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School for Professional Studies

Finding Books in the SLU Libraries Tutorial

How to Get a Book

1. Search the SLU Libraries Catalog by title, author, subject, or keyword.

2. When you find a book, make note of its current status (checked out or available), library location, and call number. Pius Library location links are clickable and lead to a call number location guide

3. Go to the appropriate library and floor to retrieve your book and check it out at the library's circulation desk with your SLU ID.

To find books in Missouri's academic libraries (and a few public libraries), search the MOBIUS Catalog

To find books in Colorado and Wyoming, search Prospector. 

To find books in U.S. libraries (and beyond), search WorldCat

How to Read a Library of Congress Call Number

Source: University of Arkansas Libraries

Read the call number line by line

E
Read first line in alphabetical order

A, B, BF, BS, C, D, E, F, G, GN, ...L, LA, LB, LC, ... M, ML, MT, N, P, PA, PN, Q, QA, QB, QC, QD, ..., Z

184
Read the second line as a whole number

1, 2, 3, 10, 55, 100, 142, 184, 201, 2000, 2450, 3000, ... 9999

.A1
Read the letter on the third (and possibly fourth) line first, then read the number as a decimal

.A1 = A, then .1

.M45 = M, then .45

1992
Finally, read the year the book was published

1984, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2008,...