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Lakehead University and LU Library

Research Guide for High School Students

Searching for Books in OMNI

Go to Lakehead Library Search Page

If you know the Title of the book or the Author you are searching for;

  1. Select Browse, choose Browse by author or title
    • if searching by author reverse their name - Austen, Jane NOT Jane Austen
  2. Type in and hit search
  3. Limit your results to Available at Lakehead Libraries under Availability on the left hand side of your screen
  4. Scroll through the results to see if any match
Found a Match Did not Find a Match

Come into the library and find it and take it out at the library front desk

Search for the book at the public library 

If you don't know the title or author you can browse by subject or create a search to find a book that is relevant to your topic

Create a Search  Browse by Subject
  1. Use the creating a search process and create a search 
  2. Once you have entered your search filter to books/e-books
    • In OMNI this is under Resource Type
  3. See if there is a book that fits your needs
  4. Place a hold or come in a find it 
  1. Select Browse by subject
  2. Put in the subject you are looking for and hit search
  3. See if there is a book that fits your needs
  4. Place a hold or come in a find it 

You can also search for books on Google and see if we have them through the known book process

Finding a Book in the Library

How the Library Organizes Books

  • to organize the books we use the Library of Congress Classification system 
  • This means each book gets a unique call number based on what the book is about, who wrote it and the year it was published
  • By organizing books this way when you find one book the books to the left and right will be of a similar topic allowing you to browse and find more books that may be helpful

What is a Call Number

  • A call number is the address of the book in a library
  • You will find it on the spine or front of a book and in OMNI
  • The call number is made up of a series of letters and numbers that help classify it by the subject that the book is about

How to Read a Call Number

Most often a call number is made of 4 sections but if one has more or less the same principles apply for reading it. You read the call number starting with line 1 and ending with line 4 

  • Line 1: is made of one or two letters
  • Line 2: is made up of letters
  • Line 3: is made up of letters and numbers
  • Line 4: is made up of numbers and is typically the year of publication 

Once you have found the  book you want on the Library's website you will have to find it on the shelves. To do this you will need to note the call number and floor the book is on. Each row of shelves will have a label on it telling you the range of books that are located on the shelf

Once you have these two items you will find the book by 

Step Example
Go to the floor In this case it would be the fourth floor
Finding the shelves that match the first two letters  Find the section of shelves labeled with PQ
Finding the shelf with call number range that matches the letters and the first number 

The shelf range that matches is PQ 1981 - PQ 2254 as PQ 2228 falls in-between
Find the books that match line one and two, then find the books that match line 3 and finally line 4

Find all the PQ 2228

Find all the PQ 2228 A3

Find PQ 2228 A3 1950