The books in the King's Library are organized by Library of Congress call numbers, which can seem overwhelming at first.
Each LoC call number is made up of a series of letters and numbers in a particular order. Here's an example:
BL - The first set of letters is the general subject of the book
820 - The number is the specific subject
H45 - This letter usually represents the author's last name
H84 - This set of letter and numbers further identifies the book
2005 - This number represents the year the book was published
The best place to begin your search is the Novanet catalogue, which contains all holdings at all of the university and community college libraries in Nova Scotia and Mount Allison University Library in New Brunswick.
If you would like to limit your search to the King's Library or Dalhousie, you can select this option in your search. You can also request items from other libraries using Novanet Express.
A Novanet search will bring up both print and e-resources. You have the option to filter your search to focus on one or the other if desired. Other search filters include limiting your results based on publication date, owning library, type of resource (book, article, dissertation, etc.), and language.
If the book you are looking for is not in Novanet, click on the Interlibrary Loans tab to learn how to order it.
Novanet searches will display both print and e-books.
Some of the most frequently consulted e-book collections are listed below.
Materials not available at King's or another Novanet library can be obtained from libraries worldwide by placing a request through Interlibrary Loan Services. You can request to have the item sent to the King's Library, or request a photocopy of a chapter or article emailed to you directly.
To find books beyond Novanet, try searching the OCLC WorldCat database.
WorldCat allows you to search for the exact edition of the item you are looking for, and find out which libraries own a copy. Entering this information in your ILL request makes the interlibrary loan process smoother and more efficient on our end, meaning you will receive your item faster because you have retrieved the correct information for us.