Quick Help
When you know what you want
When you don't know what you want
Using the online library catalog
Library search tools FAQ
Improve your searching
Working with specific collections
Report a problem
If you have a citation, this page will help you learn how to use library tools to access a variety of library resources.
If you still cannot locate what you need, please Ask a Librarian.
- The University Library online catalog is the place to find books in all disciplines, across all of our libraries.
Request a book not at Illinois
- We buy a lot of books, but sometimes we don't own what you're looking for or it's checked out.
- The University Library subscribes to loads of ebooks - this guide will help you find them as well as use them.
- There are several ways to do determine whether or not the library has access to print versions of articles or journals.
- When you know what you are looking for and have all or part of a citation. The CitationLinker is a tool that allows you to search for a specific journal article. Video: Find an Article with a Citation.
Find a specific journal or database
- How to find the journal or database you need.
Find an article not at Illinois
- Sometimes we don't own the article you need, here's how to request it through Interlibrary Loan.
- Learn how to search for course reserves by class or by the name of your instructor.
- The Library has a variety of multimedia resources including DVDs, music scores, sound recordings, 3D objects, and much more!
- Notoriously difficult to find, this guide will give step-by-step instructions for finding conference proceedings in all disciplines.
- A guide to help you find dissertations and master's theses from Illinois, the U.S., and internationally.
- It might be easier to answer the question, what subject matter is NOT covered by government information? The information produced by the government is vast in terms scope (it is hard to find a subject the government does not publish on) and breadth (the government has been publishing research, statistics, reports since its inception).
- Find articles in encyclopedias, dictionaries, and reference books on topics including art, biography, country information, literature, music, psychology, and much more.
- The University Library has many unique collections. Let us introduce you to our incunabula, archival papers, rare books, manuscripts, and much more!
