Ready for more detailed research? The library catalog is a great place to begin to find print and media sources.
Tips For Searching the Catalog
When you find a book you want, write down all the information you will need (author, title, call number) to find it in the stacks . Also take note of its circulation status (Is it available? Is it in the stacks, closed stacks, or reference collection? At which branch is the book located?)
Key word formulation: before conducting a search, formulate your search terms. To do this, break your topic down in to key concepts. Jot them down. Now think of synonyms or other words that might be used instead. Jot them down, too. A synonym search would look like this: (gay OR same-sex) AND marriage.
Phrase searching: the catalog uses 'single quotes' to search phrases, e.g. 'fast food nation' will find everywhere in the catalog where the phrase 'fast food nation' occurs.
Truncation: the catalog uses $ for truncation, e.g. sociolog$ will find all records with the word sociology or sociologist or sociological or any word with the stem sociolog...
Substitution: the catalog uses ? for substitution, e.g. wom?n will find all records with the word women or woman.
Boolean: adding OR between words tells the catalog to find all records with one word or the other word; it expands the number of results, e.g. I'll take this or that or that. Adding AND between words tells the catalog to find all records with one word and the other word; it reduces the number of results, e.g. I only want records that have this and that.
Nesting: putting words between (parentheses) tells the catalog to search within the parentheses first, then outside of them, e.g. (gay OR same-sex) AND marriage.
Expanded Search: using the expanded search option allows you to take control of your search, limiting by library (e.g. City Park or West Bank), material type (e.g. book or DVD), location (e.g. Juvenile Collection or Popular Reading Collection), and/or sorting by date or relevance.
Once you select an item from your search results, click on the Catalog Record tab for a detailed display.
Take advantage of the Contents and Summary sections. These can help you evaluate the usefulness of an item for your needs.
INTER-LIBRARY LOAN
If you are looking for something that is not in Delgado's collection or at a Delgado branch other than yours, you can place an inter-library loan request for it by using ILLiad. In short, we have access to pretty much anything in any academic library in the state of Louisiana.
In order to request materials through inter-library loan, all users must register through ILLiad, the interlibrary loan system. After registering, users can request inter-library loan materials through ILLiad, check the status of their requests, and view a history of requests submitted through ILLiad.
Click here to create an account.
Please take this survey about the ILLiad: Interlibrary Loan System. Password : spr12
BORROW AT OTHER COLLEGES (LALINC)
Another way of gaining access to Library materials is with a LALINC card. LALINC is the Louisiana Academic Library Information Network Consortium. It's a way for active students, faculty and staff of Louisiana colleges and universities to borrow materials from other academic libraries in person. Please note that possession of a LALINC card does not guarantee borrowing privileges from all Louisiana academic libraries. Policies differ from library to library, and the lending library has the option to honor the LALINC card based upon the status (undergraduate, graduate, faculty or staff) of the cardholder.
Click here for the LALINC APPLICATION.
OTHER CATALOGS
The New Orleans Public Library is a great resource for materials that may not be available at Delgado.
The Jefferson Parish Library is another resource for materials that may not be available at Delgado.
WorldCat is a catalog of catalogs. Search here to see which libraries own what you're looking for. This information is often useful for inter-library loan (ILL) requests.
next step: Find Periodicals >>
