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Using the Library Catalog to Locate Books, Periodicals, Media 

Search Catalog (Basic)

  1. Go to the Library Home Page on the World Wide Web: http://www.palomar.edu/library
  2. Click Catalog
  3. Type a word or phrase into the search box
  4. Click a search type below the search box ("Everything," "Author," "Title," etc.) or press <ENTER>

Search Tips:

  1. Completing the following steps may help you get to the information that you need:
    • Think about what you are looking for by stating it in a sentence. Example: "I am writing a paper about women in the work place."
    • Type key words, ideas, or concepts about the idea. Some key words for the above topic are: women, work place, equal rights, equal pay, employment, glass ceiling.
    • If you know the AUTHOR or TITLE of an item, type those in.
    • Do not include the stop words a, an, the, as, at, be, but, by, do, for, if, in, is, it, to; the catalog ignores these terms unless you enclose them in double quotation marks (see #4 below)
  2. Combine terms with and, or, not to get the precise information you need. Examples: women and employment; women and equal pay or equal rights; women and employment not military.
  3. Enclose terms in 'single quotation marks' to find an exact phrase. Example: 'works of Shakespeare' will only retrieve records where these terms appear exactly like this.
  4. If stop words are part of your search string, enclose them in "double quotation marks" or else they will be ignored.  Example: "An" Officer and "a" Gentleman will retrieve this exact title; without the quotation marks around "An" or "a" the catalog will search for every item with the words Officer and Gentleman in the author, title, or subject fields.
  5. Use a $dollar sign at the end of a term to search for possible variants. Example: type computer$ to find citations containing the terms computer or computers or computerized.
  6. Use a ?question mark anywhere in a term to search for possible variants. Example: type wom?n to find citations containing the terms women or woman.

Too many titles retrieved? Try limiting your request to a specific publication year, language, item  time or location in the Library:

  1. On the search results screen, click Limit Search or scroll down to the Search Again box.
  2. Identify a limit you want to apply (language, format, publication year, etc.) and select an appropriate value from the pull-down menu or type the value into corresponding box. For example, to retrieve books only published in a certain year, type that year in the pubyear box.
  3. Press <ENTER> or click a search type button again..

Please consult a Reference Librarian for assistance in designing an effective search strategy.

Search for Reserve Materials

  1. Click Reserves link just below the page banner.
    2.  
  2. Type instructor name, course number, or course name in box
  3. Click appropriate button.

Search for Periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers)

  1. To locate a specific periodical
    • type the title of the periodical in the search box
    • click the blue periodical title button.
  2. To browse an alphabetical list of periodicals whose titles begin with the same letter,
    • type the first letter of the title in the search box followed by "$", for example, to find all periodicals beginning with the letter "J", type:  J$ 
    • click the search type Browse above the search box
    • click the blue periodical titles button.
  3. To locate periodicals on a specific subject
    • type a word describing the subject plus the term "periodicals" (e.g., PSYCHOLOGY PERIODICALS)
    • click the blue subject button.
  4. To retrieve a list of ALL periodical titles (listed chronologically by the first publication year)
    • click the Advanced Search link
    • scroll down to the Search Limits section
    • from the type box, choose Periodical
    • click the blue Search button

View Complete Results

View Tips:

Click any of the hyperlinks in the detailed Catalog Records display to find additional items with similar call numbers, authors, titles, or subject.

Print, Email, or Download Results

  1. Click the Keep button on the (to the left of each individual record)
    2. .
  2. Click the Kept link in the navigation bar (below the page banner).
  3. Choose an option to View, Print Formatted, or Email your Kept list.

Place HOLD on checked-out items (Palomar College Library registered users only)

NOTE: you can only place a 'hold' on items that are already checked out.

  1. In the detailed record display, click Place Hold link (in the box on the left side of screen).
  2. Enter your user information in the appropriate boxes.
  3. Click Place Hold button

Automatically renew materials you have checked-out (Palomar College Library users only)

NOTE: you cannot renew items that you have checked out if there are holds placed on it by others

  1. Click My Account link below the page banner.
    2.  
  2. Click Renew My Materials
  3. Enter your user information in the appropriate boxes.
  4. Click List Charged Items button
  5. Click the box of the item you want to renew
  6. Click Renew selected items button

How to Find Items in the Library

  1. From the Search Results list:
    • Call number: the alpha-numeric code just above the title
    • Copy location: next to the "Keep" button (if there is more than 1 copy, click Details to see all the locations)
    2.
  2. From Item Information in the detailed record display:
    • At the bottom of the record, note the Call number, Copy, and Location
  3. Records will show a location in the Library indicating where it is shelved. Common locations are:
    • STACKS or Books, Circulating: 3rd floor of main library building
    • REFERENCE or 2nd Fl. Ref. Stacks: 2nd floor of main library building
    • LRC or Media-Circulating: 2nd floor of main library building
    • RESERVE-1 or VIEDO-REF or 2nd Floor Media Reserves: Circulation Desk, 2nd floor of main library building
    • RESERVE-2 or Reserves, Print or 2nd Floor Print Reserves: 2nd floor open access reserve shelves of main library building
    • ESC-CTR or Esc. Ctr. Library: Escondido Center Library
    • PER-STACK or PERIODICALS: 2nd floor of main library building
      •
    • No Copies Currently Available or [due date]: if somebody else has already checked out an item, this appears instead of the location.
      •  
    • CIRC-DESK: Circulation Desk, 2nd floor of main library building
    • NURSING or Reserves, Nursing: 2nd floor Nursing reserve shelves of main library building
    • CAREER CENTER:items are located at the Palomar College campus career center (not in the Library). 
    • PAUMA-CTR or Pauma Library: items are located at the Pauma Reservation Library
      •
    • HOLD: if item is checkout out and there are already "holds" placed on it.
    • MISSING/LOST: items are lost and unavailable. DO NOT PLACE HOLDS ON THESE.

For additional assistance, click here to Ask a Librarian.

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