materials
Catalog Record
How to Use Search Terms
- How to Use Search Terms
Learn to use search terms to find the best resources for your research.
Witchcraft in Benevento, Italy
![Image: A scene of witchcraft under a tree [detail].1848, drawing by Antonio Masutti. British Museum Collection, held in the Cambridge University Library.](http://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/9252/images/nmasutti_det.jpg)
A scene of witchcraft under a tree [detail]. 1848, drawing by Antonio Masutti. British Museum Collection, held in the Cambridge University Library.
What to do if it's not available
If the catalog record indicates that the material is "charged," it means that someone else has signed out the book. When you click on "request," the system figures out the fastest way to get it to you. If it's a recall, that takes about two weeks. Borrow Direct is the fastest delivery:
If we do not have a book in our holdings, or if the book you need is already checked out: Borrow Direct
Click on the link to connect to Borrow Direct, search for the book and if it's available from another Ivy League university (plus: Johns Hopkins, MIT, Duke, University of Chicago, & Stanford), we will have it shipped to Cornell. The borrowing period is for eight weeks, renewable once. Books arrive in 3-4 business days.
If we do not have an item that you need (any item -- journal article, DVD, dissertation, etc.): Interlibrary Loan Services
Use ILLiad (InterLibrary Loan Internet Accessible Database) to request that we borrow materials from other libraries or have articles scanned for you. Loan period is usually one month. Items can arrive in as little as a few days (or even the next day, in the case of scans) to a couple of weeks (This service will not work for items that Cornell already owns, but are checked out by other borrowers).