Finding Information

Books and journals are the main resources university students use to find information for their course.

A journal is an academic magazine. Journals contain articles written by and for, university staff and students. Journals are sometimes called serials or periodicals.

What is the catalogue?

You can find a list of all the books and journals held by UTS Library in the Catalogue.

It’s the place to start when you have a reading list. You can search by the title of the book or Journal Title.

If you want to browse for books on a topic use a Keyword search.

DISCOVER your Resources

The image below is linked to a fullpage PDF flowchart.

How do I find books and journals on the shelves?

Each item in the Library’s collection is listed in the catalogue and has either a call number and/or a link to a database.

If the item has a call number, then it is shelved in the Library. The call number will help you find the item on the shelves.

Call numbers range from 001 to 999 and usually include a decimal point followed by 4 letters or more numbers (they can be quite long!).

Each number represents a broad subject area for example 658 is the number for management; 720 architecture; 346 business law.

Numbers after the decimal points represent more specific subjects for example 658.404 is the number for project management; 720.483 for tall buildings; 347.674 for e-commerce law.

On the shelves, items are arranged in numerical order from left to right.

Start with the first three numbers, then if there’s a decimal point keep moving to the right as the numbers get bigger, until you reach your item. For more details see Shelfwise.

You will notice some books are held in Reserve. These are books in high demand such as textbooks. You can borrow them for 2 hours for reading in the Library. Reserve is located at the Enquiries and Loans Desk.

Check Subject Resources for eReadings, Reserve and past exam papers. eReadings are electronic copies of lecture notes, journal articles and book chapters. Enter your subject number or name to see what is available.

Location of books and journals

In the City Campus (Blake Library) books and journals are shelved as separate collections.

• Books are shelved onLevels 3, 4 and 5
• Journals are shelved on Level 5
• The law collection which is shelved on Level 3

In the Kuring-gai Campus Library books and journals are shelved together.

Signage and printed floorplans in the libraries will help you locate specific books and journals.

Journals and databases

When you know the name of the journal you want to find, do a Journal Title search in the catalogue.

Listen to 'Finding journal articles using the catalogue' (mp3). This tutorial will guide you through the process.

If you want to browse for articles without having a particular journal in mind, use Journal databases.

Journal databases store electronic copies of journal articles. The Library subscribes to over 300 databases for UTS staff and students to use for their teaching and research. Databases are specifically designed for use by university students and staff. You can find databases relevant to your subject and search for journal articles by clicking on Find Databases in the Quick Links on every page of the Library website. 
Note: The electronic version of a journal article is equal to the hard copy.

This may be your first time using databases. There are a number of ways to learn how to find information using databases

• listen to our series of tutorials (mp3)
• view our Online tutorials
• attend one of the Library workshops
• ask staff for help at the Research Help Desk

Study guides

Study guides have been designed to give you a quick introduction to the best resources in a subject area. Study guides list suggestions for catalogue searching and the most relevent journal databases.

More tutorials

Google Scholar (MP3 - 682 KB)

Shelfwise