How to Find Books on the Shelf
Finding Books on the Shelf
Once you've located a book you're interested in, you'll want to look at its location.
- Location: Indicates what library a book is located in.
For example, the book above is available at the Main Stacks and the Undergraduate Library. * Note, if the location is Oak Street Facility [request only], the book is housed in the off-site storage facility and you will need to use your Library Account to request the book. It will take ~24-48 hours to receive the book.
- Call Number: Where on the shelf a book can be found.
The Undergraduate uses the Library of Congress (LC) Classification to organize its books (they start with a letter). Most other libraries, including the Main Stacks, continue to be organized using Dewey Decimal (they start with a number). Check out how to read call numbers for more information.
- Copy: In the example above, the UIUC libraries have two copies. Copy 1 lives at Main Stacks. Copy 2 is at the Undergraduate Library.
- Status: There are different status you might see.
- Available - The item is on the shelf.
- At the Bindery - The item was damaged and is being rebound and will be available for checked when work has been completed.
- Damaged - The item cannot be checked out and is being repaired or in the process of being replaced.
- In Process - The item is unavailable until no longer being processed.
- In Transit - The item has been requested by another patron and is in transit for pick up.
- Lost - A patron is unable to locate the item and it is unavailable.
- Missing - The library is unable to locate the item and it unavailable.
- Overdue - The item has not been returned by another patron.
