"Search Anything"

When you perform a search in the standard catalog search bar, you will be able to discover: Books (electronic and print); Journals, magazines, and newspapers; DVDs, CDs, and scores; Digital images; Government documents. Being able to discover such a variety of resources may be useful to you as you begin your research.

Using the "Search Anything" function can also pose some challenges. For instance, you may find that there are too many results to analyze. In this instance, you may want to refine your search terms or use the facets to the left (located under the "Tweak Your Results" heading) to refine your results. Furthermore, using the catalog may not discover all of the scholarly articles on a particular topic or figure. To complete that task, we may still need to use electronic databases, such as the MLA International Bibliography, JSTOR, or Project Muse.

Performing an Advanced Search

Performing an "Advanced Search" can be a great way to refine your search results. For instance, if you want to discover texts that Shakespeare authored, you would want to perform an "Advanced Search" and limit your search to include results that only retrieve those texts. Given the volume of material published on Shakespeare, his life, and his work, an "Advanced Search" is a more precise way to get what you need.

As you can see, this "Advanced Search" enables you to search for only those books authored by William Shakespeare. These books will be available in either print or electronic format.

Reviewing a Record

Let's examine this record for Richard III. You will notice that this is part of the Arden Shakespeare Third Series, which is considered to be the gold standard in annotated, scholarly editions of Shakespeare's plays. 

The record provides you with necessary information, including:

1. The title, author, and editor of the edition.
2. The call number PR2821.A2 S252 2009. In this case, this edition of Richard III lives in Literatures and Languages.
3. The book's circulation status. In this case, the green lettering that prefaces the location code indicates that the book is available.
4. A variety of features, including the ability to send the record to yourself, export it to your bibliographic management software, or browse other related titles by selecting "Virtual Browse."

Request Items

You can use the new catalog to place a request for a particular item. 

Be sure to sign in to your account. If you have not signed into your account, the yellow banner on the record will instruct you to do so. Click on the link to "Sign In."

Now that you have logged in to your account, you can begin to process your request. After clicking the link to request the item, you will have the option to input where you would like to pick up the book and comment on the request. If you require this in print or have any other details to communicate with the library, please use the "Comment" field.

Once you have processed your request, you can check its status, as well as find all information related to your library account, by selecting from the drop down menu below your name. This menu enables you to see your pending and fulfilled requests, loans, fines, and other information.

If you have any questions about your account, feel free to contact your subject librarian or the Literatures and Languages Library at litlang@library.illinois.edu

Search I-Share

If you cannot find what you need at UIUC, be sure to search the I-share catalog to find materials at other libraries in Illinois. As you can see, the I-share catalog interface appears exactly the same as our local catalog. As a result, please use the same process for finding and requesting material as you would when using the UIUC Library's catalog.

Now, let's search the I-share catalog to discover content that you can request from other libraries in Illinois. Below you will find a record for an item that it not available in any of the UIUC libraries.

Click on the "Request from I-Share Libraries" and fill in the form to request the item from another I-Share Library.

To check the status of your request, visit your account. You can access your account by clicking on your name as it appears in the upper right hand corned of the catalog.

Search WorldCat

Can't find what you need at UIUC or in any one of the many libraries in Illinois? No problem. Use WorldCat to search for books throughout the world and ILL what you need for pickup at UIUC. You can access WorldCat quickly from the UIUC Library homepage.

Remember, that when you search WorldCat, you will also retrieve results from the UIUC Library and other I-Share Libraries. Searching WorldCat can be most advantageous when you already know the title of a particular work and have already checked the U of I Collection and the I-Share collection for what you need. WorldCat can also be useful for discovering the most recently published material, or items that may soon be published.

Below, you will find a WorldCat search to find the most recently published work by Jacques Derrida.

Note, that we are searching for material published in 2020. Let's take a look at one of our results.

As you can see, this record not only tells you this item's location, but it also gives you the option to place an Interlibrary Loan Request should the item not be available at UIUC or any of the other I-Share libraries. To submit an ILL request, make sure that you are logged in to your account. Then, click on the "Interlibrary Loan Request" button immediately below the "Check Availability" option. This will automatically populate an ILL request.

Submit your ILL request. You will receive an email notification when the book is available for you to pick up from the library. Be sure to access your account to check the status of any outstanding ILL requests.