Humanities Librarian
Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
lgoodwater@scu.edu
Finding Books
FINDING BOOKS
To find books written about a specific author, do a Subject search in OSCAR (the library's catalog) and type the name of the author (last name first). For example, to find books about Bram Stoker, type "Stoker, Bram." Books about all aspects of Stoker's works will now appear, organized by various subheadings under his name, which is the main heading. The heading "Stoker, Bram, 1847-1912. Dracula" will list the books that focus specifically on Dracula, but other headings (such as "Stoker, Bram, 1847-1912 -- Criticism and interpretation") will list books that provide extensive discussion of the novel, too.
If you are looking for books about a topic (not a person), do an Advanced search in OSCAR. If the first terms you type do not give you the results you want, try typing in various ways of describing your topic. Then, once you find some books that look like what you want, click on the Subject links that appear in the full records for those books, and you will probably find even more books on the same topic. (For example, if you type "slave narratives," you will find some books, but clicking on the Subject heading "Slaves -- United States -- Biography" will reveal additional books to choose from.)
To find the books written by an author, do an Author search in OSCAR. Type the author's name with the surname first (for example --Stoker, Bram) to see a list of all the books that we have written by that author.
Your results will probably include printed books that can be found in the library building, as well as electronic books that can be read online. You can tell which books are printed books because a location in the building is indicated as part of its record in OSCAR. E-books have no physical location indicated, and the words "(Electronic Resource)" usually appear immediately following the title of the book. Click on the title of the book to open its record in OSCAR; then click the link in the middle of the screen to read the book online.
