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LIBS 300: The Liberal Arts in a Contemporary World

Finding Books

Search Omni to find books, journals, videos and other materials owned by the Library.  You can search by keywords, author, title or subject headings.
 
To find a specific known item, search by title or author.  To find books on a topic, either try a subject or keyword search.

Subject Headings vs Keyword Searching

Subject headings allow you to search for resources on a particular author or topic and are often more productive than keyword searches. 

Keyword searches work best if you have multiple concepts or topics and need only a few books. 

For a comprehensive subject search, search with subject headings as well as keywords.

Searching Omni

Start with a keyword search, but expect to revise it. 

Keyword Searching TIPS

Search Technique  

What It Does

quotation marks

Searches for exact phrase

Truncation *

Searches for all forms of a word

Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)

Lets you broaden or narrow your search
 
To find books on a topic, use a keyword search if you do not know the correct subject heading for a topic. Think of the focus (or key) words that describe your topic, such as:
 
anthropogenic
anthropogene

"climate change"
deforestation
"fossil fuels"
"global warming"
"greenhouse gas emissions"

Topic: Climate change and corn

    "climate change" AND corn
 
Select useful titles and look at the full record for subject headings. Use them to provide more keyword ideas or as individual searches themselves.
 
("climatic change*" OR "global warming") AND (corn OR maize)

Browsing the Library Shelves

Browsing the library shelves is another strategy for locating information on a topic. The Library organizes its collection by using the Library of Congress Classification System. If you choose to browse the Library's environmental science books, the following call numbers may be helpful to you. Books can be found in Stauffer and Douglas libraries.

GE 1 - 350
Environmental sciences
GF 1 - 900
Human ecology
HC 1 -1085.2
Natural resources
HC 79 .E5
Environmental policy & economic development
K 3581 - 3598.22
Environmental law
QC 981.8 .G56
Global warming
QH 540 - 549.2
Ecology
S 900 - 972.22
Conservation of natural resources
TA 170 - 171
Environmental engineering
TD 1 - 1066
Environmental technology
TD 169 - 171.8
Environmental protection
TD 172 - 193.5
Environmental pollution
TJ 807 - 830
Renewable energy sources

Using Omni Search to Find Books

For help in searching for books in Omni, check our guide, Finding Books.

Selected Subject Headings

Agriculture Environmental aspects
Climatic changes
Crops and climate
Environmental sciences Social aspects
Global environmental change
Global environmental change Social
   aspects
Global warming
Global warming--Social aspects
Livestock Climatic factors
Nature Effect of humans on