Help FAQ: Answers!
Library catalog
What is in the Library Catalog?The Library Catalog contains location and holdings information for materials housed in Olin Library and all other WU libraries except the Medical Library, and for cataloged materials housed in the West Campus Library in Clayton. The Catalog also contains records for some electronic resources available on the Internet. More info.
Two versions of the catalog are available:
- Web version: if you connect to the Library Catalog from a graphical browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox or Safari, you are connected to the web version of the catalog. From this version, you can click on the URLs for Internet resources and be connected directly to them.
- Text version: you can connect to the Library Catalog in text-only mode, via a secure shell (SSH) connection. You cannot access the Internet resources directly from this version. But there are one or two search features in the text version that are not available from the web version. Please ask at a reference desk if you are curious about this. To log in, type library at the login: prompt. To disconnect, while viewing the main menu press the letter D.
How do I use the Library Catalog?
Take a look at the What's in the Library Catalog page, and scroll down to the How to Use section. If you have specific questions, or more immediate ones, please stop by the Help Desk in Olin Library, Level 1, or contact your Subject Librarian.
(Return to Help)How do I get to the catalogs of other libraries, like the Medical Library catalog?
The main menu of the web version of the Library Catalog has a link to the Medical Library catalog, as well as to the Law Library catalog. Additional library catalogs are available from the link at the bottom of the main menu of the Library Catalog, or by choosing the link to Additional Library Catalogs on the Libraries homepage, under Find Books & More. You will be given options and instructions for making direct connections to a number of local and Missouri library catalogs, WorldCat (OCLC), and the catalogs of the Center for Research Libraries (Chicago) and the Library of Congress. Links are also provided to a number of lists of college, university, and commercial libraries whose catalogs are accessible on the Internet. In many cases, these lists contain links to the catalogs themselves.
(Return to Help)Can I connect to the Library Catalog and the Libraries website from my home computer?
The Library catalog is available at this URL: http://catalog.wustl.edu; it is available to everyone on the Internet. For access to all the licensed/restricted resources in the website (databases, electronic journals, etc.) please follow these instructions: Off-Campus Access.
(Return to Help)I have a call number, what does it mean and where do I find the item?
In addition to the call number, you need to note the location indicated on the catalog record for the item: after all, it does no good to look in Olin Library for a book that's in Art & Architecture! So the first step is to go to the correct library. For Olin Library, we have an online Collections Location Guide which shows the locations of the call numbers. In other campus libraries, ask at the circulation or reference desks for assistance. You may also request to have a book delivered from one campus library to another for you to pick up; you do this by clicking the 'Request' button when viewing the record for the book you want in the Library Catalog and indicating to which library you want the book delivered.
(Return to Help)What does "status" mean in the online catalog?
There are a number of messages that appear in the online catalog, when viewing the record for an item, that indicate whether it is on the shelf, or checked out, etc. Here's a complete list of the status messages and what they mean.
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