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For anyone who cannot watch this video, or prefers text, we have explained how to search IUCAT and use its functions on the rest of this page.
IUCAT (iucat.iu.edu/iun) is the online catalog for Indiana University. You can search IUCAT without logging in. If you want to order a book from another IU campus, you must log in using your university username and passphrase.
The basic search screen lets you choose from four different ways to search.
If you are looking for a specific book, search by "Title" or "Author." If you are not, you can do an "All Fields" search that will look for your keywords throughout each record. The keyword may or may not be in the author or title fields. And, an "All Fields" search retrieves all types of resources and formats that have your keywords in the record.
Finally, the "Subject" approach in basic search will search records by their subject headings. Subject headings are used by librarians to determine the most important elements of a book. This means a "Subject" search offers fewer, more focused results than an "All Fields" search, but it will miss any books that lack subject headings.
IUCAT defaults to the holdings owned by IU Northwest. To select all IU libraries, you should click on the "All IUCAT" box beneath the basic search box. Then, it will search the entire IU library system.
A basic search only has four search fields to use, and will only allow you to search one field at a time. If you want to search multiple fields at once or want more search options, you will need to use advanced search.
You can limit your search more by clicking on the drop-down menus on the right side of the screen and selecting elements you want to include in your search.
Browse through the results and click on the title that is of interest to you.
You can limit your search further with the drop-down menus on the left. You can remove terms from your search by clicking on the X next to the term in the "You searched for" section. If you click on "Sort by relevance," you can choose from other ways to sort your search results.
Please be aware that if a record lists the Format as both "Book" and "Online Resource," this means it is an E-Book, not a physical book. E-Books can only be read online.
When you click on the title of the book, you will notice the location information. Stacks are located on the 2nd and 3rd floors. These books you can check out. You may also find books located in Reference or Reserve, or listed with a due date of "Never." You are free to look at Reference books, but you cannot check them out. Books in Reserve, or with a due date of "Never," are available at the Circulation Desk. Give the Circulation clerk the call number, if indicated, and your student ID and you can view the book in the library.
Archives - 3rd Floor
Circ Desk - 1st Floor, Circulation Desk
Government Publications - 2nd Floor
New Book Area - 1st Floor Cafe Area
Periodicals - 1st Floor, Current / 2nd Floor, Bound
Ready Reference - 1st Floor
Reference - 2nd Floor
Reserves - 1st Floor, Circulation Desk
Stacks - 2nd Floor, A - HF / 3rd Floor, HG - Z
Books on Reserve can be listed with a call number or the phrase 'Personal Copy'. If a call number is available, write the call number down before coming to the Circulation Desk. See our Using Reserves guide for more information.
The “Request This” button is used to request items that are not available at IU Northwest, but are located at another IU campus. By clicking on this button, you can submit a request for the item to be sent to the John W. Anderson Library at IU Northwest for you to pick up. There is no charge for this service. However, you have to be logged into IUCAT to request a circulating book from another IU library, and this service is only available to IU Northwest students, faculty and staff.
If you do not find the book in the IU System, you can go to ILLiad, and submit a request for the book to be located and borrowed from another library.
