The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library is home to one of North America's largest and richest public research library collections. The library catalog is the first place you should look for books (both physical copies and ebooks), journals and magazines, video games, maps, and more!

This page will walk you through searching for and requesting books and media through the catalog. If there's something you need for your research that you can't find in our catalog, be sure to check out the next page on requesting materials from beyond UIUC.

Please note that a library account is required to request books from the catalog, renew physical items you've checked out, and save materials. However, you do not need a library account to access ebooks or other electronic materials.

Your library account is tied to your I-Card; for help with your account, check out our documentation on creating an account.

To search the library catalog, start from the library's homepage, http://www.library.illinois.edu, then scroll down to the row of icons under the "Find Materials" heading.

1. Select "U of I Collection" (the first option under "Find Materials"); this will open the library catalog
2. Type keywords into the search bar to perform a basic, simple search
3. Or, click on "Advanced Search" (to the right of the search bar) to search for an exact author, title, or subject
4. Once you've performed a search, use the filters in the "Tweak Your Results" column to the left of your results to narrow and refine your search

To walk through a sample search and explore the various filters available, check out our short video below or use the "Using the Library Catalog" guide that explains how to log into an account, search the catalog, and how to renew and request items.

Once you've found an item that interests you in the catalog, click on the title to open the record. If we have the resource in print, check the “Locations” section to see which library has it and write down the call number (listed beneath the library name), as you’ll need this information to find it on the shelf. To access a resource we have online, simply follow the links listed under "View Online > Full text availability".

If you can't or don't want to go to the shelves in person to retrieve the materials you need, you can place a request through the library catalog to have it pulled for you.

Log into your library account and select an option from the "Get It" section of the item record to request the physical item (which will be pulled for you and held for pickup at a library of your choice) or, if you only need a chapter or two, you can request a scan by selecting "DocExpress Scan a Chapter/Portion".

If any item is not available in the University of Illinois Library Catalog, you can search within the I-Share catalog, which includes most academic libraries in the state of Illinois. 

Any time you are searching within the University of Illinois Library Catalog you can switch to searching all of I-Share simply by selecting "All I-Share Libraries" from the drop-down menu next to the search bar. 

Requesting materials in the I-Share catalog works the same way as it does in the University of Illinois Library Catalog and requires the same log-in information. You can also view all I-Share books you have checked out in your online library account. 

If you cannot find something in both the University of Illinois Library Catalog and the I-Share Catalog you can make a request through Interlibrary Loan.

Keep in mind that the following materials cannot be requested using this service:

• Items found in the Library Catalog or I-Share catalog and marked as “available”
• Textbooks
• Materials on Reserve