Choose a card catalogue to find your book. Many libraries still maintain card files of their older books in physical card cabinets. Newer books are electronically maintained in computer files for easy access by local and remote computer patrons. Books are listed by the last name of an author, the first word of the book title and the subject matter of a book. Each book and book reference card contains a Dewey Decimal number referencing where the book can be located in the numbered book shelves of the library. This is the number you should find on the edge of filed library books to locate the book in the library.
Use author cards if you know the name of the author you want to find. Author catalogue cards list the last name of the author, then their first and middle names, and year of birth and death, if applicable. The title of the book is listed, along with the name and city of the publishers and the date of publication. The card notes the number of pages in the book in addition to whether the book contains any photographs, maps or illustrations. At the bottom of the card is a list of subject matter content the book covers.
Look up books by title if you know it. When listing the titles of books, book titles that begin with articles, such as "a, an, or the" are ignored when filing the cards alphabetically. The title of a book called "A Good Day to Die," for example, is listed under the word "Good" not "A". Diacritical marks are also ignored and foreign characters are alphabetized exactly as spelled. Thus, ü= u, but æ=ae and will be found using those spellings. When acronyms are the first word of a book title, such as AFL-CIO, they are filed at the beginning of each letter of the alphabet. Identical words are filed placing the author card first, followed by the subject and title cards respectively.
Decide which subject you want to read about and find subject cards relating to that topic. Subject cards list books by topic. To find books on "hairstyles," look alphabetically for the word "hair" or "hairstyles." If neither of those words lead directly to book catalogue cards, cross reference cards will specify what word to look under for your particular subject. Cross reference cards may also refer you to a series of titles or larger works on the subject. Frequently they will list pseudonyms used by authors.