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A Master Course Guide for IUB

Helpful boxes to include in many IUB LibGuides.

IUCAT Search

IUCAT is the IUB Libraries catalog. Find books, journals, music, and more!


Ways to access IUCAT:  

IUCAT Tutorial

IUCAT is the catalog of items that IU Libraries owns. These are primarily books, but also include other items like musical scores, recordings, DVDs, etc. Ebooks are also found in this catalog. IUCAT includes holdings from all IU campuses.

This video tutorial shows how to access and search IUCAT, with particular emphasis on using limiters to select items that are available on the Bloomington campus.

IUCAT Search Tips

Quick Tips

  • Use quotation marks to search as a phrase.
  • Use "+" before a term to make it required. (Otherwise results matching only some of your terms may be included).
  • Use "-" before a word or phrase to exclude.
  • Use "OR", "AND", and "NOT" to create complex boolean logic.
  • Truncation and wildcards are not supported - word-stemming is done automatically.
  • Access more help at the KB

Simple Search

From the main search page search by Keyword, or limit your search to Title, Author, or Subject.

Advanced Search

Choose for more search options. 

 

Results Page

After entering your search term(s) you will probably get many results. Look at the categories listed on the left side of the page. They can help you narrow your search if needed. ​

 

Brief vs Full IUCAT Record

From the search results page you see the brief records for each item. 
For the full record, click on the title.

 

The full record has more information and options.

Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary loans allow you to borrow material from non IU Libraries.

*First time users will be asked delivery information for their materials*


How to Request:

  • You will need your IU username and password to request material
    • To use the Submit a request page, have the book information (title, author, etc) ready.
       
    • In Worldcat the "Request materials from ILL" link will fill in the book information for you.

  • Photocopies of journal articles can also be request through the Submit a request page.

You will receive an email from Interlibrary loan when your materials are ready for pickup.

Locate Books

Step 1: Identify the correct IU Library:

  • IUCAT includes items from ALL IU Libraries (not just IUB).
     
  • To find the IU library for an item, look in your search results for "Copies at:" 
     
  • To limit your results to records from a single library, click on "Campus" (bottom left of the search results page).
    Choose the relevant campus (e.g., Bloomington). 

  • Most items not on the Bloomington campus Libraries can be requested. (From the IUCAT catalog record page, click the button  .

Step 2: Identify the item's library location: 

  • Each catalog record has a call number that indicates its location within the given library.

Request Books

Request books from off campus storage (ALF) or from another IU campus:

  • Log in to IUCAT with your IU username and password.
  • Click the   button
  • Select a campus location for delivery.
  • Click the "Request Delivery" button on the pop-up box.

        


NOTE: Material from certain libraries (IUB Kinsey Library, Lilly Library, CEDIR Library, Archives of Traditional Music Library, University Archives Library, and the Bloomington Residence Halls) cannot be request.

Reference material and short term loans (like DVDs) cannot be requested.

Books vs Articles

Books Articles
  • usually cover a wider range of topics
  • shorter, usually focused on one aspect of a topic
  • longer time to publish (generally several years)
  • less time to publish (generally several months to 2 years)
  • found in IUCAT
  • found in OneSearch and other databases
  • used in research papers more often than are books