LibGuides: EN 102-01-25: College Composition 2: Locating Books

Suggest a Book

Recommendations for books to be added to our collection are welcome. For information about the process, check out the form found here.

Interlibrary Loan

If they're not available from MU Library, we can get you the books or articles you need from another library! Visit the Interlibrary Loan information page to get started!.

Why Use Books in Library Research?

Books can be very useful at the beginning of your project when you're doing background or in-depth research on a topic:

Reference books can help with definitions, pronunciation, basic facts
Include detailed information on a topic as well as related issues
Provide overview and background
May include an index with quick access to key people, places, dates
Academic books rigorously researched and vetted

Finding Books at the MU Library

Use the MU Catalog to locate books for your research.

Use Keyword to search the entire record for the terms you enter. Use quotation marks when entering a phrase, e.g. "seltzer water." Research topics should be searched by Keyword to maximize the number of references to a topic.
For Title searches, omit "The" at the beginning.
For Author searches, use last name first.
Another way to locate books and ebooks is to browse by Subject. (This strategy is especially useful if you are having trouble narrowing your topic.) Click the Subject link for any book to see more materials on that subject.
Use Advanced Search to limit your search by date or location.
Click the Map It button to see your book's shelf location.

For more help, see the MU Catalog Tutorial.

Searching With Subject Headings

Once you find a book on your topic, be sure to look at the book's subject heading. Clicking on this heading will take you to other books on your topic.