Finding Books

Image: photo of book shelves in the Cornell Fine Arts Library

The Cornell University Library uses the Library of Congress classification system.

Narrowing results

On the library catalog search page, the "Limit your Search" function provides options to help you narrow your search results including how you'd like to access resources (online, physical) and in what format (book, journal/periodical, microform, etc.).

Image: screen shot of filters available in the Cornell University Library catalog

Art & Architecture ePortal

screenshot of Art & Architecture ePortal homepageThe Art & Architecture ePortal is a collection of scholarly works in the fields of art and architectural history published by: The Art Institute of Chicago, The MIT Press, Yale University Press, Harvard Art Museums, and the Yale University Art Gallery.

The portal allows browsing of all images (by artist, title, or date)

Catalogs: Learn to search library catalogs effectively to locate books and other relevant materials

Example Record

Image: screen shot of catalog record in Cornell University Library record

Subject Browse

screen shot of subject browseUse the Subject Browse feature to discover books in the catalog :

Ceramic Industries>Iran>History

Naṭanz (Iran) > Antiquities or just Naṭanz (Iran)

Textile fabrics > Indonesia > History

Iroquois Indians > Religion and mythology  ** Note the use of outdated, inappropriate terminology. Also try Haudenosaunee.

Porcelain, Chinese > Ming-Qing dynasties, 1368-1912

Tiffany, Louis Comfort, 1848-1933

Arts and crafts movement > United States

Tuaregs > History

Vases, Red-figured > Italy

Indian textile fabrics > Bolivia.

Other helpful subject terms: material culture, textile design, decoration and ornament, art objects, criticism and interpretation

Sylvan Barnet

Looking for books not held by Cornell

If the book you are looking for is unavailable through Cornell, you can search WorldCat, an international catalog that includes Cornell's holdings, from the library catalog results page by clicking the "Request from Libraries Worldwide" link. 

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 a week or less.

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).

Objects