Finding Books


					Getting Started With Your Research A self-help guide to quality information

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I'm looking for information on my topic. How do I find...

•	Articles
•	Books
•	Web pages
•	Other types of information

Guide Home >> Finding Books

Why should I use books?

Books contain summarized knowledge on established areas of research.
Books are a good starting point for selecting and refining a topic.
Books have bibliographies and reference lists that will help you identify other important works on a subject.

How do I find books?

Acorn

Vanderbilt's library catalog is the best source for finding books at Vanderbilt. Acorn includes the holdings of every library at Vanderbilt University. Using it you can find a book by author, title, or subject and then identify its:

precise location (library name)
shelf position (call number)
status (is it on the shelf or checked out?)

Learn how to search Acorn by author, title, or subject or for more help, search the complete guide to Acorn help.

WorldCat

WorldCat is a database of books and other items owned by libraries around the world. Not all items listed will be owned by Vanderbilt, but it may be possible to obtain those through Interlibrary Loans.

I've identified a book I want - how do I get it?

I found it in the Acorn catalog: Locate items at Vanderbilt
I found it somewhere else: Search the Vanderbilt Catalog: Acorn

Prepared for the Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to MIT Libraries for granting permission to modify and use their "Information Navigator" tutorial.