Search Catalyst for books

Catalyst is the joint library catalog for Carleton and St. Olaf. You can use Catalyst to find books, dvds, journals, articles, and more. If you are searching for books, use the Books tab (or the shortcut search box above), which will search for books at Carleton and St. Olaf. If you find a book at St. Olaf, request it through Catalyst or go to St. Olaf to check it out.

Search tips

Start with a keyword search on your topic, which will search for your words in the title, table of contents (if available), subject headings, and author fields. If you get too many results, take a look at the choices along the left side of the page to narrow your search.

If you find a book that looks great for your topic, look at the record for that book to help you find other relevant books:

Subject headings

These are listed in the center of the full details page for an item, and are the Library of Congress Subject Headings for the book. If one of those headings really captures your topic, click on it to find all the other books with that subject heading. Some subject headings you might want to look at include:

• • Statistical Mechanics
  • Thermodynamics

Browsing the shelves

The books in the library are shelved in call number order, so books on a similar topic are shelved together. Take time to look at the books shelved near books that you've found. You can also use Catalyst to virtually browse the shelves: click on a record for a print book title (ebooks are not included in this feature) and scroll down to Virtual Browse to see books that would be shelved nearby.

[visual description: screen shot showing book titles in the Catalyst virtual browse]

Finding Books on the Shelves

When you've found the book you're interested in, you need to note three things from the Catalyst catalog:

• the location
• the call number
• the status

​​

[visual description: screen shot of Catalyst book record showing the item status, location, call number, and link to a map]

• status tells you if the book is available or not. If it's not available, click on the status note and you will get more information such as when the book is due. When a book is checked out to someone else, you can request it and the person who has it checked out will need to return it within a week. You'll be notified when the book has been returned.
• location tells you which campus and library the book is in and which part of the library it's in. Most books at Carleton are in the Books section, found on floors 1-3.
• call number tells you where on the shelves the book will be. Click "Map It!" for a map showing a map with the location of the book highlighted.

For information on how our library is laid out and what is on each floor, take a look at our online library tour.

Books from St. Olaf

Catalyst searches Carleton and St. Olaf libraries. To request a book from St. Olaf, click "Sign in for Request Options," then click the "Request" link under Physical Copies. You will get an email when the book arrives. Books are delivered twice daily Mon-Fri. You can also use your OneCard to check out books at the St. Olaf libraries.

Books from Other Libraries

Search WorldCat, an online catalog for libraries throughout the world, to find books that Carleton and St. Olaf don't have. If you find a book through WorldCat that is not at Carleton or St. Olaf libraries, you will need to order the book through InterLibrary Loan.