There are literally hundreds of questions that you may be asking yourself as you do research and use the resources available to you at Hiram College Library. The links to the left have been created to address some of these questions and help educate you on how the library works.
However we would also like to hear from you about what questions we haven't answered for you yet. Contact us directly at library@hiram.edu about whatever question you think we should answer and put on the website. This is your chance to help current and future students and faculty at Hiram!
Understanding Book Location
On every entry in the Hiram College Library catalog you will find a section below the Title that looks like this:
LOCATION entry tells you where the item is located physically in the building.
Main Collection |
These can be found on floor 2 and 3 of the building. |
Fiction |
These books can be found on the 4th floor. |
Juvenile Fiction |
All Juvenile Fiction is found on the Lower Level (LL). |
Quarto |
Larger than average books are found on the 2nd floor NE of the building. |
Folio |
The largest of our books are located next to the elevator on the left overlooking the flag room. |
Dewey Decimal Classification
The main Dewey Decimal classes are:
000 Generalities
100 Philosophy and psychology
200 Religion
300 Social Sciences
400 Language
500 Natural sciences and mathematics
600 Technology (Applied sciences)
700 The arts (fine and decorative)
800 Literature and rhetoric
900 Geography and history
Each class is further subdivided at the hundred divisions and the the thousand sections. Numbers are placed after a decimal point to further identify material more specifically by subject.
Locating Books in Hiram Catalog
All print and electronic materials in the Hiram College Collection can be found by searching the online catalog. Materials not owned by us can be located at other libraries using the Ohiolink Catalog or the WorldCat catalog.
Discovering materials in our Catalog
Keyword Searching
This search looks for matching documents that contain one or more words specified by the you anywhere in the catalog. It is good for finding the largest possible return. However it can also result in materials that have nothing to do with your subject.Subject Searching
In the library catalog, select "Subject" in the drop down box to the left of the search field, then type in the box: Baseball (or, more specialized terms, such as: planetary motion; armadillo diseases; etc.).The "*" is a truncation symbol that will retrieve various forms of each word, for example, use regulat* to find results like regulation, regulatory, regulators. The "and" will require that both terms appear, but not necessarily in the same phrase.
Title or Author Searches
In the library catalog, choose "Title" to locate a specific work or, choose "Author" to find books written by a particular author.
Understanding Book Status.
On every entry in the Hiram College Library catalog you will find a section below the Title that looks like this:
STATUS entry tells you if it is on the shelf or not and if not, why.
Status Codes
Available |
The book should be on the shelf and eligible to be checked out. |
Due (date) |
The book has been checked out and should be back by the date listed. |
Missing |
Materials have been declared lost and have not been reordered. |
New Book Shelf |
Brand new books are located to the right of the student computers as you enter the library. |