Use the search box below to run a quick search for books, or use the advanced search page to limit your material type to books prior to searching.
1. Use the search box within the "Search our catalog" box on this page to input your keywords.
2. Look to the column on the right under the "Material type" section and click "Books."
3. Now look to the right column again under "Show only." Click "Available in the Library."
4. See a title that looks interesting? The information you need to find it in-person is right there in the list of results. The entry itself often has other information to help you determine if it's useful, so click on the title if you want to know more about it first.
5. Before coming to the library, check our hours and make sure you have your UMass Pass to check out the book!
Jacob Lawrence, The Library, 1960, tempera on fiberboard, 24 x 29 7/8" (60.9 x 75.8 cm),
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=14376.
Our library uses Library of Congress Classification to organize our books by call number. If you know a little bit about what the call numbers stand for, you can browse the stacks more efficiently.
Here are some relevant call numbers for Art Education students and what they represent, particularly noting the ranges related to teaching within the arts and crafts.
3rd Floor:
N - Visual Arts
N 81-390 - Study and teaching. Research
NA - Architecture
NA 2000-2320 - Study and teaching. Research
NB - Sculpture
NB 1120-1133 - Study and teaching. Research
NC - Drawing, Design, Illustration
NC 390-670 - Study and teaching
ND - Painting
ND 1115-1120 - Study and teaching
NE - Print Media
NE 970-973 - Study and teaching
NK - Decorative Arts
NX - Arts in General
NX 280-410 - Study and teaching. Research
Click here for a more thorough explanation of the Art call numbers.
5th Floor:
L - Education (General)
LA - History of Education
LB - Theory and Practice of Education
LC - Special Aspects of Education
LD - Individual Institutions - United States
LE - Individual Institutions - America (except United States)
LF - Individual Institutions - Europe
LG - Individual Institutions - Asia, Africa, Indian Ocean islands, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands
LH - College and School Magazines and Papers
LG - Student Fraternities and Societies, United States
LT - Textbooks
Click here for a more thorough explanation of the Education call numbers.
TR - Photography
TT - Handicrafts. Arts and Crafts
TT 161-170.7 - Manual training. School shops
Click here for a more thorough explanation of the Technology call numbers (look to TR and TT specifically).
Here's a quick guide on how to read call numbers in our library (and most other academic libraries).
The first line is read in alphabetical order.
Read the second line in numerical order.
The third line is tricky. Read the letter in alphabetical order then the number as a decimal.
Sometimes the fourth line will look like this and you read it exactly like the other line.
When you see a line near the bottom that looks like a year, it is a year! This goes in numerical order.
You could think of a call number like a detailed address in reverse: planet, country, state, city, street, street number. Each line helps you narrow down the book's exact location!