Searching for Books in The New Library Catalog

1. Searching for Books in The New Library Catalog Search for books and materials Create an account to request books My Account

2. Accessing the NLU Catalog • We’ll begin our search on the Library’s Home page. Click on the Books link under Find It.

3. Click on the “NLU Catalog” link under books

4. Search for books and materials • Type your search term(s) in the search box (i.e. instructional design) • You have the option to search within the title, author, subject, ISBN fields, or do a keyword search in All Fields. Choose your option in the first dropdown menu. • You will automatically search for NLU books (“Local Catalog Only”), but you can also choose the I-Share catalog from the second dropdown menu.

5. Our results page lists the books and materials at NLU for our search: instructional design. There are over 200 books. • One way to narrow your search is to select books in a topic, or limit to a certain format, such as a book. • If you are looking for the most recent titles, change the Sort dropdown menu to date instead of relevance.

6. Scroll down and notice on the right hand side of the screen that the catalog organizes the results of your search for you. It is helpful to narrow your search by choosing a topic or a subject area. Listed in parentheses, you will see how many items match the subject/topic/author/language etc. Let’s narrow our Topic down to Educational technology. Then choose Education as the Subject Area.

7. We now have a more manageable and precise set of resources to choose from. • Notice that the “facets” that we applied are listed at the top of the right sidebar. To undo, just click the links. • Let’s choose the title Lesson plan book for the diverse classroom and place a request.

8. Requesting Items Scroll down to view the navigation links: Holdings: The book is held at several NLU campus libraries. Use the call number to find the book on the shelf in the library Request Item: A copy of the book can be placed on hold and sent to your home campus. Previews and Reviews: You can also take a look at a preview of the book using the Google book search link in the upper right corner. Read user reviews in the “Reviews” tab.

9. Creating an Account • In order to request an item, you will need to set up an account with a username and password – you will only need to do this the first time. • Setting up an account allows you to request and renew books online, and save books to your “favorites”. • Click on "Ceate New Account” to enter your details.

10. Fill in the online form completely; you will only need to do this once. • For your username and password, we recommend using your NLU portal username and password so that you remember it. It may be helpful for you to record this information since the library doesn’t have access to your individual account. • Your library barcode is your Library ID, the 14 digit number located in your NLU portal under Personal Information. • Select National-Louis University from the dropdown menu for your Library.

11. After you have created an account, you will return to the record for the book you wish to request. • Choose where you want to pick up your book by selecting your nearest campus library from the drop-down menu • Then click Request

12. My Account • Finally, you can check the status of your requests and renew your materials online by clicking on “Your Account” in the upper right corner of the page. • When you are done, remember to log out of your account by clicking on “Log Out” in the upper right corner of the page.

13. For More Information or help: Call a campus library at 1.800.443.5522 North Shore x2288 Chicago X3376 Wheeling x5503 Lisle x4530 or Email us at LibRef@nl.edu Tutorial created by Marisa Walstrum, NLU Library, 11.30.09