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Researching Poetry: Library Catalog

Poetry can be difficult to research. This guide will provide tips and tricks for using our databases to discover journal resources on poetry topics.

Locating Poetry Books

The Library collections include both physical books containing poetry, as well as digital materials. This page will show you how to locate both. 

Finding Poetry in the Library Catalog

The following is an overview of using the library catalog. For a fuller description, with images of the searching process, click through the tabs above. 

  1. To find books or e-books using our online catalog, go to the library homepage, and use the link for "Library Catalog."

  2. Perform a search for your desired poem. You can search by author/poet name, or if there is a specific poem you already know the title of, you can perform a search for that specific work (2.5).

  3. To find a physical book in our collection, choose the "Held by Library" option under the Availability filter.

  4. "Online Access" materials are available through links directly in the catalog. To look for e-books specifically, choose "Books" under Resource Type and "Full Text Online" under Availability. Click the link in the record under View Online to access the e-book.

To find books or electronic books using our online catalog, go to the main library homepage, and use the link for our "Library Catalog."

You will be taken to our Online catalog. You can begin your search by typing a keyword into the "search anything" box, or use the advanced search option at the right. 

There are several ways you can search the catalog for poems. If you are generally looking for works by a specific poet, you can perform a general search for an author + "poems" or "poetry". This may help you find anthology works, or collections of works on one author, or subject area. The example below will use Edgar Allan Poe. You may notice that there are both physical and digital resources listed. 

If you are looking for a specific poem, you can add a specific poem title to the catalog search bar. For titles that contain several words, it may help to put quotation marks around the title.

Again, our catalog will contain a variety of resources. As well as anthology works, you may find video resources--in this case we see resources from our Digital Theatre database that includes analytical works, as well as a video resource that is a reading of the poem. 

If you are looking for a physical book you can check out from the Houff Library, use the Availability filter on the right to limit the catalog results. Check the box next to "Held by Library" under the Availability to limit the results to just materials shelved here in the library. 

You can click on the title to find out more information about a book, or grab it from our shelves by using the call number (seen in purple). Your active filters are remembered by the catalog, so if you want to change any of these either press reset, or X out of filters individually. If you have any questions about finding a book in Houff, please ask one of the librarians at the information desk.

To access e-books, use the filters at the right and check the box next to "Full Text Online" and/or "Open Access" under the Availability filter, and "Books" under Resource Type. This will limit the results to book materials in our digital holdings.

Interlibrary Loan Requests

Link to Interlibrary Loan form

Interlibrary loan, often abbreviated as ILL, is free a service that enables patrons to borrow materials from other libraries. Physical materials will be mailed to Houff Library for patrons to pick up, while electronic article requests will be sent directly to your BRCC email. 

Book requests generally take 2-7 days to arrive. Article requests usually take 1-3 days to fulfill. 

It is best to start your research assignments early to get requests processed and materials shipped in time. You can submit requests for books and articles not available at our library using this form, or by clicking on the banner image.

Navigating the Physical Book Collection

How are books arranged on the shelves?

Libraries use classification systems to organize books on the shelves. Most colleges follow the Library of Congress classification system which uses letters and numbers to arrange books so that items on the same subject are together on the shelf. 

Each subject area has a corresponding letter or group of letters with it. For example, science books are found in the Q section while the History of Education is found in the LA section. These letters and numbers are usually located on the spine of the book and are called "call numbers.

*If you find one book on the shelf that works perfectly for your research interest, make sure to check the surrounding books because they might also be perfect resources for your research.