This guide points to library resources that will assist you in completing your papers and research for courses throughout your time at Hiram.
We're here to help!
Here are some ways to get assistance:
Contact Janet Vogel, your class librarian. I can be contacted by email (vogelj@hiram.edu), or stop by my office in the library next to the elevator on the 1st floor. I typically work M-F 8:30-5:30 and will be glad to help if I'm available. To guarantee I'll be there, please set up an appointment by emailing me in advance.
Contact any of the librarians using library@hiram.edu.
Contact the Circulation Desk via phone at (330)569-5489, or in-person for questions related to your account, finding call numbers, etc. The library is open 7 days per week during the school year. Visit our hours page for complete details.
If prompted for a library barcode to access library materials, use your student ID number (found on the front of your ID card).
The first time you check out materials, student staff will register the barcode that is on the back of your ID card. You can then use either that number (with no spaces) or your student ID number when prompted for a barcode.
If you have any questions or if there is a problem with your account, please email library@hiram.edu with your name, Hiram Student ID number (on the front of your ID), and the number on the barcode on the back of your ID. We will update your account within 1 business day.
OneSource is a way to search the Hiram College Library catalog, the OhioLINK catalog, and many of the library’s databases with a single search. OneSource employs a single search box, much like Google, to search multiple resources. OneSource may miss the most recent entries in a database, especially the Hiram College Library catalog.
Since terminology tends to vary across different disciplines, most researchers use a keyword search when using a resource like OneSource. While a keyword search will return a large number of varying results (like Google), you can limit these results after it’s completed using the filter options on the left hand side of the page. Happy searching!
Please contact library staff for help with narrowing your search to find the materials you want.
Our catalog lists books (including eBooks), CDs, DVDs, journal titles (but not individual articles within journals), government documents, and microforms. If you are not sure how to search for materials in the catalog, see the Search Strategies below or contact us.
Need to know how to find it on the shelf? Try this: Track Down Your Book .
Didn’t find anything useful? Try the OhioLINK catalog. And don’t forget the SearchOhio link on the OhioLINK catalog as a way to expand your search. Remember that OneSource searches everything the library has access to.
Need to find still more? Try WorldCat and/or Google Books.
Search strategies for finding 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.
Material Type (book, eBook, etc.)
Select a material type from the dropdown to limit to a Book (physical item), eBook (digital item), musical recording, map, and more.
Collection:
Select the Collection limiter to reduce your results to a particular part of the library, such as the film collection, juvenile collection, or government documents. Since the Government Documents collection is so large, it can sometimes overwhelm your results. Use the "All Collections Except Gov Docs" limiter to remove them from your search.
Find Books in the Juvenile Collection (2nd floor)
How it is Arranged?
The Juvenile Collection (also known as the Kids Books or the Children’s Collection) is actually four collections in one. What they have in common is:
The four collections are called:
Juvenile, which is the location given in the brief catalog record below:
| LOCATION | CALL # | STATUS |
| JUVENILE | 597.89 Jen | AVAILABLE |
The Juvenile collection contains non-fiction books, such a books about animals, biographies, as well as counting books and alphabet books. It is arranged by Dewey Decimal call numbers.
Juvenile Fiction, which is the location given in the brief catalog record below:
| LOCATION | CALL # | STATUS |
| JUVENILE FICTION | JF Se81b 2011 | AVAILABLE |
Juvenile Fiction contains beginning to read, middle grade, and young adult fiction. It is arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name.
Picture books (call number begins with PB) contains picture books and are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name.
Board books (call number begins with BB) are books with thick, cardboard pages, typically for younger children. They are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name and stored in bins below the picture books.
How Do I Find Juvenile Books in the Online Catalog?
There are three tricks to finding fiction books (and sometimes non-fiction books) using the catalog. Let’s suppose you are looking for books on frogs. Here are two ways to find juvenile books on frogs:
Go to the Database A-Z List to sort databases by subject and other categories and see full descriptions of each database.
A library database is a searchable electronic index of published, reliable resources. Databases provide access to a wealth of useful research materials from academic journals, newspapers, and magazines. While there are some databases that are good for general research inquiries, many databases are subject specific, providing targeted information in selected areas of research. Some databases also include e-books, relevant Web resources, and various multimedia.
Library databases are different from internet sources. To access the databases provided by the Hiram College Library, you'll need to either be on campus on the Hiram College network, or you'll need to sign in when accessing from off campus.
If you know the database you're looking for, jump directly to it from the list here:
Use this search bar to look for databases by keyword:
Here is a list of the most commonly used databases in Hiram's collection:
Please Note:
You do not need to submit an interlibrary loan request to have a book from OhioLINK sent to the Hiram College Library. You can request materials on your own with your library barcode number. For help with requesting a book through OhioLINK, please contact our staff:
Materials take 3 to 5 business days (or sometimes longer) to arrive.
You will be notified by email when your materials arrive.
Books not picked up after 10 days are automatically returned.
Requests are blocked if:
You can check the status of your requests by checking your library account.
You do not need to submit an interlibrary loan request to have a book from SearchOhio sent to the Hiram College Library. You can request materials on your own with your library barcode number. For help with requesting a book through SearchOhio, please contact our staff.
The easiest way to locate a particular journal or magazine is to use the search box above.
What does using this search help you with?
What does this search NOT help you with?
