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ENG 400 (Sorisio)

Videos on using the WCU library catalog

Catalog basics

 

Requesting print books for pickup or mailing

Options for looking beyond the WCU catalog

The WCU Libraries have some great book collections, but we never have everything on a given topic.  Here are some different approaches to finding more books for your research.  Once you have identified a book,  use  EZ-Borrow to request it from another library.

  • Worldcat.org
    • pros:  really large catalog of catalogs, including tons of really old books; easy to see how widely held a book is; uses subject headings
    • cons:  the search interface is kind of terrible; often multiple, slightly different entries for a book or for different editions of  a book
  • Amazon.com
    • pros:  familiar interface; will often give book previews/show table of contents
    • cons:  has an advanced search, but it isn't that good; does not use subject heading; lots of non-scholarly books show up
  • Google books
    • pros: familiar interface; best for book previews; often has full text of pre-1923 books (out of copyright); links to Worldcat (Find in a Library feature)
    • cons:  does not use subject headings; lots of non-scholarly books show up
  • Catalog of another university.  Most academic libraries still allow their catalogs to be searched by anyone.  So you can take a subject heading you found in the WCU catalog and try it in the catalog of a bigger and/or wealthier university (Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, UC-Berkele, etc.).
    • pros:  subject heading searching; less messy than WorldCat
    • cons:  unfamiliar interface, no way to quick check if WCU libraries own the book.

Direct book request through EZBorrow

While our databases link to ILLiad for book requests, EZBorrow is usually our faster system for requesting books. 

Step 1

A title search is usually the best for finding a specific book.  Putting in the full title will help you avoid confusion with other books with similar titles.  Using the pull-down menu to specify Title also helps.

Step 2

Look through the results for a match.  Keep an eye out for different editions.

Step 3

Log in to the system.

West Chester University   ---    WCU Libraries  25 West Rosedale Avenue, West Chester, PA 19383  610-430-4400