Tips for searching for books using  the Advanced Search feature in Library Search (the search box on WMU Libraries' home page)

• To search for a book whose title you know: Select Title from the drop-down menu, then type the title in the search box, then click Search
• To search for books by a specific author: Select Author rom the drop-down menu, then click Search
• To search for books by topic: Type your keyword(s) into the search box(es), then click Search
• When searching for a phrase:  Put quotation marks around the phrase (example:  "voter turnout")
• To find variants of a word:  Use an asterisk  *  to pick up variant endings of a word (for example, politi* will retrieve politics, political, politician, politicization, etc.)

Remember: To limit your search results to books, before your search select Books as the material type for the search will retrieve, or after your search, limit the results to Books. 

To search for books beyond what WMU Libraries own, use: 

To obtain materials you find in MelCat: Request them through MelCat OR through WMU Libraries Interlibrary Loan

To obtain materials you find in WorldCat: Request them through WMU Libraries Interlibrary Loan

What's the simplest way to find political science-related books? Use Library Search -- the search tool on the Libraries' home page. 

Another way to search for print books (as opposed to e-books) is to browse the shelves. WMU Libraries use the Library of Congress (LC) classification system to organize its books, and within this system, political science books generally have a call number that starts with a "J". Since print materials are shelved in call number order, all the "Js" will be found together, which means generally political science books are shelved together 

But, because of the LC system's peculiarities, many political science-related books have a call number that does not start with "J", and will be shelved far away from other political science books.

Take away message: Browsing is a great way to find books, but if you want to do a thorough search for books on a specific topic, use Library Search.

Curious how the Library of Congress Classification System organizes topics? Take a look at the Library of Congress Classification Outline.