Like books in a public library, books in academic libraries are grouped by discipline. Since books on your subject will likely be located together, you can search Library Search or a few relevant books and then browse the shelves around that book.
Enter 1-3 keywords that describe your topic.
In Library Search, a simple search is usually best to get started. You can then narrow your search from the results page.
Examples: bilingual education; gothic architecture; greek utopias; cochlear implants.
Review the search results page for relevant items. The results page includes basic information on an item like title, publication date, format, and author.
When you find a relevant book, click on the title to see the full record.
In the full record it may help to look at the subject headings. Clicking on a subject heading will help you find more books that have been tagged with the same term.
Write down call numbers of relevant books.
Notice when several call numbers start the same way. Your catalog search could lead to more than one call number section.
When you find your book on the shelf, browse the section for more relevant books.