Using
Miami Libraries Catalog
OhioLINK
WorldCat
Other Libraries on the Internet
Library of Congress Classification
is your gateway to locating books, journals, internet sites and other databases
held locally. MiamiLINK also has links to
information about the libraries, including hours, interlibrary loan, requsting a
book for purchase and workshops offered. Use MiamiLink to connect to the databases
listed in this guide as well as to locate books, both at Miami and in the world at
large.
MIAMI LIBRARIES CATALOG
Miami University Libraries computerized catalog, contains books, manuscripts, titles
of periodicals, many U. S. Government Documents and newspapers that the libraries
own. The advantage of a computerized catalog is the free text searching through titles,
subject headings and contents notes, a process impossible in a card catalog. One
hint: always look at the subject headings assigned to some of the books on your subject.
In many ways, these subject headings are still the most efficient and comprehensive
method of searching. In addition, if you are looking for primary materials
or special lists of resources, limit your search to one of the following
subject subdivisions.
| statistics | indexes | collections |
| sources | diaries | guides |
| personal narratives | biography | encyclopedias |
Ohiolink’s searching software is identical to Miami’s catalog. This on-line catalog
links most major public universities, selected private universities, and state supported
community colleges in Ohio -- meaning that you can search all of these catalogs at
once. When searching in Ohiolink, the computer will tell you which libraries own
a specific book and if it is checked out. You can directly request items from any
of the participating institutions from a your computer. Ohiolink can be accessd either
from the main MiamiLINK main menu or from Miami's online catalog.
WORLDCAT/FIRST SEARCH
WorldCat is essentially subject, author, title, and keyword searching of OCLC
(Online Computerized Library Catalog). Libraries across the United States and some
other nations use OCLC to share cataloging and for Interlibrary Loan tasks. That
means that you can search a huge database regardless of where an item is located.
On the MiamiLINK main menu choose WorldCat from the online catalogs section.
INTERNET
The Internet electronically links users to each other and to other databases.
Many use the Internet for EMAIL. Among other databases, you may choose a file of
university catalogs from all over the world. Essentially these are libraries who
have computerized catalogs and allow remote access to their database. However, there
is no universal searching mechanism to search all of the catalogs at once. You must
choose the likely university, etc., that might hold what you think you want.