CST 110: The Library Catalog (Search@UW)

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use Search@UW.

After completing this tutorial you should be able to:

• Describe the different types of information you can find in Search@UW.

• Create a simple search strategy to find relevant items from Search@UW for your research.

• Find the items you need in Murphy Library, as well as in the UW System or another library.

Estimate completion time: 10 minutes.

Search@UW is a tool that allows you to search for books, movies, government documents, and journal articles. You can use Search@UW to find materials owned by any library in the UW System, but you can also use it to focus your search on only the materials owned by Murphy Library.

Watch the video below to learn how to search for resources in Search@UW, as well as how to search just Murphy Library's collection. 

Now that you know how to use Search@UW, let's talk about how to begin your research.

Before beginning your research, you should develop a specific purpose or thesis statement. Doing this will help you to keep your research on track.

Once you've come up with a thesis statement, you should brainstorm a list of keywords related to that statement. For instance, if your thesis or research topic is "Climate change is the primary contributor to melting Arctic ice sheets." Then your keywords might be: 

For a more in-depth look into keywords and how to use them, you can watch the video below. Developing a list of keywords prior to beginning your search is a great way to save time and increase your flexibility as you look for relevant information.

Once you have your list of keywords, you can begin to plug them into Search@UW. A good rule of thumb is to use one keyword per concept in your thesis statement. If we stick to the list of keywords we just brainstormed, then our search might look like: 

Global warming AND Arctic AND ice sheet AND melting

If this particular combination doesn't work as we expected it to, we can swap out one keyword for another from our list until we find a combination that does work.

Using Search@UW allows you to narrow down your search results in a variety of ways.

Watch the video below for examples of how to narrow down your keyword search by subject and resource type.

Once you've located some relevant resources in Search@UW, you need to find them on the shelves at Murphy Library or request the materials from a different library.

To find an item on the shelf at Murphy Library, you need three pieces of information:

1. Availability
2. Location information
3. Call number

Everything you need to know is highlighted in this Search@UW record. (Links to an external site.)

Once you have located your item in Murphy Library, you can take it down to the circulation desk and check it out using your student id card. Use this map of the library (Links to an external site.) to locate the circulation desk.

If you need a resource that is not owned by Murphy Library, you can use Resource Sharing

Resource sharing is a service that allows UW-L students, faculty, retired faculty and staff to search the catalogs of all other libraries in the University of Wisconsin System and request titles (books, multimedia) not currently available in Murphy Library.

Watch the video below for an example of how to place a Resource Sharing request.

If you use Resource Sharing, materials will be delivered directly to the circulation desk at Murphy Library. Materials are typically delivered within one week. You can also visit any other UW library and check out their materials with your UW-L ID card.

In the future, if you want to check out a book through Resource Sharing, you would click on the Get It link (under the item's title and availability note), sign-in with your NetID and password, and click on the UW Request link.

Make sure to enter the "Not Needed After date" and then click on the orange Request button to submit your Resource Sharing request.