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POLIT/AFCNA 234 Black Metropolis: From MLK to Obama: Locating Books

LITS Tip

The Five College Catalog results page offers a way of virtually browsing the shelves in the stacks. Click "browse shelf" next to "request item." This will give you the option to see similar titles that may also be useful for your research project. 

Course Books

Using The Five College Library Catalog

You can request an item from any of the Five College Libraries using the Five College CatalogYou can also use the library catalog to find reference sources such as specialized encyclopedias. Perform a keyword search for your topic in the catalog box and add one of the words below:

  • encyclopedia
  • dictionary
  • handbook
  • guide
  • atlas

 in
 Mount Holyoke College  Five Colleges

 

For more options, use the Advanced Search

Found something in another library? Click on "request item" for delivery to MHC through Interlibrary Loan

Check Your Knowledge: Reading Call Numbers

Call numbers are the group of numbers usually located on the spine of a book that serve as its "address." Each book in our library has a distinctive call number. Mount Holyoke uses the Library of Congress Classification system, which is different from the Dewey Decimal Classification that is used in public and K-12 libraries. 

Example of call number order:

N66 .B634 1999
NA 9 .A34 2005
NA 20 .G4 2001
NA 100.G411.2001
NA 100 .G47 2008

How to read call number: N66 .B634 1999

  • N-describes the subject arearead in alphabetical order
  • 66-describes the topic: read as a whole number
  • .B634-describes the author's last name: read in alphabetical order, then the number as a decimal
  • 1999 -date of publication: read in chronological order

MHC Book Locations

LITS Maps

Levels 1-7 Williston

Level 1 -  D

Level 2 - E-HD 

Level 2 ½ - X-Folio (extra large)

Level 3 - HE-JZ

Level 4 - JK-NX, Reference

Level 5 - P-PQ3999

Level 6 - PQ 4000- PS 3499

Level 7 - PS 2500- PT

Levels 1-7 Miles-Smith

Level 1 - Cutter

Level 2- A-C

Level 4 - Information Commons, MEWS

Level 6 - Q - S

Level 7- PZ, T-Z

Stevens Music and Dance Library: Pratt Hall

Music (M)

Reference Books

Featured Books

MHC Accessibility Barriers Form