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!
100Landschaftsarchitektur, Jardin de la Connaissance, 2010, books, multi-colored wooden plates, and mushrooms, 250 sq. meters, Quebec, https://www.archdaily.com/72833/jardin-de-la-connaissance-100landschaftsarchitektur.
Our library uses the Library of Congress Call Number Classification System to organize our books. If you know a little bit about what the call numbers stand for, you can browse the stacks more efficiently.
Here are the main subclasses and a few sub-subclasses that interior architecture + design often have interest in.
3rd Floor:
N - Visual arts
NA - Architecture
NA 1-60 - General
NA 100-130 - Architecture and the sate
NA 190-1555.5 – History
NA 1995 - Architecture as a profession
NA 2000-2320 - Study and teaching. Research
NA 2335-2360 - Competitions
NA 2400-2460 – Museums. Exhibitions
NA 2500-2599 - General works
NA 2599.5-2599.9 - Architectural criticism
NA 2695-2793 - Architectural drawing and design
NA 2835-4050 - Details and decoration
NA 4100-8480 - Special Classes of buildings
NA 4100-4145 - Classed by material
NA 4150-4160 - Classed by form
NA 4710-8480 - Classed by use
NA 4170-(7020) - Public buildings
NA 4590-5621 - Religious architecture
NA 7100-7884 - Domestic architecture. Houses. Dwellings
NA 7910-8125 - Clubhouses, guild houses, etc.
NA 8200-8260 - Farm architecture
NA 8300-8480 - Outbuildings, gates, fences, etc.
NA 9000-9428 - Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying
NB – Sculpture
NC - Drawing, Design, Illustration
ND – Painting
NE - Print Media
NK - Decorative arts
NK 1-570 - General
NK 600-806 – History
NK 1135-1149.5 – Arts and crafts movement
NK 1160-1590 - Decoration and ornament. Design
NK 1160-1174 - General
NK 1175-(1498) - History
NK 1505-1535 - General works
NK 1548-1590 - Special subjects for design
NK 1648-1678 - Religious art
NK 1700-2195 - Interior decoration. House decoration
NK 1700-2138 - General. History, etc. Including special rooms
NK 2140-2180 - Decorative painting
NK 2190-2192 - Church decoration
NK 2200-2750 - Furniture
NK 2775-2898 - Rugs and carpets
NK 2975-3049 - Tapestries
NK 3175-3296.3 - Upholstery. Drapery
NK 3375-(9990) - Other arts and art industries
NK 3700-4695 - Ceramics
NK 4700-4890 - Costume
NK 5100-5440 - Glass
NK 5500-6060 - Glyptic arts
NK 6400-8459 - Metalwork
NK 8800-9505.5 - Textiles
NK 9600-9955 - Woodwork
NX - Arts in General
Click here for a more thorough explanation of the Visual Arts (N) call numbers.
5th floor:
TD - Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
TH - Building construction
TS - Manufactures
Click here for a more thorough explanation of the Technology (T) call numbers.
Here's a quick guide on how to read Library of Congress Call Numbers.
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!