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More on searching for books

Searching for Print Books

To see if we have a book you need or to see what books we have on any given topic, we will use OneSearch  To access OneSearch, you can start by using the search box right on the library homepage.

screenshot of the CCNY Libraries homepage with a red circle around the OneSearch search tool

 

Here you can search in the following ways:

  • By title – if you know the title of the book you need, search for it!
  • By author – search for books by a specific author
  • By keyword – Need a book on the history of slavery in the United States? Pop your keywords search terms into the search bar to find books related to that topic.

Hint: use the filters on the right hand side of the results page. Try limiting the search to books under “resource type” to get a list of books only.

Screenshot of the resource type filter in OneSearch with the check box for Books marked

 

Once you've found a book you want, the next step is to locate it in the library. To do so we need the call number, which indicates the books location within the library:

Screenshot of the catalog record for the book "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass" with a red circle around the call number.

 

Please see this page to see what floor of the library your call number will be on. This one starts with an E, so we know to go to the 5th floor to look for it.

There are some books that you won’t be able to find on the shelves in the library. These are called “reserves” and are not available for loan; they must be used in the library only. The result in OneSearch will indicate that a book is on reserve:

Screenshot of the catalog record for the book "Half slave and half free" with a red circle around the text: Cohen Reserves 2 hour loan

 

In this case, please take the call number to the circulation desk and they will retrieve the book for you.

You may not find any results for a specific book . This could mean that we do not have it, but another CUNY library might. Just go to the drop down menu next to the search bar and search CUNY instead of just CCNY. This will allow you to search the book catalog of all CUNY libraries:

screenshot of the open dropdown menu on the OneSearch search bar that allows for directing the search to CCNY only or all of CUNY

 

If you locate the book in another CUNY library, you can have it sent to City College for you to pick up. This is called a CLICS request. For nstructions on how to make a CLICS request, see this page.

The book you’d like might be available as an ebook! If so, you will see a “full text available” link under the title. Just follow the link to view it:

Screenshot of the catalog record for the book "Freebooters and Smugglers" with a red circle around the text: Full text available

Searching for Ebooks

There are multiple ways to search for ebooks. The OneSearch platform allows for focused searching of books available electronically. There are also searchable collections of ebooks outside of OneSearch. A list of Library ebook collections is available here.

To limit your results in OneSearch to electronic books, use the filters on the right side of the screen and limit to both Books and Full Text Online

screenshot of the search filters panel in OneSearch with a red circle around the text: limit to full text online

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of having a call number location, ebooks will have a green Full Text Available link. Click through (and log in using your CCNY email credentials if prompted) to access the book online.

screenshot of the catalog record of the book "The Political Thought of Frederik Douglass" with a red circle around the the text: full text available

Borrowing from CCNY Libraries

  • CCNY students can borrow most books for 16 weeks! 
  • Textbooks on reserve are short-term loans (most are two hours, some are up to 7 days)
  • You can borrow a calculator for one day.
  • If you need to borrow a laptop, please see the iMEDIA Reservation Desk in the lobby of the NAC.

Learn more about our borrowing policies.

Borrowing from other CUNYs, SUNYs, and beyond

You can have books from another CUNY or SUNY sent to Cohen Library by using the CUNY Libraries Inter-Campus Service (CLICS) You can also return any CUNY or SUNY book to the Cohen Library.

You can borrow books from non-CUNY/SUNY colleges using a different service called interlibrary loan. 

Online sources

City College Libraries give you access to millions of articles online. You can also find over one million ebooks.

CCNY has access to over 200 research databases--each database is a collection of hundreds of publications (scholarly journals, newspapers, videos, e-books, and more) and can contain thousands of articles.

In addition to searching for items at City College (the default), you can use OneSearch to search for books across CUNY and SUNY - and request for those books to be sent here (see above).  Learn more about OneSearch.