1. Start with specific titles suggested in subject encyclopedia entries.

2. Identify the Library of Congress Subject Headings for that book to identify additional books on the topic. 

• To do this, check the "Item Details" and simply click on one of the subject headings listed in the record for the book; the next screen will list all the books that share this subject term.

3. If required for your assignment, make sure that the book is scholarly. 

Books in Primo are assigned Library of Congress Subject Headings. In many ways, subject headings are a form of tagging, in that they represent the content of the material and provide ways for you to efficiently locate more materials that are conceptually related. 

Here are several examples of the various ways you can use LCSH to help pinpoint what you need:

• Travel writing
• Travelers' writings -- History and criticism
• Travelers' writings, French -- History and criticism
• Tibet Autonomous Region (China)  -- Discovery and exploration
• Women travelers -- United States  -- History -- 19th century

Here are some clues to look for in the catalog record when you are evaluating whether a book is scholarly or popular:

• The publisher is either a university press or an academic publisher (such as Routledge, Wiley, Blackwell, etc.).
• The description of the book includes "notes and references."

When you have the book in hand, and still aren't sure if it is scholarly, you might want to do a little more digging, perhaps with a couple of quick Google searches:

• Who is the author? What are the author's credentials or other sources of expertise?
• Does the publisher have a website? If so, what types of books does it publish and what is the process for submitting work for consideration?

Collins Library uses the Library of Congress classification scheme to organize books on the shelves. Follow these tips to find the book you need.

Example:

• Start with the top line. It is in alphabetical order. Ex. PN
• The second line is a whole number.  Ex. 56
• The third line is  a combination of a letter and numbers. Read the letter alphabetically. Read the number as a decimal, eg. Y.23, Y.34, Y.344, Y.4, etc. Ex. .T7 C36 (*Some call numbers have more than one combination letter-number line.)
• The last line is the year the book was published. Read in chronological order. Ex. 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015, etc. Ex. 2018

Use the library map to find where the book is located.