Some issues that you may encounter when looking for Journals & Magazines.
You will be prompted to login to the EJC when accessing from off campus. See Connecting from Off Campus for help with logging in.
The OhioLINK Electronic Book Center (EBC) contains more than 125,000 e-book titles, covering numerous subjects, and includes scholarly monographs, encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference works. Most e-books are permanently owned by OhioLINK. Content is funded through a combination of member library contributions and OhioLINK central funds.
You will be prompted to login to the EBC when accessing from off campus. See Connecting from Off Campus for help with logging in.
The WorldCat Catalog
Search WorldCat if you have exhausted other options for locating the items you need (Hiram's Library Catalog, OhioLink/SearchOhio, OneSource, etc.). WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. Currently, this shared catalog contains the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories.
If you find something in WorldCat that you want but can't find it in the Hiram College Library collection or OhioLINK you'll need to fill out an InterLibrary Loan Form to request the item.
The time required to locate and obtain these materials can vary so please be proactive in your research. When in doubt please visit the library and talk to our librarians for help.
Tips:
Your search of the online catalog of Books, CDs, and DVDs in the Hiram College Library has led you to the following. How do you find it on the shelf? How do you know if it is an eBook or a print book?
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| LOCATION | CALL # | STATUS | ||||||||
| HIRAM Main Collection | 320.1 Toc-K 2010 | AVAILABLE | ||||||||
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 thousand sections. Numbers are placed after a decimal point to further identify material more specifically by subject.
The following table below will help with the most frequent locations.
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.
Table of Locations
| Location | Call Number | Arranged by | Floor |
| Main Collection | 0 through 799.99999999 | Dewey Call Number | 2nd floor |
| Main Collection | 800 through 999.999999 | Dewey Call Number | 3rd floor |
| Fiction | Call numbers start with "F" | Alphabetically by Author | 4th floor (Clock Tower) |
| Music Scores | All call numbers | Dewey Call Number | 2nd floor |
| CD Collection | Call numbers start with musical genre | Genre then composer or artist | Lower Level Chamberlain Room |
| Film Collection | 0 through 999.9999999 | Dewey Call Number | Lower Level Chamberlain Room |
| Film Collection | Call numbers start with "Feature Film" | Alphabetically by Title | Lower Level Chamberlain Room |
| Juvenile Nonfiction | 0 through 999.9999999 | Dewey Call Number | 2nd floor |
| Juvenile Fiction | Call numbers start with "JF" | Alphabetically by Author | 2nd floor |
| Picture Books | Call numbers start with "PB" | Alphabetically by Author | 2nd floor |
| Board Books | Call numbers start with "BB" | Alphabetically by Author | 2nd floor |
| Oversize | Call numbers start with a "Q" | Dewey Call Number | 2nd floor |
| Folio | Call numbers start with "Folio" | Dewey Call Number | 2nd floor |
| Government Documents | Call numbers start with an abbreviation of the agency that produced the document | SuDocs system | 3rd floor |
The following table below will help with the most frequent locations.
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.
Table of Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
| Available | Should be on Shelf. If you cannot find the item, please ask us! |
| Due (followed by a date) | Checked out and is due back on date given. You may borrow a copy through OhioLINK, if a copy is available. |
| Due (followed by a date) Off Campus | Checked out to an OhioLINK borrower and due on the date given. You may borrow a copy through OhioLINK, if a copy is available. |
| New Book Shelf | May be found on the New Book Shelf on the main floor and may be checked out. |
| Missing |
Book cannot be found. You may borrow a copy through OhioLINK, if a copy is available. |
| In Repair | Book is damaged and waiting to be repaired. You may borrow a copy through OhioLINK, if a copy is available. |
| Lib Use Only | Should be on the shelf. May not be checked out, but may be used in the library. |
| Use Online | An Internet resource that you may use online. Check the full record for the link to the item or click "View Online." |
| In Process | The book has been ordered. It may not have arrived yet, or it may be waiting for its labels and stickers before it goes on the shelf. If you have an urgent need for a title "In Process," contact library@hiram.edu with the book's full title and author. |
What if the book is checked out?
If a book is checked out, the Library Catalog will indicate when it will be returned. You then have three options:
What if the book has a link instead of a call number?
The library has some items which which will not be on the shelves but instead available directly by clicking on them. Also Hiram College Library is a Federal Depository Library and may have resources from the Federal Government that are electronic. If you see “Electronic Resource” or "View Online" instead of a call number, click on the title to open the record and then click the link to view the item online.
What if the Library Catalog does not list the book I need?
If the Hiram College Library does not have the book you need, please check through the OhioLink Catalog and/or SearchOhio. Both of these sources can have the titles you need and can be requested simply and easily through the catalog itself. If all else fails you can request the title by using the Inter Library Loan Form. You may also request the book be purchased for the library by emailing the librarians at library@hiram.edu.
The words "AND," "OR," and "NOT" can help you make a search more precise. This is called Boolean searching, and it can seem really intimidating, but once you get the hang of them, Boolean searches can really help you!
For example, the search 'films AND psychology NOT children', will return a search with results that contain the keywords 'films' and 'pyschology' but not 'children' - important if you are only looking at adolescent psychology in films.
Learn more with this guide from the MIT libraries. It really helps explain Boolean searching, and you don’t have to be a computer scientist to understand!
