How-To Research Tutorials

To search the SDSU Library catalog for books and ebooks:  (View on YouTube) 

1. Click on the Books tab located above the search box on the library homepage.
2. Enter the author or title of the book you are looking for, or keyword or search terms to find a book that discusses a particular topic
3. Click on the Search button to run the search
4. Look through the search results. Click Load More Results to see more pages of results. Change your search terms and/or use the filters on the left to modify your search if needed

Click on the title to see more information about the book including a description and maybe even a chapter list.

 When you find a book you are interested in, look for the Available at location.  

• If it is an ebook click on the link and follow any instructions
• If it is a physical book make note of the location in the library. You can click on the Location link to view the general location on a library map
• Make note of the call number. This is the address of the book. It will tell you were where to find it on the shelves.  Call numbers will be listed on the spine of each book. 

To see what books SDSU Library has by a particular author:

1. Select the Books located above the search box on the library home page
2. Use the dropbox to the left of the search box and select Author
3.  Enter the name of the author in the search box 
4. Click on the Search button

Look through the results.  If the author has a common name you may want to add additional details like title of a keyword for the subject they write about. 

If you want to see if the library has a specific book you can search by the title of the book in OneSearch. To do this:

1. Select the Books located above the search box on the library home page
2. Use the dropbox to the left of the search box and select Title 
3.  Enter the title in the search box 
4. Click on the Search button

Look through the results

If your book is listed check to see if there is a link to an ebook copy or the location, call number, and availability of the book.

If you do not see the book, check to see if it is available through another library:  InterLibrary Loan: Getting Materials SDSU Does Not Have