Look for your book or other resource by title. Ignore articles (a, an, the) that appear as the first word in the title. You will find "A Raisin in the Sun", "The Sun also Rises", and "The Titanic" respectively under "S" and "T".
Search for a book from a specific author using his last name. Consider that some material may have been written under a pseudonym. For example, in some instances, Steven King is catalogued under: "Bachman, Richard," "King Steven," "The Early Steven King". Check for all listings when doing a search by author.
Search for a biography using the person's name. The catalogue listing will narrow the item accordingly. It will most likely appear as, "a biography of ". If you search under "job title", "category", or any other general listing, you will find dozens of titles and names.
Narrow the subject heading. For example, a subject as expansive as Impressionist Painters should be narrowed to include a specific artist or time period.
Perform the search using a subheading. For example, "U.S. History" will show more books and written material than the subheading, "U.S. History 1861-1865, Civil War".
If your high school, college, or pubic library is set up via an online public access catalogs (OPACS), perform each search with a list of relevant keywords.
Talk to a librarian. If the librarian cannot find a particular resource, ask if the library has a lending library program or an agreement with another university and public library. Provide the librarian with the "title," "author," "subject matter," and "type of material" (books, magazines, etc.) you are looking for. The librarian will then contact the lending library by email or fax to request the materials on your behalf.
Pick the materials up from your local library when they arrive. You can check the materials out at that time.
Ask your librarian about other ways of searching for material. You might search for, and find newspaper and magazine articles, current events, historic events, etc. on microfish.