Locating Books & Articles

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Books

Use LEXICAT, the online catalog, to find books, check journal holdings, and locate audio/video materials owned by the Hofstra University Libraries. When you search LEXICAT, you are searching the holdings of the following collections:

When on campus, you can search LEXICAT via the Web or on the computer terminals located in the Harold E. Yuker Reference Library (main floor of the Axinn Library surrounding the Reference Desk). You can also search LEXICAT from home by directing your browser to http://www.hofstra.edu, scrolling down and clicking on the Libraries link on the right, and clicking on the first link in the grey box on the right side of the screen, Online Catalog (LEXICAT). (All of the explanations in this page about searching LEXICAT refer to the web-based version of LEXICAT.)

Recommended search strategies/procedures:

Take a minute to understand how the materials are organized in the library.

Hofstra University libraries use the Library of Congress classification system to catalog materials. What does that mean? Loosely, it means that materials are divided into 3 disciplines (areas of knowledge): Sciences, Social Sciences, and Humanities. All subject fields that fall outside of these disciplines are classified under Miscellaneous. Each piece of material is given a call # that represents the subject area and discipline it falls under. You are probably familiar with seeing numbers like this on the spines of books: P90.A35 1976. This number may look like gibberish, but it has meaning. This is the call number for, Introduction to Mass Communications, a book that is cataloged under the subject area of mass communications. From this you could infer that all materials with call numbers that begin with P are about mass communications and you would be correct. Use the tables below to familiarize yourself with the disciplines and their related subject areas, and as a guide to find general call number ranges to browse for your subject area.

SCIENCES* - General call # area to browse - Q

SUBJECT AREA
CALL #
SUBJECT AREA
CALL #

Art

N
 --English Literature
PR
--Graphic Arts
NC
 --French Language
PQ
--Photography
TR
 --French Literature
PQ
Communications / Mass Comm.
P, PN
 --German Language
PF
History
C-F
 --German Literature
PT
--Latin America, Canada
F
 --Spanish Language
PC
--Non-American
D
 --Spanish Literature
PQ
--United States
E, F
 Music
M
Literature / Languages
P-PT
 Philosophy
B-BD, BH-BJ
--American Literature
PS
 Religion
BL-BX
--English Language
PE
 Theater
PN
MISCELLANEOUS*

* - Tables taken from: List, Carla. An Introduction to Information Research. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1998.

Take a minute to learn the language of the online catalog.

If you were going to a foreign country, you might take a few minutes to learn some key phrases to make getting around (and finding the bathroom) a little easier. Take a minute and learn to speak the language of LEXICAT. Consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) volumes (call # Z695.L695) kept behind the Reference Desk in the Axinn Library to identify appropriate subject headings for your topic. These subject headings are the terminology recognized by LEXICAT.

Search by subject, not keyword.

When you execute a keyword search in LEXICAT, you tell the database to return to you all records that have your keyword anywhere in any indexed field. That could make for a lot irrelevant results and wasted time. The most efficient way to search LEXICAT is by doing a subject search. When you execute a subject search in LEXICAT you are telling the database to search only the subject heading field in the item records and return to you only those items that have your terms in the subject field. Items with only your terms in their subject field are going to be items that are primarily about your topic and therefore more relevant to your research.

Type in the subject word or phrase and click on the Subject button under 'Search by:.'

If you were to use the subject search under the 'Search for keyword(s) in:' option, you would retrieve records where your term(s) appear in the subject field, but may not be the primary subject heading for that item. This is not a bad way to search, but it is not the most efficient. You should use this option when you are not finding materials on your and need to broaden your research question.

This is the full item record.

Limit your search to make your results more relevant. On the search screen, you will see these search limiting options:

'By location:' Curriculum Materials Center, Reference, [Government] Documents, Periodicals, Electronic Resources, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Media Serivices.

'By date:' by decade and year in various increments from 1900-2000.

'By language:' English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

'By material type:' Book, Serial, Article/essay, Audio/visual, Computer file, Music recording, Recording of text, Music score, Music manuscript, musical serial, Serial part, Manuscript, Map, Map serial, Map manuscript, Kit, 3-dimensional object.

Do a numerical search.

You can do numerical searches using the call number from the item record to get a listing of all the materials that are classified under that subject area's call number. This is one way to get a feel for how much material is available on your topic. This is an important factor in the development of your research question and will determine if you need to broaden or narrow your topic. You can also search with the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) of a specific book or periodical/journal to retrieve only its item record to check our holdings.

To check out circulating materials, go to the circulation desk. Look under Services below for a description of your borrowing privileges.

As with every resource you will use during the research process whether it be an electronic database or print item, you are encouraged to spend some time exploring the resource in order to undertand how the information is organized within it and thereby learning the most efficient ways to retrieve information from it and maximize the resource's usefulness to you. The best way to do this is to read the Help screens, prefaces, and introductory materials the resource offers. Also, don't ever hesitate to ask a reference librarian to help you.

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Articles

To find journal and newspaper articles on your topic, you should first identify the subject area and broader discipline your topic is classed under. All of our databases are organized by subject area:

Each database offers at least citations to articles, some will also provide the abstract and in some cases the full text of the article as well. The Communication Studies list consists of databases relevant to all aspects of research in communication from interpersonal communication (PsycINFO) to broadcasting (Communication and Mass Media Complete). Descriptions of and links to the best databases to start your research with appear Electronic Databases page.

Again, don't ever hesitate to ask a reference librarian to help you.

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Services

Lending - Books may be borrowed (with a current Hofstra ID) for four weeks and renewed for an additional four weeks if no one has requested the book. Books are always stamped with the return date in the back of the book. Late fines are 10 cents a day. The minimum charge for a lost book is $50.00.

Journal Finder - Search the Hofstra Library's print journal holdings as well as the availability of full text from journals available through the electronic databases subscribed to by the Library.

ILLiad Interlibrary Loan System - Free interlibrary loan system for accessing materials in all formats.

E-RES (Electronic Reserve) - Course materials can be made electronically available by your faculty. You will be informed by your faculty if this is the case and given the password to access the materials online through the web either on campus or from home. Print copies of articles on ERES are kept at the Reserve Desk (same desk as Circulation). If you are having difficulty accessing your materials from home, call 516-463-5021.

Private Research Consultations - To make an appointment with me, Annmarie Singh, the Communication Studies Reference Librarian, call #516-463-6529 or e-mail me at Annmarie.B.Singh@hofstra.edu. Consultation appointments will be made under the following condition: the date of the consultation must be 2 weeks prior to the due date of your research project. The key to doing successful research is to start early and take advantage of all the resources available to you: print, electronic, and human, so please don't hesitate to call.

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Last modified September, 2006

Created and maintained by Prof. Annmarie.B.Singh, MLS - Communication Studies Reference Librarian

E-mail comments, suggestions, & recommendations to librfabs@hofstra.edu