Primo is a library search tool for finding materials in the Collins Library and Summit libraries. You can search for books, selected articles and more in a single search box.

1. Start with specific titles suggested in subject encyclopedia entries.
2. Identify the Library of Congress Subject Headings for that book to identify more books on the topic.
3. If required for your assignment, make sure that the book is scholarly. 
4. To find eBooks, use the filters on the right to limit your results to eBooks (under "Resource Type")

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:

• France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799
• France -- History -- Louis XVI, 1774-1793
• France -- Social conditions -- 18th century
• Marie Antoinette, Queen, consort of Louis XVI, King of France, 1755-1793
• France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Women
• Women revolutionaries -- France -- History -- 18th century

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. DC
• The second line is a whole number.  Ex. 137.17
• 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. .B37 (*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. 2016

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