The library uses a software product called Destiny to organize its collection. You can access Destiny by clicking the "library catalogue" link that appears in the sidebar to the left.

Click through until you get to the main search page. It looks like this:


Enter search terms in the box.

• Keyword: similar to a basic Google search, a keyword search scours all the fields of each record looking for your search terms. This kind of search may generate the greatest number of results, but is the least precise and may generate irrelevant results.
• Title: use this if you know the title of the book you are looking for.
• Author: use this if you are looking for books by a particular author, or if you know the author's name but not the title.
• Subject: the catalogue uses a specific subject classification system called Library of Congress Subject Headings. Some familiarity with this system will help generate accurate results. Check with the library staff if you are having trouble using this function.
• Series: if you know the name of the series a book appears in you can search here. Examples of series include "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "Five Ancestors".

How to Read a Library Record


Click on the image to see a larger version.

• Many records, but not all, will display an image of the book's cover. To the right of the image is the book's title and authorship.
• Next is noted whether the book is on the shelf (available) or signed out (unavailable).
• The bullet list provides subject descriptions of the book's content. If other books in the collection have been tagged with these subjects you can click and go to those books.
• Publication information (date and place of publication, publisher, a physical description) follow.

Library Classification Games

Click here to play some games that provide instruction in how library material is organized.